Why the Maghreb Really Matters

Editor: John Feffer
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The Maghreb is again a major talking point in the United States. In the perceived interests of fighting terrorism and promoting trade, a group of politicians and pundits are urging the Obama administration to side with Morocco and against self-determination for the Sahrawis of Western Sahara. They also urge a regional union for the Maghreb. Yet reaching for a quick fix that supports Morocco’s campaigns in any of these areas would set such a Maghreb Union back years.

Those who see the Sahrawi’s decades-long reach for freedom as an obstacle to the perceived bigger picture often have high profiles. Among them are a wrong-headed group of U.S. members of Congress who wrote to President Obama in April. Their letter suggested that the president should set in stone an extraordinarily flawed solution promoted by Western Sahara’s illegal occupiers — Morocco — to entrap the Sahrawi in an autonomous structure rather than offering self-determination, which is their just and legal right.

This group of legislators took their lead and some of their language from a new report Why the Maghreb Matters from the Potomac Institute and the Conflict Management Program at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). The report presents the long-stalled union in the Maghreb region as posing both significant threats and opportunities for U.S. interests. In seeking to over-promote both scenarios, the report highlights a common reaction of those looking to find an end-game solution in the region at whatever cost: over-simplification.

The cost in this case, should the U.S. government and the international community continue such realpolitik analysis, is the welfare of more than 200,000 people in the occupied territories of Western Sahara, Africa’s last colony.

Why the Maghreb?

The Maghreb — generally including Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania, and Western Sahara — is significant for many reasons. According to the Potomac/SAIS report, "the U.S. government should have a profound interest in North Africa because developments in the region impact significantly on our national interests." These developments relate first of all to trade and investment. Countries within the region have tended to under-perform economically. So, the argument goes, a regional union based on free and fair trade is likely to benefit everyone, including the United States.

Few would dispute the importance of promoting economic development in the region. But when the discussion turns to the Maghreb’s significance in terms of threats, disagreements arise. The Potomac/SAIS report focuses on the threat of terrorism and highlights a five-fold increase in terrorist attacks in the region since 2001. That these figures indicate a serious problem for civilians in the region is undeniable.

Yet, identifying their source, both geographical and ideological, has become a blame game with the highest possible stakes. The United States and others are in danger of not only getting it all terribly wrong by allying with Rabat in the efforts to stamp out terrorism in the region but of casting a massive injustice upon the Sahrawis.

Documented cases of human rights violations abound. In a report late in 2008, Human Rights Watch "found that Moroccan authorities repress this right [of self-determination] through laws penalizing affronts to Morocco’s ‘territorial integrity,’ through arbitrary arrests, unfair trials, restrictions on associations and assemblies, and through police violence and harassment that goes unpunished."

Why then have key analysts and policymakers in the Untied States ignored these factors and viewed the Moroccan perpetrators of these acts as the solution to the problem?

The Real Problem in the Maghreb

For the last three decades, Morocco has denied Western Sahara the basic human right to self-determination, one of the tenets of the United Nations. An International Court of Justice ruling in 1975 confirmed Morocco’s invasion as illegal. Numerous UN resolutions established the mechanism for a referendum on self-determination in Western Sahara. And there has been a long-running UN mission in the region designed to move the populace toward self-determination. Still, the forced occupation of Western Sahara continues.

In Western Sahara, 160,000 Moroccan military and para-military personnel are aided by one of the world’s largest minefields and by a 2,700 km security wall that runs right through communities and extended families. We Sahrawi sought the inclusion of a human rights monitor in the UN mission. But the proposal met with resistance from a slick and expensive lobbying effort run by Morroco’s foreign public relations representatives (all nine of them) and by a recalcitrant and counter-intuitive France, which used its veto to block the proposal.

