Human Rights in Western Sahara: A Call to Action | Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights | Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights

PDF Format Aminatou Haidar is the 2008 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award Laureate and President of the Collective of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders (CODESA). Aminatou received the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award for her courageous non-violent work, promoting the civil, political, social, cultural, and economic rights of the people of Western Sahara. Through the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, the RFK Center joins her struggle to increase visibility and dialogue about ongoing rights violations in Western Sahara. Background: The current conflict in Western Sahara has existed since 1975, when Morocco invaded Western Sahara in spite of a ruling by the International Court of Justice that Morocco did not have a legitimate claim to the territory. This invasion has led to a decades-old conflict between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front, a national movement committed to self-determination for the people of Western Sahara. MINURSO was created in 1991 to provide an international presence overseeing a cease-fire between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front. The mission was also tasked with helping to oversee a referendum on self-determination for Western Sahara. In spite of the mandate’s success at maintaining the ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario Front, the situation in Western Sahara is no closer to being resolved now than it was in 1991. The referendum on self-determination never took place. In the decades since the creation of the MINURSO mandate, Morocco has consistently violated the basic human rights of the Sahrawi people, particularly those who advocate for change in Western Sahara. Current Human Rights Situation: In April 2012, the Security Council will review the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). In 2011, the human rights situation in Western Sahara continued to deteriorate, leading to further tension and confrontations affecting the Sahrawi under Moroccan jurisdiction. The increased militarization of the city of El Aaiun is one manifestation of this situation. Increasingly frequent attacks against Sahrawi minors and students are also of concern. Moroccan security forces have allegedly committed assaults including threats, physical violence, and arbitrary arrests against minors. In most of the reported cases, CODESA observed that those victims were sexually harassed. Why a UN a permanent, impartial, human rights monitoring and reporting mechanism? Morocco has implemented several constitutional and legal reforms; they have so far failed to yield any significant benefit for the Sahrawi people. Morocco created the National Human Rights Council (NHRC) to protect and promote human rights, and investigate serious human rights violations. The ability of such a national institution to effectively address the human rights issues in Western Sahara is questionable. As the Moroccan Government denies official NGO status to Sahrawi organizations on a political basis, it is unlikely NHRC will consult with Sahrawi NGOs. As the status of Western Sahara is a highly contentious issue in Morocco, there is a reason to believe the NHRC might not address accusations of human rights violations in Western Sahara. CODESA reports that several cases of threats and assaults allegedly committed by Moroccan security forces against Sahrawi civilians have been filled with the NHRC, but there is no indication that it launched criminal investigations and prosecutions. Security Council Resolution 1979 of 2011 welcomed Morocco’s commitment to ensure unqualified, unimpeded access to all Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council (Special Rapporteurs). Morocco has yet to file standing invitations to those mechanisms. The Special Rapporteurs are not the most effective way to monitor, report, and wholly investigate human rights violations in Western Sahara. Last year only the Independent Expert on Cultural Rights was allowed to conduct a mission to Western Sahara, though three requests for country visits were filed. Morocco’s ability to invite Special Rapporteurs to Western Sahara is perceived by the Sahrawi as an implicit acknowledgment of Morocco’s sovereignty over the territory. Special Rapporteurs do not have a permanent mandate with adequate funding and technical resources, nor do they address all of the human rights issues in both the territory of Western Sahara and the Sahrawi refugee camps. Why the immediate and unconditional release of Sahrawi political prisoners? Moroccan authorities dismantled the Gdeim Izik camp, erected to protest against the poor economic and social conditions faced by the Sahrawi community, in November 2010. This led to violence and the arbitrary arrests of more than 160 Sahrawi protesters. 23 of the 160 protesters remain in detention and will face trial in military court. The court postponed trials for these detainees indefinitely. In September 2011, seven people were reportedly killed in clashes between Moroccan and Sahrawi groups after a soccer game in the city of Dakhla. Following non-violent demonstrations, Moroccan authorities arrested and detained 13 human rights defenders, 7 of whom still await trial. The November 2010 events at Gdeim Izik, considered by some as the real Arab Spring igniter, are more a demonstration of Morocco’s continued disregard for its national and international human rights obligations than a symbol of blossoming democracy. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a speech to the UN Security Council on March 12, 2012 said: “as a community of nations, [we] must help the people of the Middle East and North Africa make the most of the rights and freedoms for which they have risked so much.” We ask for your support in calling for the establishment of a permanent, impartial, international human rights monitoring and reporting mechanism in Western Sahara and Sahrawi refugee camps in Algeria, under the auspices of the UN Human Rights Office, and for the immediate and the unconditional release of all Sahrawi political prisoners held by the Kingdom of Morocco. TAKE ACTION: Visit www.rfkcenter.org, www.codesaso.com, westernsahara.crowdmap.com Join the conversation: www.facebook.com/pages/CODESA/195495527131469,www.facebook.com/RFKCenter Follow developments on Twitter: @CODESA_SO, @RFKcenter, @MGM_RFKennedy, @sahararightsand use #saharahumanrights, #aminatouhaidar, #sahrawirights