SPEAKERS CONTENTS INSERTS
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2006
GETTING TO ''YES'': RESOLVING THE 30-YEAR
CONFLICT OVER THE STATUS OF
WESTERN SAHARA
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
NOVEMBER 17, 2005
Serial No. 109–104
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Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.house.gov/international—relations
COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois, Chairman
JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey,
Vice Chairman
DAN BURTON, Indiana
ELTON GALLEGLY, California
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida
DANA ROHRABACHER, California
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California
PETER T. KING, New York
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio
THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado
RON PAUL, Texas
DARRELL ISSA, California
JEFF FLAKE, Arizona
JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia
MARK GREEN, Wisconsin
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JERRY WELLER, Illinois
MIKE PENCE, Indiana
THADDEUS G. McCOTTER, Michigan
KATHERINE HARRIS, Florida
JOE WILSON, South Carolina
JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
J. GRESHAM BARRETT, South Carolina
CONNIE MACK, Florida
JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska
MICHAEL McCAUL, Texas
TED POE, Texas
TOM LANTOS, California
HOWARD L. BERMAN, California
GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York
ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American Samoa
DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey
ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey
SHERROD BROWN, Ohio
BRAD SHERMAN, California
ROBERT WEXLER, Florida
ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts
GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
BARBARA LEE, California
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JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York
EARL BLUMENAUER, Oregon
SHELLEY BERKLEY, Nevada
GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California
ADAM B. SCHIFF, California
DIANE E. WATSON, California
ADAM SMITH, Washington
BETTY McCOLLUM, Minnesota
BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky
DENNIS A. CARDOZA, California
THOMAS E. MOONEY, SR., Staff Director/General Counsel
ROBERT R. KING, Democratic Staff Director
Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, Chairman
THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado
JEFF FLAKE, Arizona
MARK GREEN, Wisconsin
JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California,
Vice Chairman
DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey
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BARBARA LEE, California
BETTY McCOLLUM, Minnesota
BRAD SHERMAN, California
GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
DIANE E. WATSON, California
MARY M. NOONAN, Subcommittee Staff Director
GREG SIMPKINS, Subcommittee Professional Staff Member
NOELLE LUSANE, Democratic Professional Staff Member
SHERI A. RICKERT, Subcommittee Professional Staff Member and Counsel
LINDSEY M. PLUMLEY, Staff Associate
C O N T E N T S
WITNESSES
The Honorable James Inhofe, a U.S. Senator from the State of Oklahoma
The Honorable Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Representative in Congress from the State of Florida
Mr. Toby Shelley, Journalist, Financial Times, London, England
Mr. Gordon Gray, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau for Near Eastern Affairs, U.S. Department of State
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The Honorable Frank Ruddy, Former Deputy Chairman of the Referendum for Western Sahara (MINURSO), United Nations
Mr. Erik Jensen, Former Head of the United Nations Mission to Western Sahara (MINURSO), United Nations
Mr. Ali El Jaouhar, Former Moroccan Prisoner of War
LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING
The Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a Representative in Congress from the State of New Jersey, and Chairman, Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations: Prepared statement
The Honorable James Inhofe: Prepared statement
The Honorable Lincoln Diaz-Balart: Prepared statement
Mr. Toby Shelley: Prepared statement
Mr. Gordon Gray: Prepared statement
The Honorable Frank Ruddy: Prepared statement
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Mr. Erik Jensen: Prepared statement
Mr. Ali El Jaouhar: Prepared statement
The Honorable Donald M. Payne, a Representative in Congress from the State of New Jersey: UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) Report
APPENDIX
Alexandra Arriaga, Associate Deputy Director for Advocacy and Director of Government Relations, Amnesty International USA: Prepared statement
Aziz Mekouar, Ambassador of His Majesty to Washington DC, Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco: Prepared statement
Moulud Said, Polisario Front Representative in the United States: Prepared statement
Suzanne Scholte, President, Defense Forum Foundation and Chairman, U.S.-Western Sahara Foundation: Prepared statement
Stephen P. Hagens, President, Homeland International: Prepared statement
GETTING TO ''YES'': RESOLVING THE 30-YEAR CONFLICT OVER THE STATUS OF WESTERN SAHARA
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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2005
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights
and International Operations,
Committee on International Relations,
Washington, DC.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:47 p.m. in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher H. Smith (Chairman of the Subcommittee) presiding.
Mr. SMITH. The Subcommittee will resume.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Smith follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY AND CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS
In the 1950s and 1960s, dozens of former European colonies in Africa won their independence, changing forever the face of a continent in bondage since the scramble for Africa in 1800s. Some African colonies didn't win their independence until later, such as Angola and Mozambique in the 1970s and Zimbabwe and Namibia the 1980s. Majority rule didn't come to South Africa until the 1990s.
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However, the wave of African independence left one new nation yet unborn. In the United Nations Decolonization Committee files, one case is left unresolved. The International Court of Justice ruled in 1975 that the Saharawi people of the territory known as Western Sahara had a right to determine their own future in a nation they would create from the colony ruled by Spain. Unfortunately, Spain did not honor its promise of a referendum for the Saharawis. Morocco and Mauritania decided to split Western Sahara between them, denying the Saharawis their chance to decide their own fate.
A war for Saharawi independence by a movement known as the Polisario Front ended Mauritania's claims on Western Sahara territory, but Morocco continues to consider Western Sahara as part of its sovereign territory. Morocco and the Polisario Front signed an agreement to end hostilities in 1991, which included an agreement to let the Saharawis hold a referendum on independence, but more than a decade of delays and subterfuge have left generations of Saharawis as refugees in a land not their own.
The tragedy of Western Sahara is that this 30-year-long dispute has denied the universal right to freedom and democracy to thousands of Saharawis. The world has seen some of the most dedicated negotiators abandon their efforts to find a solution in frustration over lack of progress. Six hundred million dollars has been spent by the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Western Sahara, MINURSO, in an attempt to hold the long promised referendum. Thousands of Saharawis have raised their children in desert camps outside of Tindouf in the western region of Algeria, far from home their homes in Western Sahara. Thousands of Saharawis still have no information about their fathers, brothers, and spouses who fought in the liberation war against Morocco, and soldiers on both sides have terrible stories of the tragedy of war and its bitter aftermath.
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If there is hope, it lies in the agreements and confidence building measures the Moroccans and Polisario have successfully negotiated. Both parties signed and have abided by, with some exceptions, the cease-fire agreement of 1991. This past summer, the Polisario released all 404 remaining Moroccan POWs. Family visits, telephone calls and personal mail service by Saharawis have been under way since March 2004. Agreement among the parties has reunited more than 1,200 people from the refugee camps in Algeria and Western Sahara for exchanges in which family members saw one another for the first time in 30 years. Recently, the Polisario announced that it would support the destruction of anti-personnel mines in Western Sahara, further committing itself to the cease-fire helping to insure the region will remain stable.
The 1975 ruling by the International Court of Justice was clear on this issue of Saharawi self-determination: Moroccan claims to the territory are without merit, and the Saharawi people have the right to decide whether they want to join the ranks of independent African nations. Yet so far, the ruling has not been implemented despite passionate pledges of support, a tremendous amount of resources spent by the international community, and the blood, sweat and tears of both Saharawis and Moroccans.
Morocco is one of America's longest-standing allies. Our relations with Morocco are separate from the issue of self-determination for the Saharawis. U.S. support for a referendum on Western Sahara does not mean our relationship with Morocco has changed. Rather, this support is an expression of our conviction that international law and the right of people to be free must be upheld.
Today's hearing by the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations will focus on why efforts to bring about a referendum have consistently been postponed over the years. This hearing also will examine the state of human rights in Western Sahara territory now governed by Morocco and the question of the international community's continuing involvement in the effort to resolve the dispute over Western Sahara sovereignty. I look forward to the testimony of all of our witnesses to learn how Congress can help the parties finally reach a just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution.
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Mr. PAYNE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and let me also extend our apology to those who came for the hearing, but as you could see, votes interrupted the hearing and we were delayed by the hearing of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, but we are pleased that so many people are here to attend this very important hearing, and I commend the Chairman for bringing this together.
I think that the resolution of this problem is long overdue. It is certainly time, as the title of the hearing suggests, to resolve the 30-year conflict over Western Sahara. The only way to do so is to hold the referendum to allow the Sahrawi people to determine their own future.
First I want to thank Mr. Toby Shelley from the Financial Times in London for coming all the way from London to testify today before this Committee.
We greatly appreciate the trip and your writings and work on the issue of the Western Sahara and understand that you need to leave at 4 o'clock, and I know that the Chairman will accommodate your schedule, but we really appreciate your taking the time and the commitment to come here to testify and then have to turn around and leave to go back to London.
As you know, Mr. Chairman, this issue is one that I have been following for some years and I have worked closely with my good friend and our colleague from Pennsylvania, Mr. Pitts, as we co-chaired the caucus on Western Sahara, and I would like to commend Mr. Pitts for his longstanding commitment to this issue, representing the question before us extremely well.
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I know that Senator Inhofe and Mr. Diaz-Balart have also followed this issue closely.
The last remaining colony in Africa, Western Sahara, remains one of the longest-running conflicts, and I think we as the United States have a great deal of responsibility to pressure our close ally, Morocco, to agree to allow referendum to be held.
If the Sahrawi people want their country to be integrated into Morocco, then that is what they will choose and should be allowed to express themselves in fair transparent elections without areas having people who are not true Western Saharans being integrated into the vote.
I think that the people of Western Sahara can determine what they want to do and that is what we believe should happen, but we must provide the leadership as the United States to respect and uphold the rights of self-determination, or we are hypocrites in this endeavor.
We cannot say we want democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan and allow the people to be free of tyranny and oppression and terror, but not allow the people of Western Sahara the same right.
In my opinion, the International Court of Justices' ruling in 1975 that Morocco has no claim to the territory of Western Sahara should be respected by the international community.
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However, I understand we are at a point where the issue has been taken up at the United Nations for years on how to handle it. First, former Secretary of State James Baker, a very outstanding American diplomat, was appointed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and he tried several proposals. As we know, all failed because the parties did not agree at the same time on the same issues.