So, the reality, as opposed to the realpolitik, makes a compelling case against Morocco’s tainted "autonomy" proposal (in actuality, a "non-independence" proposal). Generalizations about terrorism and threats to U.S. interests should not detract attention from the real problem at the center of the Maghreb: the denial of basic human rights to those who live in Africa’s last colony, Western Sahara.

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Aminatou Haidar is a Sahrawi human-rights defender, the 2008 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award laureate, and a contributor to Foreign Policy In Focus.

Haidar’s intervention in the Conference on Western Sahara in Pretoria

The Saharawi human rights’ activist and ex-prisoner of conscience, Aminatou HAidar, gave an intervention during a Conference “on Multilateralism and International Law with Western Sahara as case study”, hosted by the South African Department of Foreign Affairs and the University of Pretoria, 4 and 5 December. Here is the complete text of Aminatou Haidar’s speech: ----------------------- Ladies and Gentlemen Dear Friends Allow me, first of all, to greet you and wish everyone at this very important conference the greatest success in accomplishing, through the proceedings of this conference, a contribution to the respect of the right of the Saharawi people to live in peace, freedom and dignity. Ladies and Gentlemen, As you know, my people, the Saharawi people, have suffered greatly from the consequences of an unjust war carried out against our will by the Moroccan state since 1975. The invasion of Western Sahara by the Moroccan army was coupled with a campaign of blind repression against the Saharawi civilian population, in towns and villages and in the countryside, inaugurating a bloody way of life never before known in the history of Western Sahara. Thousands of Saharawis, of all ages and both sexes have been subjected to a collective punishment, consisting in exposing them to forced disappearance, arbitrary detention, being buried alive in mass graves, while others have been quite simply thrown out of helicopters. It is during these years that the nameless secret dungeons of Kalaat Maggouna, Agdez, Derb Moulay Chrif, Skoura and the PC-CMI in occupied El Aaiun, were to transform themselves into concentration camps for Saharawi civilians. Hundreds of Saharawis served sentences of 16 years’ disappearance in these prisons. Some succumbed under the bad conditions of detention. As for the « commission group » of which I was part, it was 400-strong, Saharawi men and women, all abducted on the eve of the arrival of a UN commission awaited on November 20th 1987 in the capital city of Western Sahara, El Aaiun . Four died and left us during our horrible and indescribable experience lasting nearly 4 years, in the secret detention centre the PC-CMI in occupied El Aaiun. We spent all these years blindfolded and handcuffed, with bad food, no health care or hygienic conditions, on top of that daily torture sessions, threats of rape, these were the practices to which we were subjected throughout this long and hard period of forced disappearance. Ladies and Gentlemen, Since 1976 and up until the present time over 500 Saharawis have « disappeared » and Morocco refuses to make a pronouncement on their fate, while it carries out propaganda campaigns of a pseudo truth commission, known as the « Equity and Reconciliation Body », which travels the world without delivering any real answers on the human rights abuses perpetrated against the Saharawi population. Honorable audience, Since May 21st 2005, a non-violent uprising of the Saharawi population has been under way in Western Sahara, a series of demonstrations in southern Morocco and in the Moroccan university campuses, proclaiming respect for the Saharawi people’s right to self-determination. Each time this has dangerous repercussions for the demonstrators who endure severe baton attacks, torture, going as far as death, as in the cases of some young Saharawis: Hamdi Lambarki, Bachaikh Lakhlifi and Sidha Uld Lahbib, who lost their lives under blows from Moroccan police in the middle of the street. Or by serving heavy prison sentences of up to 15 years, as with the case of the Saharawi human rights defender, Yahia Mohamed Elhafed, or again, enduring permanent infirmities following brutal interventions by the Moroccan security forces, which cost a Saharawi student, Sultana Khaya the loss of her right eye, Lwali Quadimi became a total paraplegic, without saying anything of the daily routine of ransacking houses of Saharawi citizens and incessant campaigns of intimidation and harassment of Saharawi human rights defenders, including arrest and torture, even dismissal from one’s job, ban on freedom of movement, being forcibly moved to Moroccan towns or forbidden from enrolling in universities as is the case with two Saharawi human rights defenders and members of CODESA, Ali Salem Tamek and Alamin Sahel. As for myself, the Moroccan security forces tortured me in the street on 17 June 20005 for being a human rights defender and after having received first aid at the hospital in occupied El Aaiun, they arrested me and on the basis of falsified and non-authentic charges, I served 7 months locked up in the Black Prison of El Aaiun. Until now, I still can not find an employment, just because I commemorated the International Women’s Day in March 2005!!! Furthermore, human rights activists carry out their duties in very difficult conditions, considering the systematic ban on forming human rights NGOs, at the moment the collective of Saharawi human rights defenders, CODESA, of which I am president, is still banned by the Moroccan administrative authority, as is the Saharawi