Algeria Urges UN to Address Enduring Human Rights Impact of French Colonial Landmines
BY Dr. Hana Saada
GENEVA — Algeria has called on the United Nations to give greater attention to the enduring humanitarian and human rights consequences of anti-personnel landmines laid during the French colonial period, stressing that the legacy continues to affect survivors and communities decades after the country’s independence.
Speaking before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, Algeria’s Permanent Representative to the UN Office, Idris Latreche, said the country’s policy on anti-personnel mines is rooted in its own painful national experience with the millions of mines left behind by the French colonial administration.
Addressing the interactive dialogue following the presentation of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) report on the impact of anti-personnel mines on human rights, Latreche stressed that the consequences of these explosive remnants extend far beyond immediate casualties.
“The effects of anti-personnel mines are not limited to direct human losses,” he said, noting that they continue to undermine a broad range of fundamental rights, including the rights to life, health, development and freedom of movement.
Algeria expressed regret that the UN report did not devote greater attention to the lasting impact of mines inherited from the colonial era, arguing that their consequences continue to transcend generations.
“The effects of these mines extend from the past to influence the present and the future of affected peoples,” the ambassador said, recalling that Algeria inherited nearly 11 million anti-personnel mines planted by the French colonial authorities along its eastern and western borders.
Latreche noted that although Algeria had successfully cleared its territory through national efforts and the dedication of its own specialists, the humanitarian consequences of that colonial legacy remain visible through the continued suffering of survivors and affected communities.
During the same session, the Algerian ambassador also delivered a joint statement on behalf of Croatia, Mozambique, Peru, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Vanuatu, and more than 70 other countries, highlighting the human rights implications of anti-personnel mines.
He emphasized that victims and affected communities must remain at the center of international mine-action efforts and called for stronger political commitment toward universal adherence to relevant international legal instruments, particularly the Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines, as part of global efforts to eliminate the humanitarian threat posed by landmines.
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