Summary: State Party Tunisia ratified the convention on 28 September 2010. It has participated in meetings of the convention, most recently in 2018. Tunisia voted in favor of a key United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention in December 2018.

Tunisia told the Monitor in 2011 that it has never used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions. It must submit its initial transparency report for the convention to formally confirm this.

Policy

The Republic of Tunisia signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 12 January 2009, ratified on 28 September 2010, and the convention entered into force for the country on 1 March 2011.

Tunisia informed the Monitor in April 2011 that it adheres to the convention under the terms of its ratification law enacted in February 2010.

Tunisia submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report on 12 June 2019. The report was originally due by 28 August 2011. Tunisia believes its existing national law is sufficient to enforce the convention, reporting that the “Ministry of Justice was formed to establish a national committee to review the criminal justice provisions, which included….crimes of the use of prohibited weapons globally.”[1]

Tunisia participated in one regional meeting of the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions, in Livingstone, Zambia in March 2008. It was the first country to sign the convention at the UN in New York after the convention was opened for signature at the Oslo Signing Conference in December 2008.[2]

Tunisia has participated in several of the convention’s meetings.[3] It attended the convention’s Eighth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in September 2018, but did not make a statement.

Tunisia voted in favor of a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution on the Convention on Cluster Munitions in December 2018 that urges states outside the convention to “join as soon as possible.”[4] It has voted in favor of the annual UNGA resolutions promoting the convention since it was first introduced in 2015.

Tunisia has voted in favor of UNGA resolutions that express outrage at the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in December 2018.[5]

Tunisia is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

In its initial Article 7 transparency report submitted 12 June 2019, Tunisia reported that it had never used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.[6] Tunisia had previously reported this information to the Monitor.[7]

Policy

The Republic of Tunisia signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 and ratified it on 9 July 1999, becoming a State Party on 1 January 2000.

Tunisia has listed 10 laws that it considers implementation measures for the Mine Ban Treaty.[1]

Tunisia submitted its annual Article 7 transparency report in 2020, covering the period from April 2019 to April 2020.[2]

Tunisia has participated in most meetings of the Mine Ban Treaty, including the Fourth Review Conference in Oslo, Norway in November 2019, but did not make any statements.

Production, transfer, stockpile destruction, and retention

Tunisia has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines, but has imported them in the past.[3] Tunisia completed the destruction of 18,259 stockpiled antipersonnel mines in September 2003.[4]

In its initial declaration in July 2000, Tunisia reported retaining 5,000 antipersonnel mines (4,000 PMA-3 and 1,000 PROM-1) for purposes permitted under Article 3 of the Mine Ban Treaty.[5] In its Article 7 report submitted in 2020, Tunisia reported that it retains 4,375 mines for training and that 30 mines were consumed for training purposes during the April 2019 to April 2020 reporting period.[6] Tunisia has not specified the type of retained mines that it has destroyed, nor has it reported in detail on the intended purposes and actual uses of retained mines, as agreed by States Parties in 2004.

Use

Since April 2013, new use of improvised mines and other types of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) by non-state armed groups has been reported during ongoing Tunisian military operations against Islamist armed groups in the Qsrein Wilaya/Kasserine and Gafsa governorates near the Algerian border.[7]

New casualties caused by victim-activated improvised mines were reported in 2020 in the Jebel Al-Cha’anby area.[8] In 2019, multiple incidents were reported in Gafsa governorate in southwest Tunisia.[9] The Monitor cannot confirm when the improvised mines were laid. (See the Casualties and Victim Assistance profile for more details). Previously, in May 2013, the Ministry of Defense stated that the mines laid at Jebel Al-Cha’anby were homemade mines constructed from a plastic container with a chemical initiator, making detection difficult.[10] A spokesperson said, “the mines that exploded were made of ammonium nitrate fertilizer and flammable materials that can easily explode when exposed to heat.”[11]

In May 2013, a police official told Human Rights Watch (HRW) that the late April casualties were caused by “artisanal” (or homemade) antipersonnel mines that exploded horizontally, and from this description, the mines would appear to be homemade tripwire-initiated explosive devices similar to Claymore mines.[12] Tunisia has not reported on the contamination by improvised landmines in its annual Article 7 transparency report.

Casualties Overview

In 2016, the Monitor identified 20 casualties from landmines and victim-activated improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the Republic of Tunisia.[1] Of the total, 62 were adults and for two casualties the age was not recorded; four casualties were women and the remainder (61) were men. In 2016, the vast majority of casualties were military personnel (56), and nine were civilians. All of the casualties recorded in 2015 were military.

The 2016 casualty total was the highest total recorded for Tunisia since monitoring began in 1999. The previous highest casualty total was in 2014, when the Monitor identified 38 casualties from landmines or victim-activated IEDs in Tunisia.[2] The 2013 casualty total of 28 had represented a dramatic increase compared to the 10 mine/ERW casualties recorded in Tunisia for a period of more than 20 years, from 1991–2012. This casualty increase was attributable to the use of improvised mines (victim-activated IEDs), since 2013.[3]

The cumulative number of mine/ERW casualties remains unknown. Since 1999, the Monitor has recorded 157 mine/ERW casualties.

Casualties

Casualties Overview

In 2015, the Monitor identified 20 casualties from landmines and victim-activated IEDs in the Republic of Tunisia.[1] This is a decrease from 2014 when the Monitor identified 38 casualties from landmines or victim-activated IEDs in Tunisia, which was the highest total since monitoring began in 1999.[2] All of the casualties in 2015 were military. In 2014 and 2013, the vast majority of casualties were military personnel (32 of 38, and 22 of 28, respectively).

The 2015 total represents a decrease from the 38 casualties reported in 2014 and 28 casualties in 2013. The 2013 casualty total of 28 had represented a dramatic increase compared to the 10 mine/ERW casualties recorded in Tunisia for a period of more than 20 years, from 1991–2012. This casualty increase was attributable to the use of improvised mines (victim-activated IEDs), since 2013.[3] The cumulative number of mine/ERW casualties remains unknown. Since 1999, the Monitor has recorded 92 mine/ERW casualties.

The Ministry of Social Affairs has responsibility for ensuring the rights of persons with disabilities. Legislation prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, education, transportation, access to healthcare, and other government services.[4] Handicap International promoted employment of persons with disabilities and supported disabled people’s organizations in 2015.[5]

Tunisia did not report on victim assistance in its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report submitted in 2016.[6]

Tunisia ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 2 April 2008.