I welcome the naming of the new special envoy this past summer and hope that he will put forth a new plan, which calls for a referendum to be had immediately.
I have serious concerns, Mr. Chairman, about the increasing repression and violence being carried out against the Sahrawi people by the Moroccan officials in the occupied territory of Laayoune. It is a clear clamp-down against human rights defenders in Western Sahara and I call for immediate investigation into these activities.
Since late 2005, there have been peaceful protests and an uprising in areas of Western Sahara under Morocco's control. Thirty-seven Sahrawi political prisoners are in jail as a result of these demonstrations, among them Mrs. Inenta Tu Agar, Mr. Sagu and others.
I condemn in the strongest manner the death of a young Sahrawi who was a peaceful demonstrator, Mr. Lembarki, and the imprisonment of a human rights activist, Mr. Dahan, for meeting with American officials from the U.S. Embassy in Raban.
These kind of activities are unacceptable and I call on the State Department to immediately take action against Moroccan response to these actions.
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It is simply unacceptable and we must be clear that whether the country in question is a United States ally or not, this repression and abuse will not be tolerated.
I am well aware that Morocco holds up its longstanding history with the United States, since the 1700s, being the first country to recognize the United States as an independent country. But this relationship also has a checkered past. The United States used Morocco to prop up the brutal dictator, Mabuto, in Congo during the Cold War, which then became Zyere.
Then Morocco gave refuge to Mabuto in 1997 as he fled Zyere, due to a popular revolt taking place, and never was called to stand before the International Criminal Court.
Morocco is also known for propping up dictators in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea as well. So we have to set the proper example to our allies and encourage them, that the right behavior will only be accepted by the United States of America, not what is currently taking place or what our relationship is from the past.
Lastly, I want to welcome the former prisoner of war, the Lieutenant, to the Committee. I am sure you are happy to be home finally. You suffered terrible conditions over the years and I wish you and the other recently released POW's all the best.
Mr. Chairman, I think that while this is certainly an issue that is thankfully resolved, there still remains many unresolved cases concerning Sahrawi people.
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According to Amnesty International, several hundred people disappeared after the arrest between the mid 1960s and the early 1990s and they still remain unaccounted for.
Also several people who were in a position of authority in the Polisario camps, when serious human rights abuses including torture were widespread, particularly during the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, now occupy positions of authority in the Moroccan civil administration. This is based on information Amnesty International has been privy to.
We look forward to, and will look into, and urge respect for human rights on both sides of the issue, and let me just conclude by saying that we have seen other areas where there is inaction in West Papua, when the Dutch left Indonesia, moved in and said, ''This is a part of our country.'' And today that country still is under the occupation of Indonesia and we should have hearings about that.
East Timor was attempted once Spain left, Indonesia once again moved in and said, ''This was a part of Indonesia.'' However, in that instance the UN, led by Australia and New Zealand, prevented East Timor from being annexed into Indonesia.
This is nothing new, what we see from Morocco and Western Sahara. Southwest Africa, taken away from Italy during World War II, was given a protectorate of South Africa. They said that Southwest Africa was a part of South Africa in the old days, but the people were allowed to vote and they voted to create Namibia, which then separated itself from South Africa and became an independent country.
Ethiopia had the vote in 1962 about Iatrea when Iatrea also was taken away from Italy. Namibia was taken away from Germany, not Italy, and from Southwest Africa. That was German territory, became Namibia, but Ethiopia Iatrea was under the Italians and after World War II, Ethiopia became the protectorate and the vote in 1962 occurred. Iatrea would have separated, as it was an independent country, from Ethiopia and today, where we have had a war 2 or 3 years ago between Ethiopia and Iatrea, 100,000 people died and they are on the brink of war again, Ethiopia and Iatrea, once again because we did not act right in 1962 when this should have been resolved.
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So we hope that we do not see the tragic conclusions as we have seen in some countries, but hope that we would have positive results, as we have seen in Namibia and East Timor.
Thank you. I look forward to the witnesses.
Mr. SMITH. Thank you.
Chairman Royce.
Mr. ROYCE. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. This referendum was supposed to be held 14 years ago. It was supposed to be held in January 1992.
When I was Chairman of the Africa Subcommittee, I held a hearing on this issue in 2000 and at that hearing I said, ''We cannot afford to support interminable missions with unachievable mandates.''
I will just point out to Secretary Gray, you point out in your written testimony that you have given us that there has been little movement toward resolving the dispute since the State Department last testified in 2000. That is very unfortunate, but it is also quite true.
We are still spinning our wheels. You also write in that written testimony that the United Nations remains the appropriate venue for resolving the dispute and we have every confidence in its ability to do so.
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I am sorry. I know that the Administration is speaking here, not you, but to report that there is every confidence in the UN resolving this issue cannot be defended. Not to the people of Western Sahara nor to the Congress, which funds MINURSO.
At the 2000 hearing, I suggested that it would be helpful if responsibility for stonewalling could be ascribed to one of the parties. We need accountability, if pressure is to be brought to bear to resolve this.
You call the Baker Peace Plan an optimal solution. The plan was accepted by the Polisario and the Algerian Government and rejected by Morocco, as you noted.
The question then would be: Is it proper to conclude that Morocco, the party that rejected the optimal solution, bears the greatest responsibility for this stalemate? And is the responsible course of action to get them to the table to resolve this dispute?
That would just conclude my opening statement and I look forward to the testimony of Secretary Gray.
Mr. SMITH. Thank you very much.
Ambassador Watson.
Ms. WATSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This hearing concerns a war that has just gone on far too long, so long that it is difficult to put a finger on when it actually started.
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Some might date the beginning of this conflict in 1975, when Spain relinquished control of the Western Sahara. Others might cite 1884, when the Spanish Government took control of the Western Sahara. Ultimately, however, the roots of this conflict are a relic of a long legacy of exploitation that Africans are still confronting.
How this dispute is resolved will demonstrate how much progress Africans have made in their efforts to control their own destinies.
Morocco is a valued ally of the United States and I have been heartened to see evidence of progress within Morocco on human rights and democratic freedoms. However, Morocco still does not meet the standard of a free society.
Reports from Amnesty International and other groups show that the Moroccan Government is still denying its people basic political rights including the imprisonment of peaceful human rights activists and the use of torture.
One of the most notable human rights violations by the Moroccan Government has been its attempts to silence debate on the issue of how to resolve the Western Sahara dispute.
I find this particularly troubling. It is difficult to portray the Moroccan Government as an active participant in the search for a solution in Western Sahara when they are not willing to permit public debate on the subject.
Moreover, it is difficult to trust that the Moroccan Government wants to fully embrace the people of Western Sahara in a fully functioning democracy when it seeks to deny those same people a role in Morocco's political dialogue.
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I want to thank you again, Mr. Chairman, and I look forward to hearing from our witnesses as to how we can work with our ally, the Government of Morocco, to both speed up their progress on human rights and democratic reforms and bring them closer to agreeing to a peaceful solution to the Western Sahara dispute. I thank you, Mr. Chairman, and yield back.
Mr. SMITH. Ambassador, thank you very much.
We are going to break with usual protocol, but Members will have an opportunity to make opening statements. We have with us Jim Inhofe, a Senator, who has been very active on the issue of African humanitarian and human rights issues for a very long time, but also has been to the Sahrawi refugee camps in the Algerian desert.
Senator Inhofe, you will be recognized and then we will go back to Members for their opening statements. Please proceed.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE JAMES INHOFE, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA
Mr. INHOFE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will be brief and I have been told that the other witness has to catch a plane or something, so I won't take much time.
I want to share a couple of thoughts that are different from any of the other witnesses here. I have probably been to Africa more than any other Member certainly in the history of the Senate.
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As Mr. Boozman knows and as the Chairman knows, I have had a mission there for many years. It is more of a Jesus thing, but I have spent a lot of time in Africa.
I have intimately gotten to know over one-half of the Presidents and the Members of Parliament on the entire continent and most of that is sub-Saharan Africa, but I am familiar with the sensitivity of what is going on.
I know the history. It would serve no use or purpose for me to go ahead and repeat it. I am sure many in the opening remarks have already done that.
There are people out there, about 175,000 people, and they want something that really is outrageous and that is the right to life and the right to self-determination. I had a chance to be there and have met with the President. I have met with the hospitals and the schools. I have met with large groups and small groups, all in tents out in the middle of the desert, and I would encourage any Member in this Committee to do the same thing.
I will say one thing. There is one hero in this and that is Jim Baker. Jim Baker has gone through the most frustrating 10-year period of his life, having done everything that he can over there. He was an envoy for the United Nations there. He came up with many, many plans and I just think the world of him.
I have had many conversations with him thinking, you know, what can be done to change what seems to be an obvious outcome?
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Let me read to you just a minute, Mr. Chairman, a couple of statements from him and this will avoid spending more time on Mr. Baker.
He said, and this was on a Wide Angle show, a PBS show in 2004, he said:
''I ended up being the Personal Envoy of Secretary-General for 7 years. During that time, I convened 14 formal meetings of the parties on three continents and of course what we were seeking to do was to find a political solution, if we could, that would provide for self-determination, as the UN Security Council Resolutions required, and to give these people at least a shot at self-determination.
When he concluded, he said:
''Well I have done everything in the world that I can do. I can't do anything more in 7 years, so I thought, maybe let us let someone else have a shot at this. I certainly know this, I gave it my best and I tried everything that I knew.''
That was Jim Baker. He did. He gave it his best and he tried everything that he knew.
Let me first of all say that I have nothing against Morocco. I have a great deal of respect for Morocco. I have been to Morocco several times. They are our allies. They are helping us in Iraq and they are our friends.
I just simply disagree with them on this issue and in reviewing some of the history, I put together what I call, Mr. Chairman, the Ten Diplomatic Transgressions of Morocco.
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Let me real quickly, I would like to have you take some notes of this, because this shows there is a lesson to be learned here and we can predict something that is going to happen in the future by paying attention to this.
The first diplomatic transgression took place in 1973, in July. In July 1973, Algeria, Morocco, and Mauritania called for self-determination. Thirteen months later, August 20, 1974, Morocco drops the self-determination from the agreement. First they agreed. Then they disagreed.
