boris ryser
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 Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 9:25 pm Post subject: (Sahaa-Updates) Law on the side of the Saharawi people |
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United Nations General Assembly
GA/SPD/397
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Department of Public Information . News and Media Division . New York
Sixty-third General Assembly
Fourth Committee
3rd Meeting (PM)
7 October
PETITIONERS ADDRESS FOURTH COMMITTEE ON GIBRALTAR, GUAM, WESTERN SAHARA,
UNITED STATES VIRGIN ISLANDS -- REVEALING COMPLEX DYNAMICS OF DECOLONIZATION
ISSUES
Hearing more than20 speakerson the questions of Gibraltar, Guam, the United
States Virgin Islands and Western Sahara -- with dozens of petitioners still
to be heard on the latter question tomorrow -- the Fourth Committee (Special
Political and Decolonization) continued its general debate on decolonization
issues in the remaining Non-Self-Governing Territories.
[...]
On the question of Western Sahara, many petitioners underlined the
complicating -- even distracting -- role of a sovereignty dispute in the
decolonization process. One speaker, who was an international lawyer and
teacher at the Université Libre de Bruxulles, noted that the Saharawi
people's right to self-determination continued to be confounded by Morocco's
claims of territorial integrity. While some within the United Nations might
have the Fourth Committee believe that Morocco's claim was a "fait
accompli", he said international law was clear and Western Sahara's fate
should not be determined by fiat, but by law, because the legal system
ensured that the violation of law did not create law.
Against the backdrop of the decolonization debate, several speakers
emphasized the plight of the Sahawari people. A few petitioners called for
the United Nations to investigate claims of human rights abuses in both the
Tindouf refugee camps and the Western Sahara areas under Moroccan
administration. A representative of the United States-Western Sahara
Foundation suggested that the abuses were the primary roadblock to resolving
the Western Sahara conflict.
A representative of the Rock Community Church testified to the human tragedy
she had seen during frequent visits to the Saharawi refugee camps, where the
food supply was diminishing, school supplies were lacking and students had
lost their motivation. She had met many third-generation refugees "with
only the memories of others to hold onto for the hope of returning to their
homeland".
[...]
Other petitioners on the question of Western Sahara included Nancy Huff,
Teach the Children International; Helen Hardin, Office of Congressman Zach
Wamp; Agaila Abba Hemeida; Hilt Teuwen, Oxfam Solidarity; Cynthia Basinet,
actress and singer; Monseignor Jean Abboud; Delphine Bourgeois, Med Euro
Cap; Miguel Ortiz Asin, Forum Canario-Saharaui; and Felipe Briones Vives,
Asociacion International de Juristas por el Sahara Occidental.
[...]
The Fourth Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, 8 October, to
hear remaining petitioners on the question of Western Sahara.
Background
The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) met this
afternoon to continue its consideration of all decolonization issues. It
expected to hear petitioners from a number of Non-Self-Governing
Territories. (Reports before the Committee are summarized in yesterday's
Press Release GA/SPD/396.)
Statements
[...]
Petitioners on Question of Western Sahara
While stressing his belief that the conflict in Western Sahara was at a
point where it could finally be resolved, CHARLES WILSON, United States-
Western Sahara Foundation, said that several roadblocks, nevertheless, would
have to be addressed. First among them were claims of human rights
violations of the Saharawi people. Indeed, no meaningful progress towards
settlement could be made until that roadblock to progress was removed.
He recalled that several allegations had been lodged against the Popular
Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro (POLISARIO Front)
for preventing refugees from leaving the Tindouf camps. Some of those
allegations even included complaints of actual human slavery. An Australian
documentary would reportedly be released in the coming months that might
provide documentation of such instances. In addition, one young girl was
attempting to refuse returning to the camps through a legal action in Spain.
Claims had also been made that the POLISARIO was overestimating the number
of people in the camps for the purpose of getting more donations that would
eventually make their way onto the black market, thereby enriching the
leaders of that group. On the other side, allegations had been made against
the Government of Morocco for its treatment of the Saharawi people under its
administration in Western Sahara.
