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On October 9, residents of Laayoune began setting up a symbolic protest camp in the desert east of the city. People came to the camp from their homes in Laayoune to demonstrate for additional housing and job opportunities to accommodate the growing population. Over the past year, there has been a significant increase in the influx of refugees from the Tindouf camps in Algeria.bostonglobe.com The people in the camp believed the recent arrivals received preferential treatment in terms of housing and subsidies based on specific tribal affiliations and the government’s desire to settle newcomers as quickly as possible.wikipedia.org Over the next two weeks, Moroccan authorities met with the protestors, who numbered in the thousands, to discuss their grievances. Committees made up of public authorities, sheiks, elected officials, and representatives of civil society began meeting regularly.
What began as a peaceful protest quickly deteriorated into a dangerous situation when a number of known criminals and pro-Polisario militants infiltrated the camp and tried to gain control. On October 24, there was a violent altercation that led to the death of a 14-year old boy. The car in which the youth was riding attempted to run a checkpoint and came under fire from authorities. After shots were fired and the vehicle stopped, weapons were found in the possession of some of the passengers. In investigating this episode, authorities discovered the infiltration by the criminal element and by pro-Polisario militants who tried to hijack this social protest having nothing to do with Polisario political aims. Last week, authorities concluded that the people in the camp were in danger. 70 Moroccan policemen were injured and 10 killed by the militant group inside the camp.
Immediately after the camp was disbanded, small armed groups from the camp went into the city of Laayoune and set fire to targeted buildings including a TV station and a bank. The militants beheaded an unarmed policeman. Following these events, 65 people carrying weapons were arrested and await prosecution. The Polisario and its supporters have made a number of unfounded allegations trying to cover up the deplorable violence committed by their backers. After examining the camp site, the UN Secretary-General's representative, MINURSO head Hany Abdel-Aziz, gave an account that countered these allegations. He told French daily Le Monde "I saw no trace of bullet cartridges" in the camp authorities dismantled outside Laayoune.
Court to review’. Under international law, the right of peoples to self-determination is quite a fundamental one. In East Timor, the ICJ held that it is ‘one of the essential principles of contemporary international law’. It seems clear that this right comprises permanent sovereignty over natural resources. In Guinea/Senegal (1985), the Arbitral Tribunal noted that, once a national liberation process has taken an international character, this prevents the dominant power from exploiting natural resources in the secessionist territory. In a 2002 letter, the UN Under-Secretary General for Legal Affairs concluded that exploitation of mineral resources in Western Sahara would be illegal ‘if conducted in disregard of the needs and interests of the people of that Territory’.
’ of the non-self-governing people or whether it can be conducted ‘on their behalf’, as long as it is in their benefit. Before the GC, the Council and Commission made (somewhat generic) defences of trade agreements.tripadvisor.com Counsel for Frente Polisario retorted that they are the ones to decide what benefits their people, and alluded to a preference for subsistence agriculture. Regardless of whether this would benefit the Sahrawi people more than trade (I suspect most economists would disagree), it seems that this is their choice to make. Frente Polisario argued extensively on the basis of Article 73 of the UN Charter.
The Council and the Commission noted that this contradicts the Frente’s claim that Morocco is an occupying power, and Article 73 concerns the obligations of administering Powers. The 2010 Agreement falls within the purview of the Common Commercial Policy, allowing (in principle) for full judicial review. The West Bank exclusion was confirmed in the CJEU’s 2010 Brita judgment. This judgment, however, was based on a view already expressed by the EU institutions with regard to the territory of Israel. In Frente Polisario, the Court would need to determine for itself, on the basis of international law, the territorial scope of application of the agreement. The Council argues that the EU would only be obliged to create a carve-out for Western Sahara if there was a ‘decision’ from the UN, giving as examples a Security Council Resolution or the ICJ’s Wall Opinion.
In the latter case, however, there was no ‘decision’ by the UN; rather, the ICJ spelled out existing obligations of states, arising from a situation of fact. If the Wall Opinion is good law, the principles it embodies should be applied across the board. Thus, if, like the West Bank, Western Sahara is objectively speaking an occupied territory, the EU should be under an obligation to apply to the latter the same legal standards it is obliged to apply to the former. One final question concerns the extent to which the Monetary Gold principle is relevant here. Is the CJEU prevented from pronouncing on the matter because this would impinge on the rights of Morocco, which is not a party to the case? In Brita, the CJEU saw no problems in holding that the EU-Israel Association Agreement was ‘governed by international law’, and determining its lawful application accordingly.
Located on the northwest coast of Africa, Western Sahara is a disputed territory sandwiched between Morocco and Mauritania. It is mostly desert and is sparsely populated, home to only around 500, 000 people over a vast 252, 000 square kilometers. The combination of geographical location, Spanish roots, and a long-term territorial dispute between Morocco and the area’s indigenous Saharawi people means the sovereign status of this country is fought over at its worst, and undefined at its best. Spanish and Scottish merchants first arrived to the area in the mid 19th century and the Spanish government claimed protective rights over the coastal zone.
The French briefly hindered further land ownership, with claims to areas near Mauritania. Later in 1916, and successively in 1920 and 1934, Spain succeeded in occupying the interior of the Western Sahara landmass.forbes.com All was not settled however, and Spanish troops were called into action when Morocco reached independence and came in to claim the territory. In 1957 Morocco claimed the area, but were repelled by the Spanish troops who created a new province known as Spanish Sahara in 1958. Sovereignty was further complicated in 1960, when the newly independent Mauritania laid claim to the land. When phosphate deposits were later discovered in the region, the territory suddenly became much more economically valuable for its owners. Amidst economic and social change, drought and desertification, the struggles continued, leading to the indigenous Saharawi to create a liberation front in 1975, known as the Polisario Front.
Eventually, due to issues within their own country, Spain declared they would withdraw from the area and partition the Spanish Sahara region between the two countries of Morocco and Mauritania. So Is Western Sahara a Country? The short answer is no, not officially. With Spain out of the picture, Morocco, Mauritania, and the Polisario Front would continue to fight for the territory. Eventually, Mauritania bowed out and reached a peace agreement with the Polisario Front. Today, however, the land remains in contention, and the area still does not have independent sovereign status.sahara.gov.ma With the continuous political unrest, lack of UN recognition status, and ongoing disputes between geographical unions, Western Sahara is not considered a country. Perhaps, with time and improvement in these areas, that may change, but until there are clear differences within these capacities, Western Sahara will remain a divided region.reliefweb.int Make sure to check out these other blog posts about the continent.
Stop by my blog post: Saharapolicy