The second diplomatic transgression took place on December 13, 1974, when Morocco requested the International Court of Justice advisory opinion. Now the implication here was that we will have the advisory opinion and we would comply with it. I mean if they are requesting it, that would be natural. One year later, they stated that they would not comply with it and then the Green March, that you all know about, took place. First they agreed and then they disagreed.
The third of the diplomatic transgressions took place on October 23, 1985. Morocco offers a cease-fire and referendum under UN auspices. Everyone celebrated and that was in the headlines in this country and elsewhere. Then 16 days later, November 12, 1985, they withdrew their offer of a referendum—16 days later. First they agreed. Then they disagreed.
Number four took place in 1989, January 4 and 5. They said that they would meet for discussions with the Polisario and 9 months later, on September 21, 1989, they said there is no need for any further discussion. First they agreed. Then they disagreed.
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Diplomatic transgression number five took place in September 1997. The Houston Accords. We all had hope in the Houston Accords. A lot of time was spent and they went over this and all of a sudden they said, ''All right.'' They agreed to the process to identify voters to hold a referendum and 4 months later, Baker received strong evidence that Morocco was giving assistance to enable illegitimate voters. First they had agreed to it. Secondly, they disagreed.
The sixth one took place in late 1998. This is when Baker made the secret trips to Morocco that we have heard about and at that time, he went for confirmation that the Moroccans still support a referendum. Morocco confirms in the late summer of 1998 that they would do that and then again in the spring of 1999, 6 months after, they said that they would not accept it. Again first they would accept it and then they wouldn't.
May 1999, Morocco accepts the identification protocols. Everyone thought this was going to work, because the main problem that they had in getting this done was determining who was going to be voting and what kind of referendum would take place. Then December, 7 months later, December 1999, they broke the protocols.
The eighth took place on October 28, 2000. This is one in Berlin where Morocco said it was willing to have a sincere and frank dialogue and then shortly after that, they agreed not to do that.
The next to the last one, the ninth, took place on June 2001, when Morocco accepted the framework agreement. This was an exciting time, Mr. Chairman, because it looked like this time it was going to work. Four months later, October 2001, Morocco informs Baker that they reject the framework. First they are for it.
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The last diplomatic transgression that I will bore you with took place in 2003, in January, when James Baker announced the new Baker Plan and Morocco would consider it and then about 2 months later, they said they are not going to consider it.
Now you know it reminds me, Mr. Chairman, I don't go to many movies. The last movie I went to in a theater was Dr. Zhivago, but I have seen many on airplanes going across the ocean, as Mr. Boozman knows, I have watched a few. I remember one that I saw fairly recently that is called Runaway Bride. It had Julia Roberts and somebody named Gere. You go to movies. You know who I mean.
Anyway, Runaway Bride. They talked about how she would lead him to the altar and then at the very last moment, she would run away. Get on her horse and she was out of there.
I really think that Morocco is the ''Runaway Bride.'' I see that 10 times they have been to the altar and then they have had to retreat.
So let me just say there is somebody else working here, this is something that I am not supposed to say and we are not supposed to say certain things around here, we are supposed to be nice. I believe in lobbyists. I think they have a very good place, and I am glad that they are out there working. It is a methodology that works in our system, that allows people to get their message out. But in this case, virtually all of the high-priced lobbyists are on behalf of Morocco.
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I have a list here and they are good friends of mine. The Livingston Group. I have served with Bob Livingston. I love the guy. But he is high-priced and we all know that. They are representing Morocco.
Also representing Morocco are Tew Cardenas and Edelman Public Relations, with Mike Dever. There is no one that I respect more than him, but he is pretty high-priced. He is doing it.
Also Miller and Chevalier, I know them very well. Gabriel and Company. Robert Holley. The Whiton Case. All of these represent millions and millions of dollars that are spent to lobby on behalf of Morocco.
Who is supporting those 175,000 people out in the tents in the desert? Me. Not exactly just me, because you also have Joe Pitts, the United Nations, and the African Union. You have all the surrounding countries: Mauritania, Algeria, and the rest of them. But by and large, that is it. The money is just not there.
I would just say this. I would ask you, my colleagues, those who are serving here, not to form any firm opinions until you have actually been out there and stood in a tent with 300 people representing 175,000 people who only want one thing, and that is to go home.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Inhofe follows:]
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PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE JAMES INHOFE, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA
Introduction
Today, we are here to discuss the plight of a group of people who have languished in the desert for more than 30 years—the people of Western Sahara. Theirs is a story of determination, persistence, and hope that one day they will enjoy the basic rights all humans deserve—the right to life and to self-determination. It is my hope that this hearing will help them realize this fundamental right.
Background
In order for us to have a better understanding of the current situation, it is helpful to know the history of the Saharans. Before Spain colonized Western Sahara in 1884, the people who inhabited the land enjoyed a nomadic lifestyle. Western Sahara was populated by a number of unconnected and autonomous tribes which were not under any particular authority, particularly Moroccan sultans or Mauritanian emirs. Although there was occasional trade between the region and Europe as early as 4 B.C., European contact with Western Sahara was infrequent.
From 1884 until the early 1970s, Western Sahara was under Spanish rule. The boundaries for the colony were created through three agreements between France and Spain at the beginning of the 20th century. Beginning around 1957, however, the Saharans began to fight for independence.
Their plight gained international attention when the United Nations (UN) became briefly involved in the conflict in December, 1966, by passing a Resolution that ultimately failed to accomplish its purpose of urging Spain to grant the Saharans the right to self-determination.
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In the mid-1970s, Spain made plans to withdraw from Western Sahara, with the intent to hold a referendum to create an independent state, which Algeria strongly supported. However, Morocco and Mauritania opposed this proposal and each attempted to claim the territory for itself.
I would like to note here that according to a recent CRS report, although the claims made by Morocco and Mauritania appeared on the surface to be founded on previous conquests, there is evidence that they were actually interested in Western Sahara's valuable natural resources including phosphate, fishing grounds and oil reserves off the coast.
Morocco, through the UN, then asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to decide who had rights to the territory and on October 12, 1975, the ICJ ruled that the Saharan people had the right to self determination. Following this decision, on November 6, of that same year, Morocco showed its true intentions with the now infamous ''Green March'', where King Hassan II led 350,000 Moroccans into Western Sahara to lay claim to the land. During this time, about 160,000 Saharans fled to refugee camps in nearby Algeria and Maurtiania, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saqiat al Hamra and Rio de Oro, or POLISARIO, formed by the Saharan people, fought against this invasion to defend their land.
Although Spain briefly interrupted the Green March, it officially pulled out of the region on November 16, 1975, and relented control to Moroccan and Mauritanian authorities. Meanwhile, in 1976, the POLISARIO founded its own government, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), and established its headquarters in the Sahara Desert in Tindouf, Algeria. Not long after, Mauritania followed Spain's lead and completely withdrew from the region in August 1979, signing a peace treaty with the POLISARIO.
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Morocco quickly moved into the area formerly occupied by Mauritania and began to build a sand wall, or ''berm'', in the desert to create a barrier between Western Sahara and the Saharan refugees. Needless to say, this action of separation, along with other agression by the Moroccans, was intolerable and a long, guerrilla-style war ensued until the UN intervened again in 1991.
Creation of MINURSO
In April, 1991, the UN created the United Nations Mission for the Organization of a Referendum in the Western Sahara (MINURSO), through UN Security Council Resolition 690. MINURSO's main purpose was to oversee a Settlement Plan by holding a referendum to offer the Saharans a choice between independence and integration into Morocco.
Voting Process
MINURSO began to register voters, but a conflict soon arose over how to identify those people who were truly Saharan. The POLISARIO said that the 74,000 people who had been counted in a census conducted by Spain in 1974, had the right to vote in the referendum, while Morocco claimed that there were thousands more who had not been counted in the Census and had fled Morocco previously, also had a legitimate right to vote.
However, it is obvious to see why Morocco would have a vested interest in ensuring that these additional people participated in the vote. In doing so, Morocco would ensure people voting against an independent state, therefore retaining the territory.
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Baker Appointed as Personal Envoy
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan then appointed former Secretary of State James Baker as his Personal Envoy to end the stalemate. The UN Security Council, Algeria and the POLISARIO welcomed the appointment, while Morocco offered a tepid response.
The Secretary-General could not have picked a better negotiator—Baker is one of the most qualified people to accomplish this task. He served under three US Presidents in high level government positions. He was Undersecretary of Commerce for President Ford, White House Chief of Staff and Treasury Secretary for President Reagan, and Secretary of State for George H. W. Bush. He has a background in law and has received many notable awards for his outstanding public service including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Department of State's Distinguished Service Award. Not only was he Special Envoy for the UN for Western Sahara, he was also appointed as President George W. Bush's Special Presidential Envoy on the issue of Iraqi debt.
Baker was tasked specifically to work out a deal asking Morocco to give Western Sahara more autonomy than it had allowed other regions within the country. Through a referendum, the POLISARIO would then be granted special status and would agree that Western Sahara would be part of Morocco. What follows is an account of Baker's negotiations with all parties involved. I want to note he set out to negotiate autonomy for Saharans within Morocco, but after realizing Morocco was an unwilling participant, he ended up supporting independence for Saharans.
Baker's Negotiations
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Baker asked the Department of Political Affairs (DPA) to prepare, in consultation with the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), a plan to address the conflict. The report made the following four options: (a) remain with the Settlement Plan and move ahead with its implementation; (b) put the Plan aside and seek a ''third solution''; (c) seek a ''third solution'' while keeping the Plan; (d) disengage until the time was ''ripe''.
The Settlement Plan's core principle was self-determination and that both parties had recognized the Secretary-General as having exclusive responsibility for its implementation. Even if the Plan could not stand on its own, resulting in a ''win all/lose all'' situation without provisions for the post referendum period, the Secretary-General could not dismiss it; it would be up to the parties involved.
Baker first visited the region in April, 1997, meeting with King Hassan II, POLISARIO Secretary-General Abdelaziz, and the Algerian government. In his meetings, he advised Morocco to not say it supported the Settlement Plan if it did not intend to follow through with it. However, the King insisted on moving forward with the Plan.
