boris ryser
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 Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 3:45 am Post subject: [Sahara-Update] The Ka Leo: U.S. Rep. Abercrombie out of tou |
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U.S. Rep. Abercrombie out of touch on Human Rights in Africa
The Ka Leo- The Voice
Issue date: 10/15/08 Section: Commentary
I imagine life is quite good for Congressman Neil Abercrombie these days.
His approval ratings are high and his re-election to Congress this fall
looks secure. So why does he support an illegal occupation in Africa?
In late April of last year, Abercrombie signed a congressional letter in
support of Morocco's Autonomy Plan for Western Sahara. Western Sahara is a
territory that, according to the United Nations, is pending decolonization
and is thus to be considered Africa's last colony.
In 1975, Western Sahara was brutally invaded and subsequently occupied by
Morocco, who claimed and incorporated the territory as their "southern
province." Morocco's King Hassan II justified this brutal invasion in 1975
by saying, "One Kuwait in the Arab world is enough," meaning that he did not
want an independent minerals-rich Western Sahara on his border.
The Moroccan Autonomy Plan that Abercrombie supports is an attempt by
Mohammed VI, the current Moroccan king, to solidify and formalize Moroccan
rule over Western Sahara. Not one country has recognized the Moroccan
annexation, whereas some 80 countries worldwide have recognized Western
Sahara as an independent country.
Furthermore, more than 100 U.N. resolutions support the Sahwari's (Western
Sahara's native people) right to self-determination.
How is it, I wonder, that Abercrombie has come to the conclusion that the
Sahrawi would be best served by seeing their homeland incorporated into an
invading and expansionist Arab kingdom? One would think Abercrombie already
knew, from his time on the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, that Morocco
is one of the worst human rights abusers in this part of the world.
I am a relative newcomer to the Hawaiian Islands, but am I wrong to expect a
Hawaiian congressman to be sensitive to the plight of indigenous people?
Through his support of the Moroccan occupation, Abercrombie has also chosen
to overlook and disregard international law and many rules and regulations,
both American and international, governing the civic discourse of
international relations.
Abercrombie should take note of the words of Lord Acton, who said that power
corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The Sahrawi freedom
struggle is a war of national liberation, and history teaches us that
nations are not willing to be ruled by other nations and that wars of
national liberation almost always end successfully.
Mikael Simble
U.S. representative of the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara |
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