Polisario Front/Algeria/Cuba

A relic of the Cold War, the Polisario is a band of militants who oppose Moroccan sovereignty in the territory known as the Western Sahara. Their key supporters are Algeria and Fidel Castro’s Cuba.

The Polisario Front (a Spanish acronym for the “Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro”) was formed in 1973 as an independence movement against the Spanish colonization in the Sahara.  After Spain relinquished the territory, the Polisario Front radically changed its mission and became a separatist group seeking to challenge Morocco’s long-standing ties of sovereignty over the territory.  For more than 30 years, the Polisario Front has held thousands of Sahrawi refugees (natives of the disputed Saharan territory) hostage in refugee camps located in Tindouf, southern Algeria.

The Secretary General of the Polisario Front is Mohammed Abdelaziz and due to the democratic limitations imposed by the Polisario Front in the territory, he has also remained the “elected” president of the sparsely recognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic since 1976.  Mohammed Abdelaziz and a small, select group of cadres exclusively control the Tindouf refugee camps. Today, Algeria is the primary financial, political and military supporter of the Polisario Front.  Though Libya and countries of the former Soviet Bloc historically backed the Polisario Front in the past, their support has decreased since the end of the Cold War. 

Sahrawi refugees in the Tindouf Camps depend on humanitarian aid donated by several United Nations organizations as well as international Non-Governmental Organizations. It is widely believed that much of this humanitarian aid never reaches those it is intended to assist because it is often sold on the black market in neighboring countries by the Polisario Front.  While many in the international community have called for the implementation of a census and an audit system to insure the transparent management of the humanitarian aid, to date, the Polisario Front has not allowed a census of the Sahrawi refugee camps, nor does it permit independent oversight of its management of humanitarian assistance.

Fidel Castro’s regime in Cuba also supports the Polisario Front and Algeria in their attempt to create a communist, anti-imperialist rogue state in the Sahara.  Cuba has also been the primary destination for Sahrawi youth who have been kidnapped from the refugee camps and sent to Castro’s Island of Youth for brainwashing and indoctrination. In Cuba, Sahrawi children are taught to believe that Morocco and the United States are their “enemy” and that they should always be prepared for the impending “War.”  Kidnapped Sahrawi youth are also inundated with anti-Western, Marxist and Leninist teachings.  The Polisario Front’s objective for the deportation of Sahrawi children is two-fold: 1) to separate families and destroy the most basic element of a society and 2) to keep pressure on family members to remain in the camps and be complicit with the Polisario Front leadership in order to not endanger their children’s welfare.
Background Information Expand
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)

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

"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)



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)

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)

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)

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)

US State Department Report on Counterterrorism Eff  

US State Department Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism "Middle East and North Africa Overview" (April 2006).  For more information, please visit: http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2005/64344.htm



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.


US Committee for Refugees & Immigrants: "Stonewalling on Refugee Rights: Algeria and the Sahrawi"  

Sahrawi refugees are among the longest warehoused refugee groups in the world. Some have languished in remote refugee camps for 30 years or more. More than 90,000 refugees wait year after year in the desolate Sahara Desert of southwest Algeria.



Letter to President Obama from the US Congress signed by 233 Members  In 2009, A bipartisan majority of the US Congress sent a letter to President Obama urging increased support for Morocco’s compromise autonomy proposal to definitively resolve the three-decades old Western Sahara dispute.

Letter to President Bush from the US Congress signed by 173 Members  In 2007, 173 members of the US Congress sent a letter to President Bush calling the Moroccan autonomy proposal the most “realistic” solution to end the Western Sahara conflict and called on increased US support for the initiative.

Western Sahara - A Timeline  A timeline of key events in the history of the area often referred to as the Western Sahara (1578-2009)

Sec. Clinton Interview on US Policy for the Western Sahara  On November 3, 2009, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton gave an interview in Morocco with Moroccan journalist Fouad Arif in which she reiterated US policy in support of the autonomy/Moroccan sovereignty solution, which originated in the Clinton administration, continued through the Bush administration and remains the policy under the Obama administration.

UN Security Council Resolution 1813  

On April 30, 2008, the United Nations Security Council adopted resolution 1813 in which it reaffirmed its commitment to assist the parties to the Western Sahara conflict (Morocco and the Polisario Front) to “achieve a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.” The UNSC also welcomed the “serious and credible Moroccan efforts to move the process forward towards resolution.”



Assessment of the UNSG Personal Envoy for the Western Sahara  In 2008, following the 4th round of negotiations, Dutch diplomat and then-UN Secretary General Personal Envoy for the Western Sahara, Peter Van Walsum, concluded in his report to the UN Security Council that “an independent Western Sahara is not an attainable goal.”

Letter to President Bush from Foreign Policy Experts in Support of Moroccan Autonomy Proposal  On June 6, 2007, a group of foreign policy experts, including former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Gen. (ret.) Wesley Clark, urged President George W. Bush to support Morocco’s compromise autonomy proposal which would lead to “a realistic and lasting peace in North Africa.”

Morocco’s Compromise Autonomy Initiative for the Western Sahara  In 2007, Morocco presented its compromise autonomy proposal for the Western Sahara to the United Nations.  The proposal would grant broad autonomy for the Western Sahara while remaining under Moroccan sovereignty.  The proposal was the impetus and forms the basis for the negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario Front.

US Senate Letter signed by 54 Senators  

On March 16, 2010, a majority in the US Senate joined a majority in the US House in supporting US policy for resolving the Western Sahara conflict. The l

etter from 54 Senators shows strong bipartisan backing in US Congress for a negotiated settlement of the conflict based on broad autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty; to remove ‘major obstacle to stability,’ fight terrorist threat in North Africa.

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

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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