association of human rights abuses, ASVDH. Honorable audience, The right of Saharawi pupils and students to education is under threat because of repressive and discriminatory practices exercised by the Moroccan authorities against this stratum of Saharawi society. Actually, since May 2005, our educational establishments have been transformed into veritable police stations, where school children are exposed to beatings, arrest, and other acts of intimidation and humiliation. And the Saharawi students in Moroccan universities live in even worst situation. They suffer discrimination, torture, imprisonment and arbitrary detention. In effect, this week the Moroccan authorities committed a crime against the Sahrawi students in the Moroccan city of Agadir. Two Sahrawi students at the University of Ibn Zohar in Agadir died, Hossein Abdessadik Alketyif (20 years), Khya Baba Abdelaziz (22 years), after being run over by a bus and dozens were injured, while they were taking part in a sit-in to demand transport to go to spend the Aid El-Adha feast with their families. In the face of this alarming situation, the Moroccan police, instead of arresting this Moroccan criminal, they proceeded to torturing the other students who were demonstrating and arrested many of them. This confirms the implication of the Moroccan authorities in this crime. After these assassinations, all cities in Western Sahara were put under military siege and schools are surrounded by Moroccan police, while houses of Sahrawi activist are under constant surveillance. Unfortunately, Morocco is committing all these crimes in a military blocked territory, where the media and the NGO’s are denied access. Ladies and Gentlemen The economic crimes committed by the Moroccan state in the occupied territories of Western Sahara, are no less harmful than the violation of political and civil rights of the Saharawi people. The natural resources of Western Sahara have, for years, been the object of large-scale pillage. Fishing in the Saharawi national waters, the exportation of phosphate from Boucraa and the level of exploitation are illegal acts according to resolution 1803 of the General Assembly 14 December 1966 on the « permanent sovereignty over natural resources », article 1 (paragraph 42). Ladies and Gentlemen Allow me to let you know that the European Union’s policy concerning the issue of Western Sahara is far from the aspirations of the Saharawi people; certain positions even go against our aspirations, as is the case of the fishing agreement concluded between Morocco and the European Union with no legal basis. The European policy towards Western Sahara continues to be deceiving, for not saying that is accomplice. We do not understand the silence of the European Union concerning Morocco’s lack of respect for the clauses relating to human rights contained in the Partnership between the European Union and this country. But what is even more serious is the granting by the European Union of an Advanced Status to Morocco, without excluding the territory of the Western Sahara. I can confirm to you that this will intensify the Moroccan repressive apparatus against the Saharawi civilian population. As a victim of Moroccan repression and also as a Saharawi human rights defender, and president of CODESA, I would like to testify that the situation has seriously deteriorated and that Saharawi population is in distress. I, therefore, call for the protection of their basic rights, and it is urgent and imperative to make more strenuous efforts and to intensify our work to put an end to these suffering. Today after these assassinations, the European Union cannot remain indifferent and should send an enquiry mission to investigate this crime. It is also its duty to work urgently to make possible the visit of the ad hoc delegation of the European Parliament to the occupied territories of Western Sahara. Morocco has never been willing to allow the visit of the delegation since its establishment in October 2005. Shouldn’t the Saharawi people, as a victim, benefit from international protection, in face of this ferocious repression campaign? For how long will the international community keep up its deplorable attitude of quietly assisting a parallel form of foreign domination which is visibly harmful to the inalienable right of peoples to self-determination? The Committee of the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights, which carried out a visit to Western Sahara from 15 to 19 May 2006, confirmed in its report that all the violations committed by the Moroccan authorities in Western Sahara flow from the denial of the fundamental right which is the foundation of the United Nations, namely the right to self-determination of the Saharawi people. Ladies and Gentlemen Allow me, on behalf of my colleagues in CODESA and on behalf of all the Saharawi defenders of human rights, to launch from this platform, an urgent appeal to the whole international community and above all to the United Nations, to put a substantial effort behind the protection of Saharawi citizens living under Moroccan occupation. It is highly desirable to put in place a mechanism for the protection and promotion of their fundamental rights. Finally, I would like to seize this opportunity to remind you that about forty Saharawi political prisoners, including human rights defenders, are today behind bars in Morocco’s prisons and in the Black Prison of occupied El Aaiun. They are in deplorable conditions of detention. These prisoners need our support and our solidarity in order to recover their freedom. Let us mobilize ourselves for their immediate release and to disclose the fate of all the other disappeared Saharawis since 1976. Thank you very much. Pretoria, 5 December 2008

