Western Sahara

This southern region of Morocco has historical ties to the Kingdom, which were interrupted by the occupation by Spain for 75 years. Now Morocco has undertaken a multi-tier and multiyear development program to improve the social, economic, and security environment in the area. Its re-entry into the Western Sahara is opposed by the Polisario Front, a band of militants that are a relic of the Cold War.
Historically, the inhabitants of the disputed territory sometimes referred to as the “Western Sahara” demonstrated allegiance to Morocco for a period of several hundred years, and current Moroccan claims of sovereignty are merely reassertions of that past period of influence. This dispute originally stemmed from the Spanish colonization of Northwest Africa and this period of colonization, which lasted for nearly a century, overlapped with Morocco’s independence from France in 1956. It was at this time that Morocco formally reasserted its claim of sovereignty over the Western Sahara to the United Nations. Two years later, in 1958, King Mohammed V officially laid claim to the Western Sahara as sovereign Moroccan territory.
By the early-1960s the United Nations had begun to pressure the Spanish government to decolonize the Western Sahara. Had Spanish decolonization occurred at the initial urgings of the United Nations, it is likely that the long protracted dispute that now exists would have been headed off. The current dispute has been made more difficult due to the actions of the Polisario Front, a separatist movement that opposes Moroccan sovereignty over the region. The Polisario Front began as a movement of disaffected students who felt torn between the divergent Spanish and Moroccan influences on the region. The original goal of the Polisario Front, which was to end Spanish colonialism in the region, was achieved; however lack of foresight regarding future goals led to a bifurcation in Polisario Front leadership. A power vacuum was thus created, into which Algerian, Cuban, and Libyan influences stepped, subsequently forcing a shift in Polisario Front policy towards a more pro-independence rhetoric. This directional change in the Polisario Front’s policy, which forced the group’s original founders out, can be identified as a major cause of the current regional impasse.
Background Information Expand
ESISC Report: “Credible Negotiatiator or Obstacle  2005 Report by the European Strategic Intelligence & Security Center (ESISC): “Credible Negotiations Partner or After-Effect of the Cold war and Obstacle to a Political Solution in Western Sahara.” (PDF, November 2005)

France Libertés Moroccan POW Report  In April 2003, the French NGO, France Libertés, conducted an "International Mission of Inquiry: The Conditions of Detentions of the Moroccan POWs Detained in Tindouf (Algeria). (PDF, April 2003)

Exploding the Myths about the Moroccan POWs  These "Frequently Asked Questions" provide answers to common questions and myths surrounding the events leading up to the release of the last remaing 404 Moroccan Prisoners of War. (PDF, November 2005)

MACP Report: “Cuba and the Polisario Front”  This report by the Moroccan American Center for Policy examines the more than three decades long relationship between Cuba and the Polisario Front. (PDF, August 2005)

“Frequently Asked Questions” about Sahrawis  “Frequently Asked Questions” about the Sahrawi people and the 30 year Western Sahara Conflict (PDF, October 2005)

ESISC Report: Polisario's Human Rights violations  Report by the ESISC (European Strategic Intelligence & Security Center) of an independent committee of inquiry into allegations of violations of human rights, crimes, abuses and various other irregularities brought against the Polisario Front. (PDF, October 2006)

"Castro’s Closest Friends Need Him to “Get Well S  

In the days following Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's illness, Polisario Front and Algerian officials were quick to wish their long-time friend a "speedy recovery." (Article, Moroccan American Center for Policy, September 2006)



POLISARIO Threats to Return to War Hinder Ongoing UN Negotiations  
The Morocco American Center for Policy (MACP), a US-based NGO that supports strong ties between Morocco and the United States, is deeply concerned with recent hostile statements by the Polisario Front threatening war if they do not achieve full control of the Western Sahara – a clear contradiction to the goal of the ongoing UN-hosted negotiations aimed at a compromise political settlement to the conflict.


Group Rights and International Law: A Case Study on the Sahrawi Refugees in Algeria  
This report is a case study of the violation of refugee rights resulting from the three decades old warehousing of Sahrawi refugees in Algeria. It includes a brief introduction to the background of the factors that generated the refugee situation, an analysis of the current deplorable state of refugees in camps near the city of Tindouf in southwestern Algeria, and an assessment of how their rights are being violated under international refugee law. Drawing on international refugee and human rights law, particularly the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the work of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), it outlines both the legal rights of Sahrawi refugees and the legal responsibilities of UNHCR and the host country, Algeria. By assessing the responsibilities and shortcomings of UNHCR and Algeria in derogating from their obligations under international law, this report seeks to call international attention to the problem of refugee warehousing and to offer realistic suggestions for further international action that is urgently needed to improve the lives of the Sahrawi refugees and guarantee their rights under international refugee law.


“Free Them Now” - Moroccan American Center for Policy “Free Them Now”, a 2005 campaign to free the last remaining 404 Moroccan Prisoners of War
http://www.freethemnow.org

Official website for the American Council for Moroccan POWs
http://www.acmpow.org/

“Facts about Algeria”  by Survivors' Rights International, Inc. (SRI).  Survivors' Rights International, Inc. (SRI) is an organization whose aim is to raise public awareness about contemporary acts of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes taking place around the globe.
http://www.survivorsrightsinternational.org/algeria/algeria_facts.mv

“People Interrupted”- Learn more about the 30 year suffering of the Sahrawi people and how you can help bring it to an end.
http://www.peopleinterrupted.org

“Speak for Sahrawis” – Right now, thousands of Sahrawi families are without a voice, but YOU can speak out on their behalf.
http://www.speakforsahrawis.org

Official website of the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS)
http://www.corcas.com

After an investigation by the Inspectors General of the World Food Programme and the UN Refugee Agency compiled reports which document the Polisario/Algeria’s corruption & mismanagement of humanitarian aid in the Western Sahara.
http://www.cfif.org/htdocs/freedomline/un_monitor/in_our_opinion/UN-Mismanagement-Plagues-Aid-Program-Sahara.htm

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