Senegal denounces a new OAU legal paradox and ambiguities of its charter

Senegalese Foreign Minister Jacques Baudin has renewed his country's denunciation of the admission of the Sahrawi republic "SADR" as a member of the Organization of African Unity, deeming that some articles of the OAU charter pose real interpretation difficulties.

In an interview with Senegal's press agency, APS, the Senegalese foreign minister, who took part in the OAU foreign ministers' meeting prior to an extraordinary summit in Tripoli, said it is unacceptable that a political entity, still seeking to establish a sovereign state by means of a referendum, enjoys the same status as independent and sovereign states.

He went on that some articles of the OAU charter pose interpretation difficulties, explaining that his country found it difficult to legally justify the SADR's membership. He argued that article 28, which was used to admit the self-proclaimed republic within the organization, is not as clear as article 4 which stipulates that membership is restricted to African sovereign and independent states.

For Baudin, the problem lies in the fact that in case an interpretation problem is encountered, it is a summit which is entitled to rule by a 2/3 majority, a condition that is very difficult to fulfill.

In 1984, Morocco withdrew from the Pan-African Organization to protest the illegal admission of the republic, self-proclaimed by the Algerian-backed separatist Polisario.

The United Nations is planning to hold in July 2000 a referendum that would decide whether the Sahara, a former Spanish colony retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid accords, would remain Moroccan territory or set up their state, as claimed by the Polisario movement.

Several African countries, including Burkina Faso, Benin, Congo, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chad, and Seychelles withdrew their recognition of the SADR.