Noting that activists supporting either side were not necessarily the best,
most reliable means of verifying such claims, he stressed that the
POLISARIO's offer to open up the camps to free and unhindered observation
should be fully implemented. The Saharawi refugees should be asked by
observers about their feelings about their ability and desire to leave the
camps. In addition, a head count should be made. Similar inquiries should
be undertaken in Western Sahara areas under administration by the Moroccan
Government to ensure that those human rights roadblocks were cleared.
NANCY HUFF, Teach the Children International, asked the United Nations to
take a series of specific actions to give hope to the Saharawis and "those
working towards a peaceful resolution of the issue". Her three major
requests were for disclosure on all peacekeeping efforts, regular dialogue
between all parties involved and data collection of all situational aspects,
such as head counts and oversight of food distribution.
She said that a continuous dialogue was necessary for a solution to the
conflict, as a lack thereof prolonged the agony of Saharawis in the Tindouf
camps and in the occupied territory. It should be made public when parties
asked for a round of resolution talks, and regular meetings should be
required by the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay
Khalilzad, and the United States State Department, with the outcomes also
made public. Additionally, she stressed the importance of data collection,
as it was currently difficult to find available information that was
unbiased and accurate.
She sought the creation of an independent entity that would put together
accurate data on a wide spectrum of concerns, so as to ensure that more
reliable information was given to sister non-governmental organizations. In
turn, those organizations would be more accountable to their financial
supporters. In closing, she asked that the Security Council "not go back to
sleep", but take action and keep the issue in the forefront of the news.
HELEN HARDIN, Chief of Staff in the Office of Congressman Zach Wamp,
emphasized that the issue of Western Sahara had not changed in the last few
decades. Indeed, Saharawi refugees remained subjected to harsh, unforgiving
conditions in the desert. Electricity was unreliable. Restrooms were
primitive. Basic needs were only, and barely, met by donations. The
absence of meaningful work was another depressing aspect of life in the
refugee camps.
She said that despite those challenges, the attitude of the Saharawi people
was testament to the human spirit. Literacy rates were extremely high among
the Saharawi, who worked hard to maintain order in their lives. Respect for
women was evident throughout the society, with many women running the
administration of their camp communities. Although the Saharawi people were
disillusioned after years of unfulfilled promises regarding a
self-determination referendum, they maintained their hope that their exile
might end and their return to their homeland might eventually be achieved.
In light of that spirit, she asked, "You who have been given so much, what
will you do?"
JANET LENZ, Christ the Rock Community Church, took the floor to convey the
human tragedy she had seen during frequent visits to the Saharawi refugee
camps, prior to her next trip, her twenty-fourth. In the harsh desert life
of the camps, she had witnessed the diminishing food supply, the lack of
school supplies and loss of motivation of students, and the presence of many
third-generation refugees "with only the memories of others to hold onto for
the hope of returning to their homeland". For those Saharawis who remained
in their homeland, she spoke of a similar tragedy of families torn apart,
with those in camps, living with an "oppressive blanket of fear", owing to
the occupying forces. She also called attention to their lack of freedom to
self-govern and to "be who they are", even though they possessed their own
unique language, culture, history and heritage.
[Attached to her presentation was a collage of photos of the Saharawi people
and life on the ground.]
Ms. Lenz warned of a "growing threat" of increasing frustration and anger
because of the Saharawis' living conditions and the delay in the United
Nations referendum, which had promised them a vote 20 years ago and which
was reconfirmed each year. She urged actions in support of words, stating
that the people in the camps and in Western Sahara "want to simply have
their vote", and would accept whatever outcome. She also suggested some
admission of failure and wrongdoing by all responsible parties, and apology
to the Saharawi people for their suffering.
AGAILA ABBA HEMEIDA, Saharawi student, said the Saharawis had been waiting
for three decades to have their voice heard in a fair referendum. Her
grandfather, who had fought for the freedom of the Saharawi people in the
war between Western Sahara and Morocco during the 1970s, was one of about
200,000 Saharawi people who had been waiting for news about their right to
self-determination. That right would let them vote on whether they wished
to be independent or to integrate with Morocco. The Saharawis in the camps
and those living in the occupied territories were both suffering.
She said that Morocco had outlined an autonomy plan saying that the Saharawi
people could have their land back, but their sovereignty would be under the
administration of the Moroccan Government. That means that the Saharawis'
provinces, schools and hospitals would be run by the Moroccan Government and
that each Saharawi would hold Moroccan citizenship. They would be forced to
integrate with Morocco and they would lose their rights as a nation and
their identity. She urged "yes" on the referendum and on the right of
self-determination.
