For Morocco, Sahara is no longer decolonization issue
Morocco, Politics, 9/26/2000

For Morocco, the Sahara is no longer a decolonization issue after the International Court of Justice gave its opinion and after the Madrid accords which are all acts that confirm Morocco's sovereignty over the territory, said Monday Ahmed Snoussi, Morocco's permanent delegate to the United Nations Organization here.

The Moroccan diplomat, who took the floor at the UN commission on special political and decolonization issues, stressed that in view of these data, the (fourth) commission should have abstained from including the issue on its agenda as the Security Council was mandated to follow up the implementation of the UN settlement plan.

After he recalled that it was Morocco that initiated the idea of holding a referendum to enable all Sahrawis decide on the future of the territory and confirm a will, previously expressed, for territorial unity, the diplomat regretted a serious deadlock that has been freezing for one year activities of the MINURSO, UN mission deployed in the territory to supervise preparations for the voting.

He said difficulties are related to voters identification, appeals by those who were denied the right to be included in the voter rolls and repatriation of refugees, in addition to several other problems cited by the UN secretary general in his reports.

Regarding voters identification, Snoussi recalled that the starting principle was to enable all Sahrawis to take part in the UN referendum, in conformity with the settlement plan which has been accepted by parties and endorsed by the Security Council. The principle has been seriously breached as entitled persons were excluded from the voter rolls and several irregularities have marred the process, as a result of an attempt to exclude most of candidates who were not covered by a census conducted by the Spanish colonial authorities in 1974. "The settlement plan does not distinguish between persons who were covered and those who were not covered by the census because most of the Sahrawi population had fled northward colonization or for economic reasons."

Snoussi, who renewed Morocco's adherence to the process, insisted on Morocco's political and moral responsibility in safeguarding the candidates' rights. Unfortunately, he went on, oral testimony, instead of serving as an evidence, was misused to exclude candidates, said Snoussi, who noted that the UN identification commission endorsed most opinions by the heads of tribes of the other party.

Other problems related to the acceptability of appeals are still looming, he went on, and Morocco has made it clear that each candidate should have his application re-examined by a higher body which should base its judging on existing data rather than require new elements.

The Moroccan diplomat also cited the repatriation of persons sequestered in the Tindouf Camps (southwestern Algeria) and added that Morocco is deeply worried by the fate of thousands Sahrawis sequestered in these "concentration camps."

He went on that in view of these delays in the referendum, the international community should move to ensure the repatriation of all sahrawis living outside and who have already been identified or pre-registered, adding that the repatriation should be conducted with the High Commissioner for Refugees.

Previous Stories:
  UN-mediated talks on Sahara to begin next week in Berlin   (9/23/2000)
  Morocco renews wish to normalize relations with Algeria   (9/22/2000)
  Morocco renews attachment to Sahara referendum   (9/20/2000)

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