Western Sahara: New Threat to Self-Determination
Date distributed (ymd): 020512
Document reposted by Africa Action

Africa Policy Electronic Distribution List: an information
service provided by AFRICA ACTION (incorporating the Africa
Policy Information Center, The Africa Fund, and the American
Committee on Africa). Find more information for action for
Africa at http://www.africaaction.org

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Region: North Africa
Issue Areas: +political/rights+ +security/peace+
+US policy focus+

SUMMARY CONTENTS:

This posting contains several short documents on Africa's last
unresolved colonial conflict, namely the occupation of Western
Sahara by Morocco. By the end of July, the UN Security Council is
scheduled to take a decision on how to proceed on this issue, and
there are strong reasons to fear that, at U.S. urging, it may
abandon its residual support for the principle of self-
determination in that territory.

Included below are a joint letter from Africa Action and
TransAfrica to the U.S. State Department, a letter from the
Saharawi Association of Madrid to special envoy James Baker, a
press release from the Western Saharan independence movement
Polisario, and a brief update from the UN's Integrated Regional
Information Network.

Extensive additional news and links on Western Sahara, in English,
French, Spanish, and other languages, are available at
http://www.arso.org

The April report by the UN Secretary-General is available at:
http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/reports/2002/467e.pdf
http://www.arso.org/S-2002-467.htm

For earlier Africa policy postings with background information on
Western Sahara, see:
http://www.africaaction.org/docs01/wsah0106.htm and
http://www.africaaction.org/docs99/wsah9901.htm

Additional background on the involvement of U.S. oil company Kerr-
McGee in Western Sahara is available at:
http://richardknight.homestead.com/files/ws-kerr-mcgee.htm

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Joint Letter to U.S. Department of State on Western Sahara
Africa Action and TransAfrica, May 2, 2002

Africa Action (http://www.africaaction.org)
TransAfrica (http://www.transafricaforum.org)

The Honorable William Joseph Burns
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
Department of State
2201 C Street N.W.
Washington, DC 20520

Dear Assistant Secretary Burns,

We strongly support the right of the people of Western Sahara to
self-determination. We are shocked to learn that the United States
circulated a draft resolution to members of the United Nations
Security Council supporting a "framework agreement" that
legitimizes Morocco's occupation and annexation of Western Sahara.
The U.S. should strongly support the legal right of
self-determination for non-self-governing territories and use its
prestige and influence to support the holding of a referendum in
Western Sahara. The U.S. should make clear to the government of
Morocco our support for the referendum and our opposition to its
continued obstruction of the settlement process.

The Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, was occupied by Spain
in 1884 as a result of the Berlin Conference that divided Africa
among the European powers. As in the rest of Africa, colonization
was met with resistance, including armed resistance. On May 10,
1973 the Frente pro la Liberacion de Segiut El Hamra y de Rio de
Oro (POLISARIO) was formed. Ten days later, POLISARIO launched
its first armed attack on a Spanish garrison. By early 1975, a
large area of the territory had been liberated from the Spanish,
who kept solid control of only the larger towns and the phosphate
mines.

By 1975, Spain was ready to withdraw from Western Sahara, but both
Morocco and Mauritania were laying claim to the territory. In May
1975, the United Nations sent a mission to Western Sahara that
concluded: "Within the territory, the mission noted that the
population, or at least almost all those persons encountered by
the mission, were categorically for independence and against the
territorial claims of Morocco and Mauritania. The populations
expressed the wish that the United Nations, Organization of
African Unity, and the League of Arab States should help it to
attain and preserve its independence..." The Frente POLISARIO,
although considered a clandestine movement before the mission's
arrival, appeared as a dominant political force in the Territory.
The mission witnessed mass demonstrations in support of the
movement in all parts of the Territory. The Mission proposed a
referendum to determine the will of the people of Western Sahara.

In October 1975, the World Court upheld the right of the people of
Western Sahara to self- determination "through the free and genuine
expression of the will of the peoples of the territory." But when
Spain pulled out in 1976 it divided the territory between Morocco
and Mauritania. In a recent legal opinion, UN Legal Counsel Hans
Corell noted the agreement signed by the three countries "did not
transfer sovereignty over the territory, nor did it confer upon
any of the signatories the status of an administrative power," and
that it "did not affect the international status of Western Sahara
as a Non-Self-Governing Territory."

Polisario, which had led the struggle for independence against
Spain, rejected the partition and turned its military efforts
against Morocco and Mauritania. POLSIARIO declared the Saharawi
Arab Democratic Republic, which is now a member of the
Organization of African Unity. Much of the population of Western
Sahara fled the territory to Polisario run refugee camps in
Algeria. In July 1978 there was a coup in Mauritania. Two days
later Polisario declared a unilateral cease-fire with Mauritania.
In 1979 Mauritania formally abandoned its claim to Western Sahara.
Morocco immediately asserted a claim for the portion of Western
Sahara previously claimed by Mauritania.

The United Nations General Assembly has consistently considered the
issue of Western Sahara as one of decolonization and self-
determination. In 1980, it adopted a resolution that reaffirmed
"the inalienable right of the people of Western Sahara to
self-determination and independence," and expressed "deep concern.
at the aggravation of the situation prevailing in Western Sahara
because of the continued occupation of that Territory by Morocco."

The holding of a referendum is the best possible way for the people
of Western Sahara to exercise their right to self-determination
and is at the center of the 1991 UN settlement plan. We
understand the frustration of the Secretary-General and the
Security Council that over ten years have passed and it has not
been possible to hold the referendum. But the reason a referendum
has not been held is because of obstacles created by Morocco,
which has sought to pack the voter roll. During the past
twenty-six years, the government of Morocco, which exercises de
facto control over much of the territory, moved many of its own
citizens into the territory in the hope that, should a referendum
eventually be held, they would vote for an outcome favorable to
the government in Rabat.

The proposed framework agreement, drafted by the
Secretary-General's personal envoy James Baker as an alternative
to the current settlement plan, essentially gives sovereignty of
Western Sahara to Morocco without a proper test of the will of the
people of the territory. For five years the territory would have
limited local autonomy at which time a referendum would be held to
determine the final status of the territory. However, anyone who
has been resident in territory for one year will be able to vote
in this referendum, thus allowing Morocco to add all the settlers
it has brought into Western Sahara since 1975 to the voter roll.
This rewards Morocco for it years of intransigence. Moreover,
under the U.S. draft resolution this solution would be imposed on
the people of Western Sahara by the Security Council without any
test of their opinion.

Mr. Secretary, Western Sahara remains an issue of decolonization
and the people of Western Sahara have a legal right to
self-determination. After the U.S. regained its seat on the UN
Human Rights Commission, Sichan Siv, the U.S. Representative to
the Economic and Social Council, said "Human rights is the
cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy." The U.S. should support the
right of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination and
the holding of a referendum. The proposed framework agreement
would deny that right.

Sincerely,

Salih Booker, Africa Action
Bill Fletcher, TransAfrica

cc: His Excellency Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United
Nations