Arab Spring Is About Freedom, Democracy – Saharawi Envoy

Oubi Bachir is the ambassador of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic to Nigeria. In this interview with KINGSLEY OPURUM, Bachir talks about the intractable conflict between Morocco and Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, and suggests the way forward.
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Your Excellency, we will like to start by asking you what the state of affairs is especially in respect of the human rights situation in both the liberated sector of Saharawi Arab Republic and the occupied area.

There were no major developments in the settlement of the conflict due to the fact that Morocco is still persisting on its position of denying the Saharawis their inalienable right to self-determination through a genuine, fair and democratic referendum as demanded by all United Nations and African Union resolutions. You would certainly recall that the issue of the referendum is the central mandate of the UN Mission, MINURSO, established in the territory since 1991. It is the core point of the agreement by which a cease fire was declared in the territory and the Saharawis decided to put aside their arms and deposit their faith in the international system hoping that one day of democracy, of free ballots would be granted to the people of Western Sahara to decide on the final status of the territory.

ecause of its existential fear that such consultation would lead certainly to the full independence of the territory, Morocco stepped back from the initial agreement and adopted a deliberate policy aiming at sabotaging the whole approach. But history has proven that justice prevails at the end, a referendum of self-determination will take place one day and justice will be done to the Saharawi Republic; there is no doubt about that.

But as we speak, the crisis of human rights in the territory originating from the Moroccan systematic abuses of human rights in the occupied part of the territory is becoming a real emergency to be dealt with. What happened in the occupied El Aaiun, in November 2011 opened the eyes of the international community to the constant tragic reality of the Saharawis under occupation.

More than 25,000 civilians mostly women, children and old people decided to peacefully camp outside the city to protest against the deterioration of their social conditions, the continuous abuses of their human rights and denial of their right to self-determination. Suddenly, they were attacked, killed, tortured, imprisoned and their homes vandalized with the UN mission in the territory acting as a mere spectator. What happened, and continued to happen, gives credence to our demand for MINURSO’s mandate to be expanded and include monitoring human rights violations in the territory. The Saharawi Government welcomed the UN mission to dispatch officers to the liberated area and the refugee camps in order to monitor and report on human rights situation. But Morocco is fiercely opposing any UN or international human rights organizations monitoring the situation in the occupied area.

Morocco wants to keep on oppressing the Saharawi with no witness. Unfortunately, that’s what is happening now despite the last UN Security Council resolution in April 2011 where an explicit reference to the alarming human rights situation and the need to address it was adopted, thanks to the position of African countries especially Nigeria, South Africa abut also the United Kingdom among others. That paragraph in the resolution was adopted against the will of Morocco and France which is the main, if not the only defender of the Moroccan expansionist stands in the Security Council.

On the human rights front, Morocco and France are losing ground. We think it is a matter of time, and soon the international community would find it morally scandalous to remain as mere spectators to the suffering of the Saharawi civilians under occupation. Surely the UNSC resolution number 1979 is a good step in the right direction.
Let’s be frank with you and tell you that, as the leadership of the Saharawi Republic, we are under tense pressure from our militants both in the occupied and liberated areas to act differently. It is not easy to convince your people to remain ‘wise’ being killed, tortured, and imprisoned on a daily basis. In such circumstances, ‘wisdom’ on a long run, becomes something else especially that our only demand is the strict implementation of what we agreed with Morocco on, under the auspices of the AU and the UN.
Morocco has submitted a memo to the Secretary General of the United Nations and also, in its new constitution, which it voted on just recently, it laid out elaborate

regionalization as a core policy and this regionalization, according to it, will guarantee independent constitution in the regions. How does this position fly as far as your position is concerned?

The issue of regionalization and the constitution of Morocco is a domestic affair. Western Sahara, according to the international law, is non self-governing territory, in an ongoing process of decolonization. As long as the referendum is not organized, the territory is properly decolonized and its final status is determined vis-à-vis Morocco, what happens in our northern neighbour remains an internal affair. Having said that, I may state also that regionalization could be something wonderful for Morocco, but only for Morocco.

The referendum on their constitutional reforms is also a good thing for Morocco despite the very old, banana republics of 98.99 outcomes. On Western Sahara, nobody is asking Morocco for any constitutional referendum but rather a referendum of self-determination. That is the demand of the Saharawis, the international community and the common sense. For Morocco to reconcile itself with the people of Western Sahara, with the African Union, with the International Community, the referendum should be allowed to take place with no further details. Autonomy or Regionalization is just a desperate attempt to impose a rejected colonial de facto.

