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 last submitted an 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 Eighteenth Meeting of States Parties, held virtually in November 2020. It 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 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 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) by non-state armed groups (NSAGs) has been reported in the Qsrein Wilaya/Kasserine and Gafsa governorates near the Algerian border.[7] Villagers in the area have stated that the mines inhibit their livelihoods and are laid with no known pattern or warnings.[8]

As in the past few years, new casualties caused by victim-activated improvised mines were reported in 2020 and early 2021 in the Jebel Al-Cha’anby area.[9] In 2019, multiple incidents were reported in Gafsa governorate, in southwest Tunisia.[10] The Monitor has been unable to confirm when the improvised mines were laid. Previously, in May 2013, the Ministry of Defense stated that the mines laid in Jebel Al-Cha’anby were homemade mines constructed from a plastic container with a chemical initiator, making detection difficult.[11] A spokesperson said, “the mines that exploded were made of ammonium nitrate fertilizer and flammable materials that can easily explode when exposed to heat.”[12]

In May 2013, a police official told Human Rights Watch (HRW) that casualties in late April 2013 were caused by “artisanal” (or homemade) antipersonnel mines that exploded horizontally. From this description, the mines would appear to be homemade explosive devices initiated by a tripwire, similar to Claymore mines.[13] Tunisia has not reported on the contamination by improvised mines in its annual Article 7 transparency report.

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Treaty Status | Management & Coordination | Impact (contamination & casualties) | Addressing the Impact (land release, risk education, victim assistance)

Country Summary

The Republic of Tunisia reported completing clearance of all known mined areas in 2009.[1] However, Tunisia has since reported the existence of suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) containing remnants of World War II-era explosive ordnance, including residual contamination by both antipersonnel and antivehicle mines.[2] Tunisia is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty and the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Tunisia has not reported having any cluster munition remnants contamination.

Since 2013, new use of improvised mines and other improvised explosive devices (IEDs) by non-state armed groups (NSAGs) has been reported and have caused casualties annually. The threat is mainly in mountainous areas in northwest and southwest Tunisia. Tunisia needs to clarify the type and extent of contamination in line with its Mine Ban Treaty obligations.

No risk education or victim assistance activities were reported in Tunisia during 2020. However, the government has provided warnings to people not to enter areas where armed operations were ongoing, or where improvised mines and emplaced IEDs were present. Landmine survivors were reported to have received emergency evacuation and medical care in local hospitals.

Treaty Status

Treaty status overview

* Tunisia is suspected to have residual mine contamination and improvised mine contamination.

Management and Coordination

Mine action management and coordination

There is no national body in charge of the management, coordination, and planning of mine action in Tunisia.

Risk education management and coordination

Tunisia last reported on risk education in its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report submitted in 2013. It stated that the few casualties occurring each year were resulting from explosive remnants of war (ERW) rather than landmines as mine contaminated areas were fenced off and marked. In 2012–2013, the National Guard and police were providing risk education to the civilian population in affected areas.[3]

Victim assistance management and coordination

Victim assistance management and coordination overview[4]

No specific victim assistance coordination was reported in Tunisia.

The Ministry of Social Affairs is responsible for promoting and implementing the rights of persons with disabilities in Tunisia. It coordinates with the Parliamentary Committee for the Affairs of Persons with Disabilities and Vulnerable Categories to align existing laws with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).[5] The ministry also manages centers that provide accommodation and medical services to persons with disabilities lacking other means of support.[6]

There are no specific victim assistance laws or policies in Tunisia.

Impact

Contamination

Contamination overview

Note: ERW=explosive remnants of war.

Landmine contamination

In its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report for 2020, Tunisia reported potentially mine-contaminated SHAs located in the south (El Hamma, Mareth, and Matmata), center (Faideh and Kasserine), and north (Cap-Bon and other areas in the northwest) of the country, without specifying the size of the areas or the extent of contamination.[7] In July 2019, more than 40 landmines detonated as a result of high temperatures in Mount Chambi, Kasserine governorate, indicating a significant amount of contamination in the area.[8]

Tunisia did not report on improvised mine contamination, although incidents with casualties have regularly been reported in the media. Since 2013, incidents caused by improvised landmines and other IEDs have since been reported in Jendouba, Kasserine, and Kef governorates. These devices were reported to be rudimentary and constructed from plastic bottles or tubs filled with explosives, such as ammonium nitrate or TNT. The majority of these devices were reported to be small improvised antipersonnel mines, wired to pressure-plate triggers. There have also been reports in Tunisia of IEDs wired to phones, and larger command-detonated IEDs being used to target vehicles.[9]

In 2019 and 2020, casualties from mines, including improvised mines, continued to be reported in the mountainous western regions of Kasserine and Kef. However, casualties were also reported in Gafsa governorate, in southwest Tunisia. These mines are believed to have been laid by non-state armed groups (NSAGs) affiliated with Islamic State.[10]

ERW contamination

In 2021, Tunisia reported that in addition to mines, its World War II-era residual contamination also likely includes unexploded ordnance (UXO) such as shells and bombs.[11]

Casualties

Casualties overview[12]

Note: ERW=explosive remnants of war.

Casualties in 2020: details[13]

In 2020, the Monitor recorded four mine/ERW casualties in Tunisia—a significant decrease from 19 in 2019 and 48 in 2018. The higher numbers of casualties in previous years were attributable to the use of improvised mines in Tunisia since 2013. In 2014, a total of 38 casualties were reported, compared to 20 in 2015, 65 in 2016, and 35 in 2017. Prior to that, the 2013 casualty total of 28 had represented a striking rise compared to the collective total of 10 mine/ERW casualties recorded in Tunisia for a period of more than 20 years previously, from 1991–2012.

In 2020, the Monitor recorded the first ERW casualty in Tunisia since 2006, in Kairouan governorate. Another casualty was caused by an antipersonnel landmine in Jebel Orbata, Gafsa governorate. A civilian was killed and a member of the military was injured in separate incidents in Mount Chambi and Ezzouhour, in Kasserine governorate. All three of the civilian mine/ERW casualties in Tunisia in 2020 were engaged in agricultural activities when the incident occurred.

Addressing the Impact

Mine action

Operators and service providers

The Tunisian Army, under the Ministry of Defense, is the only body authorized to undertake mine or ERW clearance in the country.

Clearance

Tunisia reported concluding clearance of all known minefields in March 2009.[14] It has not reported on the clearance of improvised mines. No clearance or survey was reported in 2020.[15]

Risk education

No mine/ERW risk education was reported in 2020, but the government reported proving warnings to people not to enter areas where improvised mines or IEDs were emplaced.[16]

Victim assistance

No specific victim assistance activities were reported in Tunisia during 2020. Mine/ERW survivors were reported to receive emergency medical care in local hospitals.[17]

Persons with disabilities faced multiple barriers to access basic services, rehabilitation, and socio-economic inclusion.

The Ibsar Foundation for the Culture and Leisure of Blind and Visually Handicapped People works to promote the rights of persons with disabilities in Tunisia.[18] Humanity & Inclusion (HI) works to ensure the socio-economic inclusion of persons with disabilities in Tunisia through vocational training and employment programs in northern, central, and southern governorates.[19]