Baker continued talks with Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania throughout 1997. It again became clear that identifying legitimate voters for the referendum was going to be a key sticking point. Furthermore, it also became apparent that the UN was not willing to give strong backing to Baker's negotiations, especially when it seemed his plans were going to give the Saharan's a fair chance to vote in the referendum.
In September 1997, Baker revealed a plan to re-initiate the voter registration process that had been stalled earlier. This process was completed in 1999 with more than 86,000 legitimate voters identified out of the almost 200,000 who appeared in front of the Identification Commission, the entity charged with officially identifying legitimate voters for the referendum. The Identification Commission then received 79,000 appeals among those found ineligible to vote.
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After receiving these results, the Security Council realized that even if the referendum were held, there was no plan in place to enforce the outcome should the results be rejected by one of the parties. Further, the UN realized that effective implementation of the Settlement Plan would require the full cooperation of Morocco and the POLISARIO, and the support of Algeria and Mauritania, which would be difficult or impossible to obtain because Morocco and the POLISARIO would each cooperate only with an implementation process that would produce its desired outcome.
In May 2000, the Secretary-General then asked Baker to investigate alternative methods to achieve a resolution. Understandably, the POLISARIO was shocked at this move by the Secretary-General to abandon the Plan, as well as Morocco's success at persuading former POLISARIO officials, who had defected to Morocco, to join its side in the disagreement. Meetings that soon followed proved mostly unproductive, but at least Morocco accounted for 207 political detainees it held.
In 2001, Baker offered a compromise proposal for a Framework Agreement as a start to renewing negotiations. The plan would give the Saharans the right to elect executive and legislative representatives and maintain sole competency over: local governmental administration, territorial budget and taxation, law enforcement, internal security, social welfare, culture, education, commerce, transportation, agriculture, mining, fisheries and industry, environmental policy, housing and urban development, water and electricity, roads and other basic infrastructure to the population of Western Sahara.
The representatives would be elected by those voters identified as of December 1999, which would favor the POLISARIO and exclude Moroccan-supported appellants. However, Morocco would have sole competency over: foreign relations, national security and external defense, all matters relating to the production, sale, ownership or use of weapons or explosives and the preservation of the territorial integrity against secessionist attempts. The flag, currency, customs postal and telecommunication systems of Morocco would be the same for Western Sahara. Additionally, under this proposal, a one-year residency in Western Sahara would be the only basis for voting eligibility. In Baker's opinion, the POLISARIO would be able to elect an acting leader to execute these functions during the five years before the vote for the referendum.
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While Baker presented this newest proposal to Algerian and POLISARIO officials, he also informally offered a plan that would create a corridor from Algeria's western border, (west of Tindouf), extending to the Atlantic Ocean which could be used by Algeria, Morocco and Western Sahara. This newest plan was Baker's attempt at an alternative solution after ten years of attempting to achieve the Settlement Plan had failed.
Despite opposition by Algeria and the POLISARIO to the proposal by interpreting it to ultimately be a move for integration of Western Sahara into Morocco, they, along with Mauritania, indicated to Baker that they desired to continue to work to reach a solution.
Algeria, in conjunction with the POLISARIO, offered to discuss dividing the territory of Western Sahara as a solution to the dispute. Morocco expressed that they would not even consider this.
The Secretary-General's Options
Arriving again at a seeming impasse, in 2002, the Secretary-General proposed four options to the UN:
1.) Implement the Settlement Plan to hold a referendum without the parties' consensus
2.) Allow Western Sahara to have partial autonomy under Morocco—the Framework Agreement Plan
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3.) Divide the Territory
4.) Abandon MINURSO, recognizing that it had spent more than 11 years and almost half a billion dollars at that point without a resolution, and pull out entirely
Because Morocco, Algeria and the POLISARIO could not agree to any of the same options in this proposal, Baker then tried a new approach to the situation.
The Baker Peace Plan
In early 2003, Baker proposed the ''Peace Plan for Self-determination for the People of Western Sahara'' as the new solution. His intent was to deliver a proposal that in his words, ''no reasonable person would turn down''.
While Morocco would be responsible for issues pertaining to the responsibilities of a state, the Peace Plan all but ensured that the Western Sahara Authority would have complete and exclusive responsibility for the day-to-day governance of the Territory. The new plan differed from the previous ones in the following key areas:
1.) It restricted the electoral body for elections for the Executive and Legislature during the period of self-government to those appearing in the UN provisional voter list and those in the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) repatriation list.
2.) There would be a single election for the Executive and Legislature by the same electoral body.
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3.) The judicial authorities in the Territory would be appointed by the Executive and Legislature without reference to Morocco.
4.) Most significantly, the electoral body for the referendum for the final status of the Territory would be composed of those in the voter list mentioned above, plus those who could prove continuous residence in the Territory since 30 December 1999 (date of completion of the UN identification process).
5.) The Peace Plan included the questions on the ballot for the final referendum.
Baker arranged the new Peace Plan so that the Saharans could win the first elections and maintain governing power, while Morocco's controlling power would be restricted in the Territory. One of the things that made this Plan unique is its requirement for all four parties: Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, and the POLISARIO, along with the UN, to agree to it in order for it to be valid.
However, after introducing this new Plan, Baker met with Morocco and admitted that they had an increased chance of winning the referendum this time because, according to the UN, the voters on each side would be evenly divided. Moreover, the new Peace Plan would not confer sovereignty over Western Sahara to Morocco and would limit Morocco's powers in a way that previous plans did not. Morocco would not be able to block the referendum and, after a four-year transitional period, the POLISARIO, depending on its performance, could win the referendum.
The Response
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As expected, Morocco wanted time to study the Plan, but reiterated its desire for its sovereignty and territorial integrity. When it offered its official response, it reiterated its entitlement to sovereignty rights over Western Sahara noting the ''country's southern provinces'' and the shortfalls of the Settlement Plan. However, Morocco did not acknowledge its own responsibility in the inability by the UN to implement the Settlement Plan. In reality, Morocco's true concern was that there was still an option for independence within the Plan. Morocco wanted Baker to re-establish the Framework Agreement, where Saharans would have autonomy, but under a Moroccan state. The POLISARIO, on the other hand, officially accepted the Plan on July 6, 2003. Algeria and Mauritania accepted too.
From May to July, 2003, Morocco actively lobbied against the Baker Plan, insisting that it should be renegotiated, mainly because of the option for Saharan independence, as well as autonomy. Morocco even wrote to the Secretary-General saying that the Peace Plan complicated the situation in Western Sahara through its proposals for the transitional period, among other things.
This is simply not true. Even after Baker admitted to Morocco that they had an increased chance of winning the referendum because the voters would be evenly divided, they rejected the Plan. Even after a fifteen to zero vote in the UN for the Plan, they rejected it. Morocco continued to offer its own solutions to the conflict, but these solutions were weak, and clearly gave Morocco the advantage by offering ''autonomy within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty.'' Meaning, no true statehood for Saharans; they would always be ultimately under Moroccan rule. This is not true freedom, and, I venture to say, would result in continued oppression of the Saharan people.
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Baker Resigns
On June 1, 2004, James Baker resigned his post as Personal Envoy to the Secretary-General. The POLISARIO was saddened by this news; while Morocco expressed its delight calling Baker's resignation, ''a triumph of Moroccan diplomacy.'' This statement could not be more insulting to Baker, the POLISARIO, and all people who love freedom. It is clear that Morocco never truly wanted a fair resolution; rather one that allowed it to maintain control of Western Sahara.
Conclusion
Western Sahara will remain on the UN agenda for many years to come. Already, the UN has sought a resolution for the past 14 years and has spent over 600 million dollars. Some say that the only real way to reach a solution is for relations between Algeria and Morocco to improve. While this may be true, the real fact is that Morocco must be willing to agree to make a compromise in its position. So far, it is not.
Like Baker, I believe Morocco, along with its supporters in the UN and elsewhere, must see that it is in its long-term best interest to resolve the conflict and obtain international legitimacy, rather than feed its hope that it will get what it wants by merely talking of compromise without truly giving anything up.
Morocco must also relinquish its continued violation of human rights by treating the Saharans living in the Territory with the dignity and respect all people deserve. Recent reports state that Moroccan authorities have beaten, arrested and even killed peaceful protestors in the Territory. I call on Morocco to stop this reported injustice immediately.
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The Saharans are not refugees because they enjoy it; they are refugees because their homeland has been taken from them and they believe that, with the help of people like you and me, they will return to their homeland; but only if they are granted the right to self-determination.
Mr. SMITH. Senator Inhofe, thank you so very much for your testimony.
We are now joined by Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart, who is a co-founder of the Congressional Morocco Caucus, which he founded in 2003.
King Mohamed VI recently awarded him the Commander of the Quissam Alaouite Order of Morocco, along with Senator John McCain and Senator Richard Lugar.
This was given to these three individuals for their efforts to help with the release of the final 404 Moroccan prisoners of war, most of whom were held for more than 20 years, by the Polisario Front in southern Algeria.
Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF FLORIDA
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Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Payne, Distinguished Members of the Subcommittee. It is a pleasure to be here before you today and I commend you for focusing on an issue, an area of the world that really receives, I think, too little focus and attention in our country and in our Congress.
I remember, distinguished colleagues, when I was in college in 1975. I had lived for many years in Spain. I had attended high school there at the American School of Madrid.
Despite my youth, I was then, as I am today, a student as well as an opponent of colonialism and its evils. I remember November 1975. It was an extremely dramatic time.
Exactly 30 years ago, the Spanish dictator, Franco, was on his deathbed after 40 years as dictator. Most of Morocco had achieved its independence from France and from Spain in the decade of the 1950s, first from France, then from Spain. But the Western Sahara remained in Spanish colonialism's grasp. Morocco consistently claimed sovereignty over the Western Sahara over all those decades.
As a matter of fact, I remember in Spain the issue with regard to colonialism in Africa, the colonies that continued to be held by Spain were Spanish Equitorial Guinea and in Morocco. Those were the colonies that Spain continued to hold. To this day, by the way, Spain continues to hold, in Northern Africa, Ceuta and Melilla, two outposts of Spanish colonialism.
So throughout those decades, after reaching independence in the 1950s, Morocco continued to claim sovereignty over the Western Sahara. And then in November 1975, exactly 30 years ago, with Franco on his deathbed, King Hassan II led hundreds of thousands of Moroccans into the Western Sahara and without firing a shot, took possession of that part of Morocco that had for decades been forcefully held by the Spanish military regime.