VINCENT CHAPAUX, Université Libre de Bruxulles, said that a juridical
approach to the question of Western Sahara might seem useless, given the
fact that nothing had changed on a legal level in that Territory for three
decades. Indeed, the right to self-determination by the Saharawi people was
still confounded by Morocco's claims of territorial integrity. While the
right to self-determination had been clearly upheld by the International
Court of Justice, putting law on the side of the Saharawi people, the
current facts might be said to favour Morocco since it still occupied
Western Sahara, as it had done for more than 30 years.
He said that, while none of that was new, some within the United Nations
might have the Fourth Committee believe that Morocco's claim was a "fait
accompli". Some had done that by arguing that Morocco had the right to
exploit Western Sahara's natural resources. Also, a member of the
Organization -- Peter Van Walsum -- had stated that the rights of the
Saharawis should give way to the political situation.
Pressing the Fourth Committee to consider the situation, he asked if the
right of self-determination should take into account the Moroccan
occupation, as some were increasingly suggesting. International law on that
was clear, and time could not obliterate a juridical obligation. In fact,
such obligations did not die of old age; they died or were transformed only
when the United Nations Member States decided it was so. The question today
was whether the international community had made that decision. He
suggested it had not, as the question of Western Sahara was considered
before this Committee each year. Mr. Van Walsum was wrong. The fate of
Western Sahara should not be determined by fiat, but by law because the
legal system ensured that the violation of law did not create law.
HILT TEUWEN, Oxfam Solidarity, noting that Western Sahara's decolonization
still needed to be addressed by the Fourth Committee, recalled that refugee
rights had been developed and described in numerous United Nations
resolutions, international treaties and conventions. Underling that the
decolonization of Western Sahara should occur in the framework of
self-determination, she noted that the United Nations had been assisting the
refugees in the Tindouf camps for decades. The harsh conditions there
created widespread hunger and increasing health problems for the refugees
and food aid was irregular.
The reason most often heard for the situation was the lack of resources, she
said, adding that Western Sahara was a forgotten humanitarian crisis. The
international community should do more to fulfil its responsibilities under
humanitarian law. The United Nations and its Members States should provide
the necessary aid. In that effort, a diversification of the delivered food
basket was needed, along with an increase in the amount of food stocks
provided.
SENIA BACHIR-ABDERAHMAN, Saharawi Youth Union, said that, although she was a
native of Western Sahara, she had never set foot there. Today, she was a
student in the United States and had addressed the Committee last year. But
little to nothing had been done in the year. Instead, the Moroccan
Government had knowingly violated international law by continuing to refuse
the right of her people to self-determination and by exploiting the natural
resources of Western Sahara. Meanwhile, Saharawi people were being
tortured. She herself had been born in the refugee camps in Tindouf, where
food was scarce and educational facilities were insufficient. Like many
other Saharawi students, she had had to go to boarding school to receive
access to a basic human right: education.
Unfortunately, those living in Western Sahara were not as lucky, she said.
Attacks had been made on Saharawi students at a university in Marrakesh.
One boy had been thrown out a window and his neck had been broken. She
asked why, while those violations continued, the international community
turned a blind eye to the question of Western Sahara. Speaking on behalf of
the Saharawi youth, she urged the United Nations to consider that question,
as well as the fate of the Saharawi people and what they would wake up to
tomorrow.
CYNTHIA BASINET, singer and actress, said that the international community
had a moral responsibility as steward of the Saharawi people, and that a
shift in heart and not just policy was required. Anaemia, diabetes,
tuberculosis, stunting and acute malnutrition were plaguing the Saharawi
population, and yet 90 per cent of the population had attended school and
were literate, according to a 1998 study.
She expressed deep concern over landmine explosions, such as that which had
claimed the life of 8 year-old Fatima Bent Ibrahim this past year. Food
prices rivalled those of Europe, with camel meat costing about ?4 and the
price of potatoes and milk equally prohibitive. Finally, refugees living
abroad were unable to bring relatives with them because Western Sahara was
not recognized by the United Nations, nor were documents and passports.
