Contamination

At the end of 2017, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania reported no known or suspected areas containing antipersonnel mines following technical survey and clearance of an area with an estimated size of 1km², in Ain Bintilli district, Tiris Zemmour region.[1] The area contained both antipersonnel and antivehicle mines.[2]

At the end of 2015, Mauritania had reported it had released all known areas of antipersonnel mine contamination. This totaled 40 mined areas covering 67km².[3] However, other contaminated areas were thought to exist close to Western Sahara, which depending on the demarcation of the border, could be inside Mauritanian territory and thus within its jurisdiction.[4] In its request for a second extension to its Article 5 clearance deadline, Mauritania stated that it “suspects that the security system along the border with Western Sahara, which comprises fortifications and minefields, crosses Mauritanian territory, especially since there is no natural border between the two.”[5]

Mauritania’s mine contamination was a legacy of the conflict over Western Sahara in 1975–1978. A 2006 Landmine Impact Survey (LIS) had found a total of 65 suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) covering 76km² and affecting 60 communities. This proved to be a significant overestimate of the actual extent of the mine threat. In 2010, Morocco provided detailed maps of minefields laid during the Western Sahara conflict. The minefields had been partially cleared using military procedures prior to the entry into force of the Mine Ban Treaty.[6]

Program Management

The National Humanitarian Demining Program for Development (Programme National de Déminage Humanitaire pour le Développement, PNDHD) coordinates mine action operations in Mauritania.[7] Since 2007, the program has been the responsibility of the Ministry of Interior and Decentralization, with oversight from an interministerial steering committee.[8] The PNDHD has its headquarters in the capital, Nouakchott, and a regional mine action center (RMAC) in Nouadhibou.

Strategic planning

In March 2017, Mauritania reported that a national mine action strategic plan for 2016–2020 had been developed with primary aims and targets, including verification of Mauritania’s borders and clearance of any newly identified contamination by 2020; continuing risk education and victim assistance; and maintenance of national mine clearance capacities.[9]

The main aims of Mauritania’s workplan for 2017–2020 were to achieve clearance of the remaining contaminated areas, establish a strategy for residual contamination, and declare their compliance with Article 5 before 1 January 2021.[10]

As of July 2018, clearance of mined areas was complete and a proposal had been submitted to the government of Mauritania that a declaration of compliance with their Article 5 obligations be made.[11]

Quality management

In 2017, the PNDHD deployed its quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) capacity during clearance of the Sebkhat Fogra minefield.[12]

Information management

The national mine action database is held at the PNDHD. As of December 2017, Mauritania had strengthened its information management capacity by providing additional training to an information management specialist and migrating to Version 6 of the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) software.[13]

Operators

In accordance with a 2006 decree, all clearance activities were conducted by the Army Engineer Corps operating under the PNDHD.

Land Release

Mauritania reported that nationally funded technical surveys and administrative checks carried out in late 2016 and early 2017 resulted in the identification and confirmation of a mined area in Sebkhat Fogra, Ain Bintilli district covering an estimated 1km²and containing both antipersonnel and antivehicle mines.[14] It stated that assessments undertaken had confirmed that the area was located within Mauritanian territory and that the area had been clearly marked with warning signs in Arabic and French.[15] Mauritania reported that it had released all 1km² by 15 December 2017 (835,467m² reduced by technical survey and 164,533m² released by clearance).[16] During the clearance, 93 antipersonnel mines and 35 antivehicle mines were found and destroyed.[17]

Article 5 Compliance

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with the five-year extension request granted by States Parties in 2015), Mauritania was required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 January 2021.[18] Mauritania has now completed clearance and is working towards making a formal declaration of compliance with its Article 5 obligations.

In September 2017, the PNDHD reported that funding had been secured from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for clearance of the remaining area and that it expected to deploy teams following a two-week refresher training course. Clearance was completed on 15 December 2017. It stated that no further suspected mined areas remained on Mauritanian territory and no further survey or efforts to clarify the border demarcation were required.[19]

Previously, in June 2017, Mauritania projected that with external funding of US$75,000 it could complete clearance of the newly confirmed 1km² area by the end of the year and declare itself in compliance with Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 at the forthcoming Meeting of States Parties in December 2017. It appealed for donor support to reach this goal.[20]

Mauritania has explained thatthe reasons for its inability to meet its initial Article 5 deadline of 1 January 2016 included lack of financial resources, insufficient progress in demining, use of only manual clearance, and difficult soil and climatic factors.[21] In its second extension request, Mauritania undertook to initiate and maintain dialogue with stakeholders with the aim of acquiring relevant topographic and cartographic information to determine the exact location of its northern border and to develop plans to address any contaminated areas identified within its jurisdiction.[22]

In September 2017, Mauritania reported that survey of areas along the border had not revealed any further evidence of the presence of mines and no further dialogue with stakeholders on border clarification needed to be undertaken.[23] As of July 2018, Mauritania’s priorities for survey and clearance were to focus on any residual contamination.[24]

The Monitor acknowledges the contributions of the Mine Action Review (www.mineactionreview.org), which has conducted the primary mine action research in 2018 and shared all its country-level landmine reports (from“Clearing the Mines 2018”) and country-level cluster munition reports (from “Clearing Cluster Munition Remnants 2018”) with the Monitor. The Monitor is responsible for the findings presented online and in its print publications.