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The Green March, as it was known, was an extraordinary historic accomplishment. Now it wasn't until after the Green March, after Morocco had taken possession of the Western Sahara, that the Polisario Front proclaimed the so-called Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
I think context is important when we consider any issue. I think it is important to remember when we deal with issues like this that Morocco, for example, is our oldest and most enduring ally. The relationship between Morocco and the United States has existed throughout the history of the United States. In December 1777, when the war was raging between the American Colonies and Britain, it was the Sultan Sidi Muhammed who boldly recognized our young and not-yet-free Republic, and that act of recognition was cemented in the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between our two countries.
That document remains to this day as the oldest unbroken treaty in the history of the foreign relations of the United States.
The United States has had no better, nor more constant friend in the Maghreb, in North Africa, and in the Arab world than Morocco.
During the reign of King Hassan II, Morocco was a strong and vital supporter in the dangerous and prolonged struggle known as the Cold War and in the initially and very important, the critically important stages of the peace process between Israel and her neighbors.
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We shouldn't overlook as well that Morocco continues to be a voice for moderation and democratic pluralism in the Muslim world. Morocco has carried out genuine democratic reforms and conducted free elections.
The Parliament is elected by the people directly and comprises every sort of political party, representing ideologies from the right to the left on the entire political spectrum.
In 2002, 35 female members were elected to Parliament and Parliamentary elections will be held in the fall of 2006 and again in the fall of 2007.
Today, under the leadership of King Muhammed VI, Morocco is providing key assistance in our common war against the forces of international terrorism.
Both our peoples have been victims of the scourge of cowardly attacks upon unarmed civilians, and I believe that both nations have answered the challenge of this difficult time with strong leadership and decisive action.
Now Mr. Chairman, I strongly believe that the United States Congress and the Government of the United States must be cognizant of and sensitive to the experience of Morocco regarding issues related to international terrorism.
I believe that Morocco's insistence upon its territorial integrity in the Western Sahara is critically important, not only for the national security of Morocco, but also for the security of the United States and of our European allies.
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Many of our European allies understand this reality and have made it clear. Some in fact have changed their policy in recent years to reflect its viewpoint. I think the Members will know that I don't have necessarily much affinity nor agreement with the Socialist Government in Spain and yet that is one example of a government that has changed its position to reflect the reality that I have mentioned.
The issue of the Western Sahara obviously must be resolved. Morocco has reiterated that it agrees to continue to come to the table to try to find a reasonable solution to this problem.
Despite the effort of the United Nations and the international community, thousands of families continue to face hardship and suffering in refugee camps run by the Polisario Front in the Tindouf region of Algeria. Clearly it is time to find a solution.
The United Nations tried for 8 years and failed to find a way to bridge the differences between the parties. Both the Security Council and the United States have been calling on Algeria and Morocco to enter into direct talks to find a way to resolve this problem.
I think that while we need to encourage these direct talks as a way to find a solution, again for the sake of context, we should keep in mind who is being dealt with when we talk about the Polisario Front. The Polisario has long maintained close relationships with Communist and dictatorial regimes throughout the world. The Polisario counts among its closest friends tyrants such as Castro and Ghadafi.
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In fact, the Polisario Front continues to enjoy a long and unapologetic military relationship with the Cuban dictatorship that has helped to arm and train the Polisario army from the very beginning, armed them to fight against one of the United States' longest and most steadfast allies, Morocco.
I have recently met with two groups of people from the region who have given me firsthand accounts of the Polisario's fundamental lack of respect for human rights and international law.
The first group was comprised of former Moroccan POW's who were held for more than 20 years in conditions that can only be called barbaric. It is with satisfaction that I learned that these prisoners have now been freed and have returned to their loved ones.
More recently I met with a number of Sahrawi young people who have been taken by the Polisario from their families at a young age and shipped off for decades-long indoctrination in Libya or Cuba. Unlike with the POW's, that issue remains unresolved.
Thousands of young people are in indoctrination schools in Cuba at this very moment, separated from their families and subjected to vile forms of anti-American indoctrination. The tragic histories of these young people, forced to live away from their loved ones, in many ways compares with the grotesque abuse that was suffered by the Moroccan POW's.
I understand that the representatives from both of those groups that I have mentioned are here today. I would hope that Members of the Subcommittee would have the opportunity to hear firsthand, as I have, about their sad experiences.
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Again Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Payne, as I commend this Subcommittee for convening a hearing on this subject, I would urge you as well to hold a hearing on the Polisario's practice of forcibly separating families.
It is time for Morocco and Algeria to sit down and find a political solution to this issue. I recognize that win/lose answers will not succeed in this regard.
I believe that the concerns of all should be addressed by providing the inhabitants of the Western Sahara with a mechanism for genuine profound autonomy, with full respect of Morocco's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for this opportunity and all of my other distinguished colleagues who have had the courtesy of listening to me today. Thank you very much.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Diaz-Balart follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF FLORIDA
Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Payne, Members of the Subcommittee, it is a privilege to appear before you to testify about the very important problem in the Western Sahara.
I remember when I was in college in 1975. I had lived for many years in Spain and had attended high school at the American School of Madrid. Despite my youth, however, I was then, as I am today, a student as well as an opponent of colonialism and its evils. In November of 1975, exactly 30 years ago, the Spanish dictator, Franco, was on his deathbed after 40 years as dictator.
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Most of Morocco had attained its independence from France and Spain in the decade of the 1950s, but the Western Sahara remained in Spanish colonialism's grasp. Morocco consistently claimed sovereignty over the Western Sahara for all those decades, but the Spanish regime would not yield. Then, in November 1975, with Franco on his deathbed, King Hassan II led hundreds of thousands of Moroccans, without firing a shot, into the Western Sahara and physically took possession of that part of Morocco that had for decades been forcefully held by the Spanish military regime. ''The Green March,'' as it was called, was an extraordinary historic accomplishment.
It was not until after the ''Green March,'' after Morocco had taken possession of the Western Sahara, that the ''Polisario Front'' proclaimed the so called ''Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.''
Context is important when we consider any important issue. I think it is important to remember that the Kingdom of Morocco is our oldest and most enduring ally. The relationship between Morocco and the United States of America has existed throughout the history of our country. In December of 1777, when war raged between the American Colonies and Britain, Sultan Sidi Mohammed boldly recognized our young and not yet free Republic. That magnanimous act of recognition was cemented in a Treaty of Peace and Friendship between our countries, ratified in July of 1787. And that enduring document remains the oldest unbroken treaty in the history of the foreign relations of the United States.
The United States has had no better nor more constant friend and ally in the Maghreb, in North Africa, and in the Arab World, than Morocco.
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Morocco, during the reign of King Hassan II, was a strong and vital supporter in the dangerous and prolonged struggle known as ''The Cold War,'' and in the initial and critically delicate stages of the peace process between Israel and its neighbors.
We should not overlook, as well, that Morocco continues to be a voice for moderation and democratic pluralism in the Muslim world. Morocco has carried out genuine democratic reforms and conducted free and fair elections. The Parliament is elected directly by the people and comprises every sort of political party, representing ideologies from the right to the left on the entire political spectrum. In the 2002 elections, 35 female members were elected to Parliament. Parliamentary elections will be held in the fall of 2006 and again in 2007.
And today, under the leadership of King Mohammed VI, Morocco is providing key assistance in our common war against the forces of international terrorism. Both our peoples have been victims of the scourge of cowardly attacks upon unarmed civilians, and I believe that both nations have answered the challenge of this difficult time with strong leadership and decisive action.
I strongly believe that the United States Congress and the United States Government must be cognizant of and sensitive to the experience of Morocco regarding issues related to international terrorism. I believe that Morocco's insistence upon its territorial integrity in the Western Sahara is critically important not only for the national security of Morocco, but also for the security of the United States and of our European allies. Many of our European allies understand this reality and have made it clear. Some, in fact, have changed their policy in recent years to reflect this viewpoint; the current Spanish government, being one important example.
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The issue of the Western Sahara must be resolved, and Morocco has reiterated that it agrees to continue to come to the table in an effort to find a reasonable solution to this problem. Despite the efforts of the United Nations and the international community, thousands of families continue to face hardship and suffering in refugee camps run by the ''Polisario Front'' in the Tindouf region of Algeria. Clearly, it is time to find a solution.
The United Nations tried for eight years and failed to find a way to bridge the differences between the parties. Both the Security Council and the United States have been calling on Algeria and Morocco to enter into direct talks to find a way to resolve this problem.
While we need to encourage these direct talks as a way to find a solution, again, for the sake of context, we should keep in mind who is being dealt with when we talk about the ''Polisario Front''. The ''Polisario'' has long maintained close relationships with communist and dictatorial regimes throughout the world. The ''Polisario'' counts among its closest friends the tyrants Fidel Castro and Maummar Gadaffi.
In fact, the ''Polisario Front'' continues to enjoy a long and unapologetic military relationship with the Cuban dictatorship, that has helped to arm and train the ''Polisario'' army from the very beginning: armed them to fight against one of the United States' longest and most steadfast allies, Morocco.
I have met recently with two groups of people from the region who have given me first hand accounts of the ''Polisario's'' fundamental lack of respect for human rights and international law. The first group was comprised of former Moroccan POWs who were held for more than 20 years in conditions that can only be called barbaric.
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It is with satisfaction that I learned that these prisoners have now been freed and have returned to their loved ones.
More recently I met with a number of Sahraoui young people who had been taken by the ''Polisario'' from their families at a young age and shipped off for decades-long indoctrination in Libya or Cuba. Unlike with the POWs, this issue remains unresolved. Thousands of young people are in indoctrination schools in Cuba at this very moment, separated from their families and subjected to vile forms of anti-American indoctrination. The tragic histories of these young people, forced to live away from their loved ones, in many ways compares with the grotesque abuse that was suffered by the Moroccan POWs.
I understand that representatives of both of the groups I have mentioned are here with us in this room today and I hope that members of the Subcommittee will have the opportunity to hear first hand, as I have, about their sad experiences.
As I commend this Subcommittee for convening a hearing on this subject, I would urge you as well to hold a hearing on the ''Polisario's'' practice of forcibly separating families.