It took all facets to make the world a diamond, she said, and the
international community must look beyond traditional methods of aid to
consider public-private partnerships and microlending, among other forms of
assistance, so that Saharawis were not "slowly delineated from the human map
of the world".
Monsignor JEAN ABBOUD asked if the provisions of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights could be disregarded. Could those articles that said that
no one could be arbitrarily arrested and detained be ignored? Through the
testimony, information and the scars of violence on the bodies of victims
and their family members, it was clear that dangerous human rights
violations, tantamount to crimes against humanity, were being committed by
POLISARIO -- even against those who had left everything to support that
organization. The violations, akin to acts of barbarism, were escalating.
That degrading treatment was a flagrant and methodical
violation of numerous international treaties and conventions, and he called
for those responsible to be brought before a special court immediately.
He urged the Secretary-General to seek an international inquiry into the
serious violations in the Tindouf camps. Noting that even a former
POLISARIO leader now living in Europe had acknowledged the presence of
prisons in the Tindouf camps, he said that the detention of Saharawi people
there was illegitimate. The arresters should immediately be arrested
themselves and a criminal court should be established to try them.
DELPHINE BOURGEOIS, Med Euro Cap, said that the international community was
facing a historic event that called for an International Criminal Court
trial to deal with crimes committed by POLISARIO against those "who trusted
it and came to join its camps".
She called for the denunciation of the grave human rights violations
committed by POLISARIO at Tindouf. She had been shocked, stunned and
scandalized by the "cruel treatments" suffered by former detainees
interviewed in Mauritania. There was irrefutable proof that the violations
were mounting and becoming even more horrible, including kidnapping,
disappearances, genocide, physical and psychological atrocities and even
cannibalism. A detailed report, with photographs, had been sent to
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Those inhumane conditions and torture were in serious violation of
international human rights conventions and humanitarian law, she said,
calling for an immediate inquiry under international jurisdiction of acts
committed by POLISARIO in the camps, and for the establishment of an
independent international commission to expose those "inhumane and
unacceptable realities".
MIGUEL ORTIZ ASIN, Forum Canario-Saharaui, said that a year ago his
organization had attempted to help the Saharawis to return to their lands.
The incorporation of the Saharawis into Spain was aimed at giving them a
homeland. While they had left the area, that did not mean that Spain or its
citizens had ceased to be concerned with their fate. Changes had shaped the
territory of Western Sahara in ways that were obvious to any visitor and had
put harsh pressure on the Saharawi people.
He said that POLISARIO and Morocco had tried, through the United Nations
system, to seek a solution. Five different plans had been developed, but a
solution remained to be found. That seriously affected the area's already
challenging situation and threatened the survival of the Saharawi people.
Nevertheless, a negotiated solution must be found under the auspices of the
United Nations. A proposal had been made by Morocco to establish a
solution, and that had led to a number of conversations. That proposal for
autonomy was positive, and while no such comparable models existed in
Morocco, they did in Spain. His Forum, therefore, called on the United
Nations to find a just solution to the Western Sahara conflict, which would
allow the Saharawi people to overcome the humanitarian drama which they had
suffered over the past few decades.
FELIPE BRIONES VIVES, International Association of Jurists for Western
Sahara, urged the United Nations to designate a rapporteur for Western
Sahara and to increase the competence of the United Nations Mission for the
Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). Proof existed that Morocco was
guilty of "atrocious ongoing violations" of international humanitarian law,
but some Security Council members continued to protect the Moroccan blockade
and would do so until the situation was resolved in Morocco's favour.
He said that international law had been violated because of geopolitical
considerations. That had reflected a failure of the United Nations, or lack
of will from its most influential members in the Security Council, to put an
end to what should simply have been a decolonization process. The Saharawi
claims were legitimate, while the Moroccan claims were not. "It's not right
to submit a referendum of decolonization to a previous agreement between the
occupant and occupied one."
Peter van Walsum had been the only representative of the Secretary-General
who had dared to maintain that international legality was on the side of
POLISARIO and that the Security Council would not use its powers to impose
that legality on Morocco, he said. The Council, in that case, was
protecting "a threat to the international peace and safety, and a crime
against humanity". More than 30 years of institution- and nation-building
had become the Saharawi nation, and that was now an irreversible reality.
[...]
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