Aminatou Haidar address

Special Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award

Saharawi human rights activist addressed the audience participating to the reception organised on her honour last Thursday in Washington where she received the Robert Kennedy Award for Human Rights. Here is the complete text of the address: -------------------------------- Remarks by Aminatou Haidar 25th Annual Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, November 13th, 2008 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC As Prepared for Delivery ----- Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear friends, allow me to thank the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights for uniting us during this event to commemorate together the virtues of a brave man who devoted his life to the fight for freedom and the promotion of human rights. We pay a great tribute to the spirit of Robert Francis Kennedy. "Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." Those were the words of Robert Francis Kennedy, and as the 2008 human rights award is bestowed upon me on his behalf, I find myself inspired by the same ideals he defended with such conviction and selflessness. I have to tell you that as Robert Francis Kennedy, I believe that "all can freely speak and act to share in the decisions which shape their lives." Moreover, I share his belief that the fight against injustice is the highest form of courage. My people, the Sahrawi people, have greatly suffered from the consequences of an unfair war waged since 1975 by the Moroccan state against their will. Today more than half of my people live in Diaspora, sometimes in very difficult conditions, far from their country and their families, while the other half continues its heroic pacific resistance against the Moroccan occupation. More than 500 Sahrawis have been declared missing since the Moroccan invasion of Western Sahara and the Moroccan state still refuses to give information regarding their status although it conducts propaganda campaigns under the guise of a so-called truth commission, an organization that is supposedly for equity and reconciliation and that runs around the world without giving any real answers on the grave violations of human rights perpetrated against the Sahrawi population. Since May 21, 2005 a non-violent uprising of the Sahrawi population started, proclaiming its right to self–determination. Since then, wherever there is a strong concentration of Sahrawi, demonstrators have gathered in public squares or on university campuses chanting slogans proclaiming their right to self-determination and waving Sahrawi flags. This is always dangerous for the demonstrators who risk being hit by police batons or even torture, which sometimes leads to death as was the case of three young Sahrawis: HAMDI LEMBARKI, BACHAIKH LAKHLIFI and SIDHA ULD LAHBIB or leads imprisonment for up to fifteen years as is the case of the Sahrawi human rights defender YAHIA MOHAMED LHAFED or can even lead to becoming disabled for life as was the case for the Sahrawi students SULTANA KHAYA who lost her right eye and LWALI QADMI who became paraplegic after being subjected to the brutality of the Moroccan security forces. Not to mention the daily ransacking of homes and the constant intimidation and harassment campaigns against the Sahrawi human rights defenders including arrest on the grounds of human rights activism, the loss of jobs, the prohibition of free movement and more importantly the systematic prohibition to form human rights organizations such as the COLLECTIF DES DEFENSEURS SAHRAWIS DES DROITS DE L’HOMME ‘‘CODESA’’ of which I am President and which is still banned by the Moroccan administrative authorities and the ASSOCIATION SAHRAWIE DES VICTIMES DES VIOLATIONS DES DROITS DE L’HOMME ‘‘ASVDH’’ which is also facing the same fate. Ladies and Gentlemen, as a Sahrawi woman victim of the Moroccan repression, subjected to forced disappearance and arbitrary detention, and also as a human rights