It is time for Morocco and Algeria to sit down and find a political solution to this longstanding issue. I recognize that win/lose answers will not succeed in this regard. I believe that the concerns of all should be addressed by providing the inhabitants of the Western Sahara with a mechanism for genuine, profound autonomy, with full respect of Morocco's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
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Thank you.
Mr. SMITH. Mr. Diaz-Balart, thank you so much for your statement and for the questions you have raised. This is one of those issues where men of the caliber like you and Senator Inhofe seem to have very profound differences, but the purpose of this hearing is to try to really, not only establish a more profoundly replete record with information that we need to know about, but also determine, where do we go from here?
The biggest issue is that I think this has stagnated for so long. I think many of us know what the issues are, but we always need, I think, refresher courses and maybe to augment that information, but where do we go from here? I think that is the question that we are going to be asking.
Your testimony and that of Senator Inhofe greatly aids us in that. So I want to thank you.
Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Thank you.
Mr. SMITH. The Chair recognizes Mr. Fortenberry.
Mr. FORTENBERRY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this important hearing on what appears to be an intractable political challenge on a variety of levels, and while I hardly expect that we can resolve the protracted stalemate over Western Sahara in the next few hours, I trust that the testimonies of our distinguished witnesses and our colleagues here in the Congress today will help us begin to envision the next steps toward a viable solution.
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I am proud to mention that the United States was able to play a vital role in releasing the 404 Moroccan soldiers who endured brutal treatment by the Polisario and Algeria for up to two decades, and I hope that our successful intervention in that situation will lay the groundwork for further constructive United States initiatives toward Western Sahara.
With that said, I look forward to hearing the views of our witnesses today, Mr. Chairman, on the prospects and likely timetable for negotiating viable solutions for self-determination in the region. Thank you.
Mr. SMITH. Thank you, Mr. Fortenberry.
The Chair recognizes Mr. Sherman next.
Mr. SHERMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Those who criticize Morocco do so claiming that there have been diplomatic transgressions perhaps, but weigh diplomatic transgressions on the one hand with threatening terrorism on the other as the Polisario has done, not only against Moroccans, but also against Americans.
The Polisario does this on behalf of what I regard to be a relatively absurd stated objective, creating an independent country whose population would be far less than the population of my congressional district.
I realize that there are islands with small populations that may be members of the United Nations Security Council. After all, occasionally God has created territory not connected with any other territory.
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But the most recent census, which I realize is 25 or 30 years old, showed a total population of the Western Sahara at 75,000 people. I know Algeria claims that there might be 175,000 from that region living in Algeria, but whether you take one figure or another or even add them together, we are talking about a total population well less than half a million.
Let me put that in my own personal context. My region of the city of Los Angeles didn't try to form its own country. We didn't try to form our own State. We tried to form our own independent city and were denied that opportunity, when we got a million and a half people and a GDP that I am sure is hundreds of times whatever could be achieved in the Western Sahara
A decent accommodation with the world requires a group of people to occasionally understand that even—if and I don't know whether they do—but even if they want their own country, my district can't form its own country.
The General Assembly would be somewhat of a laughingstock if every group of 75,000 people or 100,000 people or 300,000 people on a continent could run up a flag and say, ''We want our own seat in the General Assembly.''
I think it is incumbent on the people of Western Sahara to pick a country and join it. They have historical ties with both Morocco and Mauritania. It is my understanding that Mauritania has indicated they do not wish to add any territory to their west.
The idea of creating an independent, even if there was an argument that somehow the people of Spanish Sahara, correction the former Spanish Sahara, now the Western Sahara or in the view of Morocco, the Southern Provinces of Morocco, even if these people somehow showed that they were not receiving fair treatment, they should be pushing for fair treatment from one of two countries to which they might belong.
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Instead, we are told that they will threaten or engage in terrorist acts until such time as they are given the chance to create their own independent country, full membership in the UN General Assembly, et cetera. That is simply an absurd objective, at least until such time as we say that every group of people of 100,000 or 200,000 located on a continent can create their own country.
Finally, Morocco has been of substantial help to the United States. Whereas our colleague, the gentleman from Florida, pointed out the Polisario has allied itself with those who have sought to kill Americans, who have sought to wage war against our country and have sought to disrupt the world.
This is a stark contrast between one reasonable solution, which is that the Western Sahara be part of an adjoining country versus another which is that every group of a few hundred thousand people should have the right to establish their own membership in the UN General Assembly, and it is a choice between a group that espouses terrorism and allies itself with those who wage war on America versus a country that has sought to ally itself with America. I yield back.
Mr. SMITH. Thank you, Mr. Sherman.
Mr. PITTS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for allowing me to sit with you today, even though I am on leave from the Committee. And thank you for holding this important hearing.
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It is high time that this conflict over Western Sahara be resolved so that the peoples of Western Sahara, Morocco, and Algeria can live their lives in peace.
Our own Nation was birthed and established on the right to self-determination and I strongly believe that the only way to bring a final resolution to this conflict is through the holding of a free, fair and transparent referendum for self-determination.
For over three decades now the lack of resolution to this conflict has caused extensive human suffering. It is time this conflict is resolved in order to end the suffering of hundreds of thousands of individuals and families, including the suffering of those who have lived in refugee camps since 1975.
I have personally visited the refugee camps in Tindouf. I have met with the delegations that have traveled to the United States. The stories of those who suffered, as a result of this conflict, all have the common theme: The people want this conflict to end; they want to be reunited with their families; they want to be allowed to rebuild their lives in peace.
In addition to the humanitarian side of the conflict, there are regional, global and national security issues. I and other Members of the Congress remain deeply concerned that a conflict between the parties, if left unresolved, has the potential to disrupt the peace and stability in the Maghreb region, thus threatening the interest of the peoples of that region and of the United States.
The Western Sahara conflict needs to be addressed urgently and fairly to the benefit of the peoples of the region. If this issue is resolved, as a result of peaceful action, it will provide a signal to the broader Middle East and North African region that there are successful alternatives to violence in the pursuit of national aspirations.
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If this issue continues to linger and violence should break out anew, I shudder to think of the consequences for the people of that region and the entire world.
Mr. Chairman, article I of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states that all peoples have the right to self-determination.
I have worked on the issue of Western Sahara since the beginning of my service in Congress. Again, I say it is time that there is a resolution to this conflict. Thank you again for holding this hearing and allowing me to participate. I look forward to hearing from our distinguished witnesses.
Mr. SMITH. Thank you very much, Mr. Pitts.
Ms. Lee?
Ms. LEE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank you and our Ranking Member for convening this very important and long-awaited hearing to discuss the over 30-year conflict in the Western Sahara.
The debate over who has claim to this land is complex and emotionally charged, as we have already heard today. The Kingdom of Morocco of course has asserted that they have always inhabited the land and today they have made significant efforts to develop and invest in the area in order to strengthen their claims to further develop and hold onto the land.
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But at the same time, the Polisario are direct descendants and residents of the Western Sahara and have been fighting for the liberation of their land and countrymen for decades. Their appeal for self-determination is one that all people throughout the world can appreciate and empathize with.
It is a difficult debate, but definitely a debate that commands international attention. I think the most important action, Mr. Chairman, that can come out of this hearing today is that the United States Congress reassert our concern and support for a peaceful resolution.
I believe that part of that resolution to this conflict must involve a referendum and the referendum should allow the Sahrawi to decide their future. The Sahrawi people have that right to decide their future and their destiny.
Unlike many Africans during the 1960s and 1970s, in terms of the liberation movements, who fought and won independence from former colonial powers, the people of the Western Sahara were never able to enjoy their independence from Spain or decide on their own their political future, because of Morocco and Mauritania's claims to their land.
So Mr. Chairman, although we cannot turn back the clock, it is clear to me that what a vote by the Sahrawi people, that vote I think the referendum it is long overdue.
That said, I want to also credit the United Nations and the efforts of former Secretary of State James Baker for attempting to work with all parties to find a political solution.
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It is unfortunate that the 2003 revised Baker Plan was not accepted by the Kingdom of Morocco, because I saw it as a fair approach at ending this conflict.
It is time to see and encourage all parties to come to the table and accept that political sacrifices will have to be made on both sides.
No one comes out a winner if everyone is bogged down in their own sense of righteousness, but I do believe that the Sahrawi people have a right to self-determination. They must decide their own future.
In the words of Endura Ghandi, I am reminded of what he said: ''You can't shake hands with a clenched fist.'' Mr. Chairman, I look forward to this hearing and hopefully we can be a part of the solution that moves both parties toward a peaceful resolution.
Mr. SMITH. Thank you, Ms. Lee.
Mr. Tancredo.
Mr. TANCREDO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I certainly have the same kind of hopes for a resolution of the issue. I also recognize the fact that if we were able to actually devise such a solution here, we would all be eligible for the Nobel Prize.
As we have discussed, there has been an enormous amount of effort put into trying to figure out how to bring this thing to a point where both groups feel comfortable, with both sides of the issue feeling comfortable.
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It is an elusive goal, to say the least and made more so by the fact that it puts us in a difficult position, the United States of America and Members of Congress, in a difficult position because on the one hand, we have, I believe, in the country of Morocco, a country and a government moving in absolutely the right direction and for the right reasons.
I think they are doing it because they believe strongly that this is the best thing they can do for the people of their country and that is to say moving in a direction that disavows the extremist positions taken by a lot of the folks in the same area of the world and is putting them on a path to democratic institutions that can be long lived and that is to be celebrated.
Everybody here I know feels an affinity for the Government of Morocco, for what they have been able to accomplish along these lines.
I also recognize, of course, that the people in the Western Sahara do not feel the same way of course in terms of the progress that is being made there, but it does seem to me that if Morocco wants to continue in the direction that it has started upon, in the direction we all laud them for, that part of that will be a recognition that there has to be a conclusion here, a successful conclusion to this debate and to this difference.
It does seem to me, and I certainly am interested in hearing from our witnesses how this can be accomplished, it does seem that the vote is perhaps the only way to do so.
