The cease fire ending hostilities was officially signed in 1991. The Western Sahara, given its name in 1975 by the UN, is the last African colonial state still to declare its independence. The Western Sahara War was an armed conflict, lasting from 1975 to 1991, fought primarily between the Polisario Front and Morocco. [78], The Polisario controls about 2025% of the Western Sahara territory,[79] as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), and claim sovereignty over the entire territory of Western Sahara. Provisions are detailed for a transitory phase beginning with independence, in which the present SADR is supposed to act as Western Sahara's government, ending with a constitutional reform and eventual establishment of a state along the lines specified in the constitution. The First Sahrawi Intifada formed a part of the wider and still ongoing Western Sahara conflict. Located in one of the most inhospitable areas of the planet, where the summer temperature rises to more than 50 degrees in the shade and in winter it is freezing cold, they live in windswept concrete or mud shelters with few jobs and little to hope for a better future and an eventual return to their own country. Algeria sees itself as an "important actor" in the conflict,[29] and officially supports the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination. The SADR government considers the Moroccan-held territory occupied territory, while Morocco considers the much smaller SADR held territory to be a buffer zone. RTM Laayoune - operated by Moroccan state broadcaster, National Radio of the SADR - broadcasts in Arabic and Spanish; launched in the 1970s, the station supports the Polisario Front. Ten days after its founding, the Polisario Front launched a guerilla war against the Spanish. AU; Recognition withdrawn 28 September 2018. The predominant religion practiced in Sahrawi territories is Sunni Islam. Consequently, Morocco withdrew its membership. "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be. [65] By 2001, the process had reached a stalemate, and the UN Secretary-General asked the parties for the first time to explore other solutions. The UN considers the Polisario Front to be the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people, and maintains that the people of Western Sahara have a right to "self-determination and independence".[14]. Despite considering the entire territory of current-day Western Sahara as its possession, beyond a handful of coastal settlements, Spain did not have effective control over the desert hinterland due to its harsh climatic conditions and the presence of small, nomadic groups, among whom intertribal conflicts were frequent. Furthermore, in 2010, the Polisario Front suspended contacts with the MINURSO, due to the failure of implementing the self-determination referendum and because of the endless human rights abuses, and accused the force of turning into a protector shield of a colonial fact, the occupation of Western Sahara by Morocco. 2023 BBC. The UN Security Council called on Morocco to put an end forthwith to the declared march into Western Sahara (Resolution 380). [68] Also present at the negotiations were the neighboring countries of Algeria and Mauritania, a nod to the role they play in the ongoing conflict. Therefore, the lower house of Chile's parliament subsequently repeatedly called for the recognition of SADR and establishment of diplomatic relations with it. Eleven security officers and at least two civilians were killed, by official count. Region has been claimed by both Morocco and Polisario Front, an independence movement. ", a Brussels-based commercial firm in the domain of counselling, "The Conditions of Detentions of the Moroccan POWs Detained in Tindouf (Algeria)", "Telquel Maroc/Algrie.Bluff et petites manuvres", "Khadija Mohsen-Finan Le rglement du conflit du Sahara occidental l'preuve de la nouvelle donne rgionale", "France Liberts The Conditions of Detentions of the Moroccan POWs Detained in Tindouf (Algeria). The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) was proclaimed by the Polisario Front on 27 February 1976, in Bir Lehlu, Western Sahara.SADR claims sovereignty over the entire territory of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony; however, at present the SADR government controls approximately 20-25% of the territory it claims. Until complete independence. In 1956, the Ifni War, initiated by the Moroccan Army of Liberation, marked renewed conflict in the region; after two years of war, the Spanish forces regained control, again with French aid. [13] Armed conflict continued to break out until a 1991 ceasefire. After the passing of the agreement a petition signed by leading Saharawi activist organizations in the region was penned to the EU condemning the decision,[55] and the Polisario