France tried the same thing with the Algeria late 1950s. The apartheid tried Bantustan plans. All failed, because the just cause of oppressed people wins ultimately.
South Sudan for example is quite inspiring and also very much relevant, but like you will know, Khartoum was brought under extensive international pressure. It appears that Morocco do not have equivalent or similar pressure especially from its Western friends or the big powers. So, do you think the international community could do more in this regard?

I do agree with you, there is lack of international pressure on Morocco. That’s the conviction of everybody, not only the Saharawis. That is the real reason behind the deadlock in Western Sahara discussions. Unfortunately, sometimes, it is not only the lack of international pressure, but rather, in some cases, a flagrant complicity of some big players on the international scene. A complicity that led some, to go champion the cause of human rights somewhere, and turn a blind eye, sometimes, conspire against the same human rights. But that is a long issue, the hypocrisy of our times.

Also you have the fact that, contrary to the Kingdom of Morocco, the Government of Sudan was clear since the beginning of having, without going in details, the firm will to honour its engagements.

So the lessons the international community learnt from South Sudan could serve as guiding points to settle the conflict in Western Sahara. These lessons were: First, the referendum of self-determination is not only implementable but the ideal and unique way to have a lasting peaceful solution. Second, with the political will from the parties, especially the occupier /aggressor technical modalities for settlement become easy to agree upon. Thirdly, the international pressure on the occupier/aggressor is much needed to drive the process ahead.
We congratulate our brothers in South Sudan on the occasion of the well-deserved independence and we thank them for reminding the world that victory was, is and will remain the ultimate award for the struggling peoples.
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In what way do you think the Arab spring may impact on the Saharawi people in question?

I think this is a very relevant question in the measure that, as Saharawis, we strongly believe that a democratic and democratized Arab world will have a positive impact on the settlement of the conflict in Western Sahara. By the end of the day, the essence of our struggle in Western Sahara is for democracy, for our right to self-determination, for our freedom. Freedom is the twin sister to democracy. In this regard, I would remind you that one of the most distinguished scholars in the

world, Noam Chomsky, attributed in February 2010 the genesis of the Arab spring to the uprising in Western Sahara in November 2010 and its aftermath of massive killings and detentions of the Saharawi civilians by the Moroccan military forces. We do not claim such thing, but Chomsky is a very respectable scholar whose statements are well verified. Anyway, so far, the Arab revolutions toppled two of the most pro-Moroccan regimes in the Arab world, [Hosni] Mubarak {former President of Egypt] and

Ben Ali [former President of Tunisia]. Democracy in the Arab world will open up more spaces for the Saharawi voice to be heard among the Arab public opinion. Democratic Arab countries, a priori cannot stand against the democratic right of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination and total independence. In this regard we are very hopeful.

Your President, Abdul-Aziz, has made some high-profile visits to Nigeria; bilateral visit and was at the inauguration of President Goodluck Jonathan. Is there any bilateral agreement reached or any one in the works, and how would you rate the weight of Nigeria’s support in settling the Western Sahara’s conflict?
To understand Nigeria’s stand vis-à-vis the conflict in Western Sahara, you need first to learn the history of Nigeria itself. I think the Nigerian support to the Saharawi cause is inspired from two dimensions. The first one is the shining history of Nigeria and its tireless efforts since the independence in 1960 for the emancipation and the liberation of Africa. Nigeria is known as the leading African country in defence of Africa and the rights of African people to freedom and independence from colonialism. The second dimension guiding Nigeria in this regard is the African Union position on the matter, where the Nigeria is a key player. The AU has granted the SADR full-fledged membership and is actively present at the UN efforts to organize the referendum of self-determination.
President Abdelaziz was invited by his brother, President Goodluck [Jonathan] in October last year on a state visit. Like the majority of the African heads of state my president gladly honoured President Goodluck’s invitation to the celebrations of Nigeria at 50 and the ceremony on inauguration May 29th this year. All those visits served as occasions to renew the commitment of Nigeria and the appreciations of the Saharawi people to the noble position Abuja is adopting with regard to Africa’s last colony. Nigeria guided by its solidarity and generosity is concerned with the deterioration of life conditions of the Saharawi refugees especially women, children and is willing to continue assisting in this regard. We hope to finalize the bilateral agreements on education and health cooperation as well as continuing diplomatic consultations on the state of the decolonization process and ways to advance the Africa Union position on the matter. We are grateful to Nigeria and to the Nigerian people who have been of great support since decades now, loyal to their history and their driving principles. A position that was adopted and maintained for decades now regardless of who is in power.
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