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If somebody out there has a better idea, believe me this is the time that we should be hearing from you, but I just want to say that it is an extremely uncomfortable situation I find myself in, because oftentimes we look at a government that we are befriending and we are doing it for the wrong reason, either because they are totalitarian dictatorship, but on the other hand we know who they are and they may be the devil, but it is the devil we know. That is the State Department's motto that they have lived by for a long, long time.
In this case, I don't think it is that way. I mean I think it is a good government trying to do a good thing in Morocco, in terms of their direction.
So we are placed in a very difficult situation and I do hope and pray that it comes to a successful conclusion for all the people in Morocco, as soon as possible. I am looking forward to hearing the testimony. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. SMITH. Mr. Tancredo, thank you very much.
Ms. McCollum.
Ms. MCCOLLUM. Mr. Chair, the hearing starting late, people have planes to catch and I am anxious to hear the testimony so I pass. Thank you.
Mr. SMITH. Thank you very much, Ms. McCollum.
Let me introduce our first witness, Gordon Gray, who is Deputy Assistant Secretary. First of all, let me thank Secretary Gray for his graciousness. We are breaking protocol again a little bit right now; we are going to ask Toby Shelley, who has a flight to catch back to London, who has worked as a journalist for over 20 years to speak.
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Recent employment has included Dow Jones Newswires as regional energy news editor and the Financial Times. Mr. Shelley first visited the Sahrawi refugee camps in Algeria in 1988. In 2001, he was invited by the Moroccan Government to visit Western Sahara territory under its control.
His book, Endgame in the Western Sahara, was published in 2004. Oil: Politics, Poverty and the Planet was published this year.
He was most recently in Western Sahara at the beginning of November. Please proceed as you would like. Again, I want to thank Secretary Gray for his gracious gesture.
STATEMENT OF MR. TOBY SHELLEY, JOURNALIST, ''FINANCIAL TIMES,'' LONDON, ENGLAND
Mr. SHELLEY. I would certainly add my thanks to that, as would my two small children who I have to be back with tomorrow morning in London.
This is brief oral testimony, which is a summary of my longer written testimony.
The Western Sahara is dusted within a thin layer of civil rights and legal process. Since May of this year, that coating has been blown away by the inability of the Moroccan State to accommodate the protests of a frustrated Sahrawi population.
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Following the flight of much of the Sahrawi population to come to Algeria in 1975, those who remained live in a state of fear. Some 500 cases of disappearance are still outstanding.
Sometimes whole families were seized. I know one family in which two daughters were held for 16 years and the parents both perished in prison.
In the late 1990s, there was a relative relaxation due to criticism by external human rights groups, pressure from European partners and then a period of uncertainty following the death of King Hassan.
In the autumn of 1999, there were small protests in Laayoune. To the surprise of the organizers, unorchestrated demonstrations then broke out in Sahrawi districts of the town. In the weeks it took to pacify Laayoune, a civil rights movement was born.
The 1999 protests might be linked with the frustration of the delay in implementing the referendum promised in the 1991 settlement plan. Similarly, one might draw a line between the protest that began in May of this year and the anger over the lack of implementation of Mr. Baker's peace plan.
What is plain is that the protests of this year are more overtly political and much more geographically widespread than those of 1999.
Many of the small-scale events are either spontaneous or are organized by groups of youths. Neither the civil rights committees nor the streets are controlled directly by Polisario.
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Civil rights activists want Sahrawi self-determination. Some, true, are openly sympathetic to Polisario, but many are independently minded and some even see their movement as a tool for safeguarding a healthy civil society in a post-independent Western Sahara.
Currently, Laayoune, the main town in Western Sahara, is swarming with security forces. Each week I receive photographs of Sahrawis covered in blood, bandages and bruises. In the last 24 hours, I have received reports of dozens of arrests and dozens of injuries of demonstrators.
Due process has been suspended with the rest sliding into internment. Sahrawis complain that prison sentences have eventuated from hearings where the defense has been unable to function. Conditions in prisons are appalling.
Aminatou Haider is a single mother of two young children. She was beaten while monitoring a protest in early summer, carried to a hospital, from which she was then snatched and taken to jail. As far as I am aware, she remains uncharged. After a long hunger strike, she is suffering multiple illnesses. She and others, such as Hmad Hammad, may not survive their imprisonment.
In a chilling reminder of other times and other places, Ali Salem Tamek, who is currently in prison in Agadir, has been threatened with committal to a mental hospital.
As I traveled to Laayoune 3 weeks ago, two events occurred that I will relate. On the 30th of October, a protest took place in the Smara Road district of Laayoune. There was a standoff between the crowd of Sahrawis and members of the security forces.
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As the protesters dispersed and security forces followed their practice of targeting a handful of demonstrators, one of those picked out was Lembarki Hamdi. He was run down by a vehicle and then systematically trampled by 11 agents until blood flowed from his mouth, nose and ears.
The authorities initially announced that he was killed by a stone thrown by a demonstrator. I have personally seen the photographs of the corpse. I have spoken to his family and I have spoken to witnesses. He was not killed by a stone.
When I saw the family, they had fled their house, because it had been raided three times by the security forces in the hours after the death. They were refusing to accept the body, because they demanded an independent autopsy, a right they have just been granted.
Second, civil rights activist Brahim Dahane was arrested while monitoring a protest. Two things are significant about Dahane's detention. The primary subject of his interrogation was his contact from foreign, including U.S., diplomats and journalists and that he is a consistent advocate of peaceful protest, a calming voice in an increasingly frustrated environment.
I have been informed that there is now a policy of removing from the street those with external contacts and those who seek to deny the security forces the pretext to intensify the crackdown on dissent. If the window of opportunity for a civil rights movement is closed, there will be one more argument for those who say peaceful protest wins nothing.
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Further, there is a real danger of a provocation that will escalate the conflict, turning the Moroccan settled majority in the territory against their Sahrawi neighbors. Ladies and gentlemen, that road leads to pogroms.
I would respectfully urge the Committee to establish links with the Sahrawi civil rights movement, helping it to thrive as a constructive element in whatever future lies ahead.
Finally, I do not claim to know what the majority of Sahrawis want. What I do believe is that it is the most basic of civil rights that a people be allowed to define its own identity.
That means a choice between integration and independence: A choice that is monitored and must be guaranteed by the international community. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Shelley follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF MR. TOBY SHELLEY, JOURNALIST, ''FINANCIAL TIMES,'' LONDON, ENGLAND
The territory of the Western Sahara is dusted with a thin layer of development, civil rights and legal process. Since May of this year, that thin coating has been blown away by the inability of the Moroccan state to accommodate the predominantly peaceful protests of an increasingly frustrated Sahrawi population.
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That population has been given the lead by a civil rights movement that grew out of a previous wave of protests in 1999. I have visited the territory on a number of occasions since the beginning of 2002, initially at the invitation of the Moroccan government and subsequently on an independent basis, and have watched closely the development and spread of the movement. I was last in the territory two weeks ago. My analysis of the information I gathered then is that the Moroccan government's strategy is to eliminate the movement by crushing all protest and interning civil rights activists. This strategy is implemented through large scale deployment of paramilitary security forces in population centres, beating of demonstrators, restrictions on the local and international press, and the de facto suspension of due process in the judicial system.
The Years of Lead
In the years following the flight of much of the Sahrawi population to the camps in Algeria, those who remained lived in a state of permanent uncertainty and fear. Civil rights activists, many of whom endured years in Moroccan jails, the horrors of which have been well documented, list some 500 cases of disappearance still outstanding. Some 150 of these cases are witnessed and documented. 'Disappearance' continued well into the 1990s and typically began with a night time raid on a house, seizure of an individual by one of the various security organs, followed by a silence that might last for weeks, months, years or for ever.
In small, tight-knit communities the impact was devastating. Relatives were afraid to discuss the disappearance outside of the home for fear of retribution, no appeal to the outside world was possible, protest was unthinkable. Families of the long-term disappeared still do not know whether to grieve or whether remarriage of spouses is thinkable.
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In some cases, whole families were seized. I know one family where two daughters were held for 16 years and the parents both perished in prison.
In the last few weeks a mass grave was uncovered close to a former prison in Morocco. Of the 50 or so corpses, almost all were Sahrawi.
After the 1991 ceasefire between Morocco and Polisario, 321 'disappeared' were released, 73 of them women, and 57 declared dead, according to Sahrawi sources. However, the so-called Years of Lead did not end with the ceasefire. I have interviewed families whose sons were taken in 1992 and never seen again.
Two years ago a limited programme of family visits between the camps and Laayoune was initiated and that is due to be repeated, thanks to the UNHCR. But it should be borne in mind that there is scarcely a Sahrawi family that is not divided, parent from child, sibling from sibling, husband from wife, between exile and life under Moroccan rule.
At the social and economic levels, while reliable data is hard to come by, it is clear the Sahrawis have cause for complaint—overwhelmingly they are unemployed and marginalised. At school they are taught Moroccan history, their dialect is discouraged, and they are heavily policed. Some of the disappeared were snatched from their classrooms. There is no university in the territory. Those graduates lucky enough to be offered jobs often find themselves posted to distant parts of Morocco.
Visitors on facilitated trips to the territory are frequently shown housing projects. Whether these are in Laayoune or other towns or in coastal villages, it is evident after independent visits to the area that these houses are not for Sahrawi use and, indeed, that they may lie empty for years after apparent completion.
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Sahrawis have benefited little from the massive increase in Moroccan fishing in Sahrawi waters. The Western Sahara accounts for well over half of the 'Moroccan' catch in a sector that has become increasingly important as an export earner and job generator. The boats and the workers are overwhelmingly Moroccan and the profits flow north or into the pockets of those controlling licences.
The phosphate industry, established in the latter years of Spanish rule, was an important source of employment but Sahrawi miners and retired miners complain their emplyment and pension contracts have been rewritten while some have been demoted, others transferred to Moroccan facilities, and that new recruits are drawn from inside Morocco.
Morocco produces no oil and its treasury suffers from the volatility of energy prices so it is particularly anxious to find hydrocarbons in the highly prospective Western Saharan waters. Despite the well-known legal opinion of the senior UN lawyer, Hans Correll, few Sahrawis believe any oil project profits would flow to the indigenous people.
1999 and beyond
In the late 1990s there was a relative relaxation in the Western Sahara. This derived in large part from constant criticism by external human rights groups, pressure from European partners of Morocco, and then a period of uncertainty, not to say intrigue, following the death of King Hassan.