defender, I reaffirm today that the current situation of human rights in the occupied territories of Western Sahara is tragic and continues to deteriorate on a daily basis. I bear witness to the distress of the Sahrawi population, and call for the protection of their basic rights. It is urgent, it is imperative to renew efforts and intensify the work required to put an end to our suffering. It is widely known that the Western Sahara conflict primarily affects the prosperity of both the Sahrawi and the Moroccan people. It also affects the rest of the Mahgreb and the hopes of its people. The time has come to put an end to the unbearable sufferings that this situation is creating for the population. Shouldn’t the Sahrawi people, in all fairness, benefit from an international protection against the cruel repression that they are being subjected to? How long will the international community maintain its regrettable non-interference approach while a whole people sees its right to self-determination be trampled underfoot by foreign occupation? The time has come to uphold real commitments in order to accelerate the process toward self-determination. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights visited Western Sahara May 15-19 2006 and confirmed in its report that all human rights violations committed by the Moroccan authorities in Western Sahara stem from the denial of a basic right according to the UN, namely the right to self-determination of the Sahrawi people, an inalienable and perpetual* right. A fourth round of negotiations between Sahrawi and Moroccan leaders recently took place in Manhasset under the auspices of the United Nations and a fifth round is expected. However, the prevailing feeling among the Sahrawi people, even the most optimistic, is that these discussions seem to remain unsuccessful which unfortunately gives rise to disappointment and a lack of hope in the Sahrawi people . Less than two years from the deadline for the completion of the plan of action of the Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, which was set in 2010, the Sahrawi people are still expecting to receive the support of the international community and to see the United Nations play an active role in seeking a just and equitable solution to this tragic conflict. Allow me as I stand here, on behalf of all Sahrawi human rights defenders, to urgently call upon the international community and particularly the United States to do all they can for the protection of the Sahrawi citizens under Moroccan occupation. I would also like to take this opportunity to remind you that about forty Sahrawi political prisoners (among them human rights defenders) are still behind bars in Moroccan jails and in the infamous El Aaiun prison. They are living in deplorable conditions, mistreated and deprived of their basic rights; their only crime is to have defended the right to self-determination of their people. These prisoners need our support and solidarity so that they can find their freedom. Let us therefore together demand their immediate release and demand information on the fate of the Sahrawi missing since 1976. In conclusion, I find myself once again reminded of the hopes of ROBERT FRANCIS KENNEDY who believed that the influence enjoyed by the United States in the world should be used in support of peace and justice. He said and I quote: "…The great challenge to all Americans…is to maintain loyalty to truth; …to maintain loyalty to freedom as a basic human value, and … to keep in our hearts and minds the tolerance and mutual trust." Finally, I would like to dedicate this prestigious award to the Sahrawi political prisoners, the victims of the Moroccan repression and to the Sahrawi human rights defenders who are performing a noble task and enduring innumerable sacrifices in defending the rights of others. Long live peace – Long live solidarity – Long live friendship. And thank you. Aminatou Haidar, human rights laureate of the 2008 ROBERT F. KENNEDY Human Rights Award