Front announced it will challenge the vote in the European Court of Justice stating it was in clear violation of international law. The constitution also defines Sahrawis as a Muslim, African and Arab people. [11], The conflict in the Western Sahara dates back in the early 1970s, when the indigenous Sahrawi Polisario Front sprang up an insurgency in Spanish Sahara, demanding an independent Sahrawi Republic. [13] In 1979, Mauritania gave up its claim to Western Sahara, which led to Morocco taking over the Mauritanian-controlled portion of the territory. In October 2020, Rwanda signed several cooperation agreements with Morocco. Although the United Nations officially considers Morocco and the Polisario Front as the main parties to the conflict, former UN Secretary-General Mr. Kofi Annan viewed Algeria as a stakeholder in the Western Sahara conflict and has invited Algeria, "to engage as a party in these discussions and to negotiate, under the auspices of my Kofi Annan's Personal Envoy". Another series of protests began on 26 February 2011, as a reaction to the failure of police to prevent anti-Sahrawi looting in the city of Dakhla, Western Sahara; protests soon spread throughout the territory. Women in Western Sahara are prominent members of the Polisario Front as soldiers and activists. Continuing disputes between the two factions once more brought the process to a halt. To conclude, from an objective analysis of the dispute presented so far, it can be suggested that the claim of Morocco on Western Sahara is contentious and that the people of Western Sahara should have the ultimate right to self-determination, to freely choose their own destiny, which must be met through the establishment of a fully sovereign State. [10], Besides Mexico, Algeria, Iran, Venezuela, Vietnam, Nigeria and South Africa, India was the major middle power to have ever recognized SADR, having allowed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic to open an embassy in New Delhi in 1985. According to Pascal Bongard, program director at Geneva Call, between five and ten million land mines have been laid in the areas around the wall. History Beginnings In 1971 a group of young Sahrawi students in the universities of Morocco began organizing what came to be known as The Embryonic Movement for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro. Since its inception in 1976, the various constitutional revisions have transformed the republic from an ad hoc managerial structure into something approaching an actual governing apparatus. [citation needed], Following the evacuation of the Spaniards, due to the Moroccan Green March, Spain, Morocco, and Mauritania signed the Madrid Accords on 14 November 1975, six days before Francisco Franco died. [53] Although the Polisario Front was not involved in the negotiations, the SFPA explicitly allows for European Vessels to fish in the disputed coast of the Western Sahara territory. Chile,[26] Australia,[27] Brazil,[28][29][30][31] and Sweden[32] have all internally voted to recognise the SADR, but none have yet ratified it. The Moroccans have been more successful regarding the Western Sahara. Most countries take censuses every ten years, and some every five in order to stay abreast of change and miscounts; the last count was conducted in 1970, and even that data by colonial Spain is considered unreliable due to large nomadic populations. May 12, 2021. Simultaneously, the SADR was admitted to the Organization of African Unity (OAU), theAfrican Unions predecessor, as the government of Western Sahara. It was endorsed by the UN in 2003. On February 28, 1976, together with the Saharan National Council, the birth of the RASD (Arab Democratic Saharawi Republic) was proclaimed, a free, independent, sovereign state, organized according to a national democratic Arab system of Unionist, progressive and Islamic religion. Signed at Montevideo, December 26th, 1933", "States recognizing the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic", "Listado de Paises Que Han Reconocido a La Republica Arabe Saharaui Democratica", "Country recognitions of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic", "TEXTE DU COMMUNIQUE CONJOINT MAROCO-MALGACHE", "M. Mohamed Benaissa salue la dcision de Madagascar de geler sa reconnaissance de la "rasd", "Madagascar freezes recognition of so-called Sahrawi Republic", "La Rpublique du Burundi gle sa reconnaissance de la prtendue "RASD", "Burundi freezes recognition of so-called Sahrawi republic", "La Rpublique de Burundi ritre sa reconnaissance de la Rpublique arabe sahraouie dmocratique (RASD)", "Le Burundi retire sa reconnaissance la "rasd", "Visite d'adieu d'Aziria Abdelkader, Ambassadeur algrien au Burundi", "le Burundi retire sa reconnaissance la RASD", "M. Bio Toro Orou Guiwa, Ambassadeur du Bnin", "Le Bnin salue les rformes