The opportunity was seized first by Sahrawi students in Moroccan universities. In the second half of 1999 though, small protests began in Laayoune with school graduates complaining about discriminatory employment policies. These grew as retired phosphate miners and representatives of other interest groups joined in until some 200 people were engaged in a long term sit down protest. After two weeks the protest was broken up by riot police.
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It is very important to understand what happened next. To the surprise of the protest's organisers, unorchestrated demonstrations broke out in heavily Sahrawi districts of the town and were echoed by Sahrawi students in Morocco.
In the weeks it took to pacify Laayoune, the civil rights movement was conceived and born as activists determined to organise. It was at this time that former prisoners and would-be activists who had never met before got together, that families of the disappeared began to speak out, that prisoner release campaigns got underway, culminating in the release of Mohamed Daddach who had been detained for a quarter of century.
The following few years saw an increase in the confidence and organisation of the civil rights movement as it spread beyond Laayoune to Smara, Dakhla and Boujdour. Perhaps of most concern to Morocco, it emerged strongly in the ethnically Sahrawi town of Assa, which lies within Morocco itself, finding echoes in other southern Moroccan towns such as Goulmime and Tan Tan.
The movement benefited to some extent from developments inside Morocco where the government tried to draw a line under the Years of Lead. Local human rights organisations were permitted to operate and Sahrawi chapters affiliated. Many of those who had been held without trial received compensation and public hearings were given to former detainees.
However, even during this period when Morocco was being lauded abroad, Sahrawis faced discriminatory treatment. The 500 outstanding cases of disappearance remained outstanding. Demonstrations in Smara in late 2001 were put down with force and arrestees handed down long prison sentences. The Sahrawi chapter of the Forum for Truth and Justice was closed down—much of the evidence presented against it relating to contacts with foreign journalists. Because former victims of torture and imprisonment were forbidden from naming those responsible, the perpetrators faced neither exposure nor punishment.
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May 2005
One might link the timing of the 1999 protests with growing frustration over the delay in implementing the referendum promised in the 1991 Settlement Plan. Similarly, one might draw a dotted line between the protests that began in May this year, sparked by transfer of a prisoner to a far-flung prison, to Sahrawi frustrations over lack of implementation of Mr Baker's Peace Plan.
What is plain is that the protests of this year are far more overtly political than those in 1999. Then, the Moroccan government and press ascribed the unrest to social grievances exploited by a handful of pro-Polisario agents provocateurs. Today, it is undisputed that demonstrators are explicitly demanding a referendum of self-determination. That goes for protests in schools, universities in Morocco, and the streets of Sahrawi districts in towns across the territory and inside southern Morocco.
Civil rights activists have been involved in organising some of the largely peaceful protests. At others they have attempted to act as monitors, following detainees to police stations and hospitals to try to ensure they are properly treated. But many of the small-scale events are either spontaneous or are organised by groups of youths.
It is very important to understand that neither the civil rights committees nor the street is controlled directly by Polisario's external leadership. Civil rights activists want Sahrawi self-determination and view this as the most fundamental of rights. Some of them are more-or-less openly sympathetic to Polisario and, of course, the mobile phone has provided a two-way communication flow between the camps and the Moroccan controlled territory. But many are independently minded and some even see their movement as a tool for ensuring a healthy civil society in an independent Western Sahara. There are different tendencies and opinions within the civil rights movement, some now seeing confrontation as being the only means of gaining international attention, some seeing the movement as a transitional stage towards full-blooded political struggle while others believe demands for social and judicial reform have their own value.
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This, plus the degree of surveillance of the population and the fact that protests are continuing despite the imprisonment of many key activists gives the lie to the notion that Polisario can turn on and off the tap of protest in the territory. I know that Polisario is using what influence it does have to hold back hot heads.
One might draw a loose parallel between the development of protest in the Western Sahara and the first Palestinian intifada. In both cases the leadership of an externally-based movement has had to run to catch up with events on the ground. Actually, I would go further—even local activists have again and again been surprised by the spontaneity of protest.
Morocco's response
As I have already remarked, the streets of Laayoune are currently swarming with units of an alphabet soup of security forces. Each week I and many other journalists receive photographs of Sahrawis covered in blood, bandages, bruises after their release from custody. I know children as young as five years old who have been chased through their neighbourhood by police on the grounds they were illegally demonstrating.
Several dozen civil rights activists have been detained, sometimes without charge and sometimes without hearing dates being set. Due process has been suspended by the judiciary with arrest being allowed to slide into indefinite internment. Where there have been trials, Sahrawis complain that prison sentences of many years have eventuated from hearings where the defence has been unable to function. Conditions in Moroccan prisons, particularly the Carcel Negre in Laayoune are appalling. Detainees, many of them unconvicted, many of them sick and injured are crammed into rooms so full some have to sleep in latrine cubicles.
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Aminatou Haider is a single mother of two young children. She is a slight figure, still carrying the physical and emotional scars of the young woman she was when she was disappeared. She has insisted on speaking out, accusing by name those who treated her as they wished during her incarceration. She was beaten whilst monitoring a protest in early summer, carried covered in blood to hospital from which she was snatched and taken to jail. As far as I am aware she remains uncharged. After a long hunger strike, she is suffering multiple illnesses. She and others, such as Hmad Hammad, may not survive their imprisonment.
In a chilling reminder of other times and other places, Ali Salem Tamek, a hate figure of the Moroccan establishment press, currently detained in a prison near Agadir, has been threatened with committal to a mental hospital.
As I travelled to Laayoune three weeks ago, two events occurred that I will relate.
Firstly, on October 30 a protest took place in the Smara Road district of Laayoune. There was a stand off between a crowd of 50–100 Sahrawis and members of the Groupe Urbaine Securitaire. According to eye witnesses to whom I have spoken, as the protestors dispersed the security forces followed their usual practice of targeting a handful of demonstrators. One of those picked out this time was Lembarki Hamdi. He was run down by a vehicle and then systematically trampled by 11 agents until blood flowed from his mouth, nose and ears. Two bypassers who tried to take him to hospital were detained. He was declared dead in hospital.
The authorities announced he was killed by a stone thrown by a demonstrator. I have seen photographs of the corpse. I have spoken to his family and I have spoken to witnesses. He was not killed by a stone. When I saw the family they had fled their house because it had been raided three times by the security forces in the hours since the death. They were refusing to accept the body—a terribly hard decision for a muslim family, not least in the holy month of Ramadan—because they wanted an independent autopsy.
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Second, in the wake of the death of Lembarki Hamdi, civil rights activist Brahim Dahane was arrested while monitoring a protest. He joins several dozen others many of who have been on hunger strike.
Two things are significant about Brahim Dahane's detention, namely that the primary subject of his interrogation was his contact with foreign, including US, diplomats and journalists, and that he has been a determined and consistent advocate of peaceful protest, a calming voice in an increasingly frustrated environment.
While Dahane, whose sister won political asylum in Britain in 2004, is being held on a litany of vague allegations such as membership of an illegal organisation and compromising the territorial integrity of the kingdom, it has been put to me that there is now a policy of removing from the street those with external contacts and those who are seeking to deny the security forces the chance to intensify the crackdown on dissent.
Conclusion
The situation in the Western Sahara is at a crossroads. At the diplomatic level, Morocco appears confident in its ability to rebuff Baker's Peace Plan without significant protest from the Security Council. This confidence no doubt derives from its success in sinking the Settlement Plan to which it signed up almost a decade and a half ago.
On the ground in the territory it controls, Morocco has intensified the exploitation of and search for natural resources, aided by US company Kerr McGee in the case of oil. But the limited economic development and the more substantial infrastructural development has been aimed at settling the territory. To the limited extent Sahrawis have benefited it has been incidental or by grace and favour.
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If a window of opportunity for open organisation of a civil rights movement opened in the late 1990s, it is now being slammed shut. If it is closed, there will be one more argument in favour of those who reason that peaceful protest wins nothing. I believe there is a very real danger of a provocation that would escalate the conflict, turning the Moroccan settler majority in the territory against their Sahrawi neighbours. That road leads to pogroms.
Destruction of the Sahrawi civil rights movement flies in the face of Morocco's constant assertions abroad that it wishes to pursue development, democracy and devolution. It also sends a frightening message to those seeking real reform inside Morocco itself.
I would strongly and respectfully urge the committee to monitor the situation on the ground in the Western Sahara, something the UN mission has signally failed to do, and to establish communication links with the Sahrawi civil rights movement, helping it to survive and thrive as a constructive element in whatever future lies ahead.
Finally, I must say that I hold no candle for Polisario. I do not advocate Sahrawi independence any more than integration with Morocco. I do not claim to know what in their hearts the majority of Sahrawis want. What I do firmly believe, and I think it may resonate in this room, is that it is the most basic of civil rights that a people be allowed to define its own identity. We will never know what the Sahrawis want unless the international community insists that they are given a clear choice in a vote of self-determination. That means a choice between integration and independence, a choice that is monitored and guaranteed by the international community.
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Thank you.
Mr. SMITH. Mr. Shelley, thank you very much for your testimony. We will ask just a couple of questions, again owing to your time.
In your book, The Endgame to Western Sahara, you allege, and I quote, ''duplicity and incompetence at the United Nations.'' What agendas do you see at work that have thwarted the referendum that the UN claims that it wants?
Mr. SHELLEY. There is certainly at least one permanent member of the Security Council which is solidly, permanently behind Morocco, uncritically supportive of Morocco, and I believe that that member's support has frustrated the attempts or materially assisted Morocco in frustrating the attempts of the United Nations to reach a settlement.
Mr. SMITH. That member is?
Mr. SHELLEY. France.
Mr. SMITH. What is its interest in preventing a referendum there?
Mr. SHELLEY. Morocco's?
Mr. SMITH. No. Why is France so——
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Mr. SHELLEY. France is of the opinion that it would be more destabilizing to Morocco and to the Maghreb for the Kingdom to have to backtrack on their position that it has maintained for decades than to cut off a gangrenous limb in order to save the body, which is what the alternative position would be.
Mr. SMITH. Mr. Payne?
Mr. PAYNE. Thank you very much. We still hear about reports of atrocities