politiques et constitutionnelles engage par le Maroc", "Le Bnin salue les rformes politiques et constitutionnelles engage par le Maroc (Ministre AE)", "La Guine Bissau apporte son appui l'initiative marocaine", "La Guine Bissau dcide de rtablir ses relations diplomatiques avec la RASD", "Guinea Bissau decide restablecer el reconocimiento a la RASD", "Guinea Bissau withdraw its recognition of SADR and supports the autonomy initiative", "La Guine-Bissau met un terme sa reconnaissance de la fantomatique RASD et soutient l'autonomie", "Guinea Bissau retira su reconocimiento a la RASD y apoya iniciativa autonoma", "ACTUALITES HEBDOMADAIRES SEMAINE 25 16. There have been also many instances of human rights violations and serious breaches of the Geneva convention committed by the Moroccan Government, the Polisario Front, and the Algerian government. PM Spencer announces Accreditation of the Institution as a Teaching Hospital", "Antigua-Barbuda to benefit from cooperation with African and European countries", "The Government of Morocco commits to building a fifty-room hotel in Dominica", "L'Etat marocain construit un htel de luxe aux Carabes", "No. The word arw then is derived from the Arabic word ar (), meaning 'desert'. Isaas Barreada Chapter First Online: 01 December 2016 682 Accesses 4 Citations Abstract One little-addressed issue in studies about Western Sahara is the position of the Sahrawis from southern Morocco and their participation in the independence movement. 1957 - Newly-independent Morocco lays centuries-old claim to Western Sahara. No replacement plan exists, however, and worries persist that the political vacuum will result in renewed fighting. Movement for the Liberation of Saguia el Hamra and Wadi el Dhahab Polisario Front Sahrawi National Union Party Madrid Accords Partition agreement Regions Saguia el-Hamra Ro de Oro Southern Provinces Tiris al-Gharbiyya Free Zone Politics Annexation of Western Sahara Political status of Western Sahara Foreign relations of Morocco Makhzen The Polisario gradually gained control over large swaths of the Western Saharan desert, and its power grew steadily after early 1975 when the Tropas Nomadas began deserting en masse to the Polisario Front, bringing their weapons and training with them. [33] Since the end of 2016, the UN has gathered stakeholders around roundtables organized in Geneva. Morocco claims to have captured "dozens of Algerian officers and non-commissioned officers and soldiers" during these confrontations, but has released them to Algerian authorities.[30]. [1], King Hassan II of Morocco rallied political support and announced that his country would oppose independence as an option in the Western Sahara referendum. Numerous UN-sponsored talks fail to yield a breakthrough. The SADR is one of the two African states in which Spanish is a significant language, the other being Equatorial Guinea. At the heart of the dispute lies the question of who qualifies as a potential voter; the Polisario has insisted on only allowing those found on the 1974 Spanish Census lists (see below) to vote, while Morocco has insisted that the census was flawed by evasion and sought the inclusion of members of Sahrawi tribes which escape from Spanish invasion to the north of Morocco by the 19th century. Many public and private buildings and vehicles were burned in the city.[25]. [note 2] SADR has, at some point in time, been recognised by 43.5% of United Nations (UN) member states, 38 out of the other 54 (70%) African Union (AU) member states, 18 out of 57 (32%) Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states, and 5 out of 22 (23%) Arab League (AL) member states. AU; Recognition withdrawn 17 January 2014. After attempting in vain to gain backing from several Arab governments, including both Algeria and Morocco itself, the movement only succeeded in obtaining support from Libya and Mauritania. [citation needed] The 1975 United Nations visiting mission to Spanish Sahara, headed by Simeon Ak, concluded that Sahrawi support for independence (as opposed to Spanish rule or integration with a neighboring country) amounted to an "overwhelming consensus" and that the Polisario Front was by far the most powerful political force in the country.[22]. This ends with a UN-brokered cease-fire which sees the Polisario controlling about 20% of the territory, the rest being controlled by Morocco. Arab Studies Quarterly (ASQ) Nbr. But a new generation of Sahrawi refugees is growing fractious as aid dwindles and diplomatic efforts fail to deliver a settlement. [33] The SADR participates as a guest in meetings of the Non-Aligned Movement[34][35] and the New AsianAfrican Strategic Partnership,[36][37] over Moroccan objections to SADR participation. This Western Sahara article is a stub. [86], The Western Sahara conflict has resulted in severe human rights abuses, most notably the aerial bombardments with napalm and white phosphorus of the Sahrawi refugee camps,[87] the exodus of tens of thousands of Sahrawi civilians from the country, and the forced expropriation and expulsion of tens of thousands of Moroccan expatriate civilians by the Algerian government in reaction to the Green March. Of these, 39 have since "frozen" or "withdrawn" recognition for a number of reasons. Now it is time to return to war and we women of Western Sahara will sacrifice our children for the cause, declared the sixty-five-year-old woman Mbaraka from a refugee camp in Tindouf, which hosts several camps housing more than 165,000 refugees. The Western Sahara conflict is an ongoing conflict between the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic/Polisario Front and the Kingdom of Morocco. 31 January Western Sahara is a sparsely-populated area of mostly desert situated on the northwest coast of Africa. The Baker Plan (formally, Peace Plan for Self-Determination of the People of Western Sahara) was a United Nations initiative led by James Baker to grant self-determination to Western Sahara, and was formulated in the year 2000. [96] The video inspired condemnation from international rights groups who called for an investigation to be made and for Al-Batal to be released. During the 1980s, little changed in the conflict between Morocco and the Sahrawi population. Ma al-Aynayn died in October 1910, and his son El Hiba succeeded him. As of 2010[update], negotiations over the terms of any potential referendum have not resulted in any substantive action. According to a NATO delegation MINURSO election observers stated in 1999 that "if the number of voters does not rise significantly the odds were slightly on the SADR side". To date, large parts of Western Sahara are controlled by the Moroccan Government and known as the Southern Provinces, whereas some 20% of the Western Sahara territory remains controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), the Polisario state with limited international recognition. Finally, a cease-fire was negotiated in 1991 between the two parties but, as the conflict froze, thousands of refugees were still stuck in the temporary camps. In 1979, Mauritania withdrew its troops from the territory and, in 1984, officially recognized the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).[3]. In July 2019 the Polisario Front arrested three Saharawi activists within the refugee camps for criticizing the Polisario Front's governance in Facebook Posts. A former Spanish colony, it was annexed by Morocco in 1975. [86] The Polisario call the Berm the "wall of shame" while Morocco calls it a "defensive wall", "wall of sand" or "security wall". Thus, the referendum was officially given the green signal, but in the end, it led to the Green March: a strategic mass demonstration coordinated by theMoroccangovernment. [21] Under international law, Morocco's transfer of its own civilians into Non-Self-Governing territory is in direct violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention (cf. The SADR in its controlled territories uses the Sahrawi Peseta although the majority of the country uses the Moroccan Dirham. Weekly quiz: Which Hollywood star was in the driving seat? Ghali was one of Polisario's founding members in 1973 and led the first raids against the Spanish forces that sparked the armed struggle for Western Saharan independence. The government of the SADR claims sovereignty over all of the Western Sahara territory, but has control only within the Free Zone. [15][16] Day-to-day business, however, is conducted in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf Province, Algeria, which house most of the Sahrawi exile community. For instance, Portuguese colonies of Mozambique, Cape Verde, Angola, So Tom, and Principe, gained their independence in 1975 with the fall of the authoritarian regime Estado Novo. (Official website of the Sahrawi Delegation in Spain), (in Arabic, English, French, and Spanish), (dependency of the Health ministry of the SADR), (Sahrawi Youth Union. 1975 - Morocco's King Hassan defies a Hague ruling in favour of Saharawi rights to self-determination and stages the "Green March" of 350,000 Moroccans into Western Sahara. However, unrest lingered among the region's population, and in 1967 the Harakat Tahrir arose to challenge Spanish rule peacefully. Efforts to gain support in the Arab World for the idea of a Greater Morocco did not receive much support despite efforts in the early 1960s to enlist the Arab League for its cause. As a result of the passage of this resolution, the parties involved met in Manhasset, New York to once again try and settle the dispute. Declarations were also adopted by the parliaments of Chile and Brazil. Moroccan initiative and Manhasset negotiations, Report of the Secretary General on the status of the negotiations on Western Sahara, 29 June 2007, Learn how and when to remove these template messages, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Invasion and occupation of Western Sahara, limited recognition by a number of other states, United Nations visiting mission to Spanish Sahara, AlgeriaSahrawi Arab Democratic Republic relations, The main novelty is that Algeria has been invited to these round tables, The Conditions of Detentions of the Moroccan POWs Detained in Tindouf (Algeria), United Nations Security Council Resolution 1754, Moroccan Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs, expulsion of tens of thousands of Moroccan expatriate civilians, "Gulf Arabs back Morocco in Western Sahara rift with U.N.", "Marruecos incrementa su presencia en Mauritania", "Asistencia en favor de las vctimas saharauis", "Women on Frontline in Struggle for Western Sahara", "Saharawi Liberation Army | SADR Permanent Mission in Ethiopia and African Union", "Sahrawis campaign for independence in the second intifada, Western Sahara, 20052008", "Western Sahara Between Autonomy and Intifada Middle East Research and Information Project", "Western Sahara: Beatings, Abuse by Moroccan Security Forces", "Polisario leader says Western Sahara ceasefire with Morocco is over", "Western Sahara independence leader declares the end of a 29-year-old ceasefire with Morocco", "United Nations General Assembly A/55/997", "Memorandum of the Kingdom of Morocco on the regional dispute on the Sahara September 24, 2004", "United Nations Security Council. [58], In April 2013, the United States proposed that MINURSO monitored human rights (as all the other UN mission since 1991) in Western Sahara, a move that Morocco strongly opposed, cancelling the annual African Lion military exercises with U.S. Army troops. Fabrizio Parrilli, 24, Masters degree Student of International Cooperation on Human Rights at the University of Bologna, Italy. As rejected voter candidates began a mass-appeals procedure, the Moroccan government insisted that each application be scrutinized individually. The Polisario Front has also been accused of suppressing media freedoms within its territories. [citation needed], The Sahrawi National Council is composed of 53 members, all from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Ro de Oro. 3802 Convention on Rights and Duties of States Adopted by the Seventh International Conference of American States. [73], In April 2020, the Polisario Front publicly condemned the state of the on-going peace talks stating that its inaction legitimized the encroachment of Morocco into the territory. Morocco recognized the United States in 1777. From the late 1980s the parliament began to take steps to institute a division of powers and to disentangle the republic's structures from those of the Polisario Front, although without clear effect to date. The conflict has witnessed numerous violations of human rights and serious breaches of the Geneva convention on the part of all involved parties; the Polisario Front, the Moroccan government and the Algerian government among them.[88]. [37][unreliable source? In a note to Morocco on 4 October 2019, Lesotho stated that it had decided to "suspend all statements and decisions related to the status of Western Sahara and 'SADR' pending the outcome of the United Nations Process". The Sahrawi liberation movement, the Polisario Front, is attracting recruits especially younger ones. Among key points, the head of state is constitutionally the Secretary General of the Polisario Front during what is referred to as the "pre-independence phase", with provision in the constitution that on independence, Polisario is supposed to be dismantled or separated completely from the government structure. Brazilian Chamber of Deputies repeatedly asked government of Brazil to recognize SADR and establish diplomatic relations with it. [13] This led to a Moroccan military operation and subsequently led to the 2020 Western Saharan clashes and prompted the Polisario Front to quit observing the 1991 ceasefire.[13]. This was attested by pro-Polisario demonstrations in many locations that the United Nations mission visited. As a reaction, the Polisario Front, supported by Alegria, proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR)claiming Western Sahara as their legitimate land. The SADR's government structure consists of a Council of Ministers (a cabinet led by the Prime Minister), a judicial branch (with judges appointed by the President) and the parliamentary Sahrawi National Council (SNC; the present speaker is Khatri Addouh). Generations of Sahrawis people and families have grown up in Algerias remote desert refugee camps, largely forgotten by the outside world.
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