Morocco controls more than three-quarters of Western Sahara, and Moroccan authorities allow no proindependence candidates to run for office.

The Polisario Front is based in Tindouf, Algeria. It leads a nationalist movement comprised of members of the Sahrawi ethnic group and controls the less-populated interior of the territory. The constitution of the government-in-exile states that the leader of the Polisario Front—currently Brahim Ghali—is the territory’s president, but it does not hold regular popular elections within the territory. Instead, the president is selected from within the Polisaro’s ranks. Ghali was reelected as party chair by the Polisario Front’s General Popular Congress in January 2023.

In the Moroccan-controlled portion of the territory, voters elect 13 representatives to the parliament in Rabat. Reports indicate that turnout for municipal and parliamentary elections is chronically low.

The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), the breakaway government, maintains a 51-member Sahrawi National Council, which is indirectly elected by the General Popular Congress of the Polisario Front. Most voting occurs in refugee camps in Algeria. The Polisario Front organizes the elections and does not allow any political parties to compete.

The electoral framework is not fair, given the constraints on representation in Moroccan-controlled territory. Any parliamentary candidate who challenges Moroccan control of the territory is prohibited from running.

The Polisario Front, which controls the government-in-exile and the eastern and southern portions of the territory, does not allow other political parties to compete. It has long cracked down on political dissent, imprisoning a number of opponents in recent years.

In Moroccan-controlled areas, the Polisario Front is banned, and proindependence parties are not allowed to form.

Since political parties that advocate for Sahrawi independence or autonomy cannot operate in Moroccan-controlled areas, the most salient opposition elements cannot gain power through elections. No credible opposition exists in territory controlled by the Polisario Front due to the ban on other political parties.

The Polisario Front’s General Popular Congress meets regularly; in January 2023, the body reelected Brahim Ghali as party chair. Prior to his reelection, Ghali, a relative moderate, faced an internal challenge by Bashir Mustafa Sayed, who advocated increasing military operations against Morocco in the Rabat-controlled territory.

People’s political choices in Moroccan-controlled areas are dominated by Rabat. The government-in-exile in Tindouf is ostensibly autonomous but works closely with Algerian authorities. As a “non-self-governing territory,” the people in the region are unable to elect an independent government.

Due to the territory’s status and lack of sovereignty, no segment of the population has full political rights or electoral opportunities.

Women in Sahrawi society play a significant role in political activism. Many women are leaders in the independence movement and organize the refugee camps in Algeria.

Representatives from Moroccan-controlled territory serve in the lower house of the Moroccan parliament. King Mohammed VI and his circle of advisers and associates—collectively known as the Makhzen (“central storehouse”)—set government policy. The parliament in Rabat is very weak vis-à-vis the monarchy. The Makhzen effectively determine government policy regarding the territory. The Polisario Front governs the portions of the territory in its control.

The Polisario has long accused Rabat of exploiting Western Sahara’s natural resources. Morocco–European Union (EU) trade agreements have included Polisario-claimed territory even as legal disputes were being considered. The European Parliament approved agricultural and fisheries agreements with Morocco in 2019, the latter of which was approved by the European Council that year. While a European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling required the EU to seek local consent on agreements covering the disputed territory, the Polisario Front did not participate in consultations on the agreements and sought redress at the ECJ. In July 2023, pending the ECJ’s final decision, the EU–Morocco association agreement pertaining to fishing expired and was not renewed, leaving European trawlers without license to fish in Moroccan and Western Saharan waters.

Corruption among Moroccan state officials is widespread and investigations are rare. Corruption occurs primarily to facilitate the exploitation of natural resources—phosphates, hydrocarbons, and fisheries—by Moroccan and international interests. In Tindouf, corruption among members of the Polisario is similarly widespread.

Morocco’s restrictive access-to-information laws apply to the territory it controls in Western Sahara. Information about Western Sahara is nearly nonexistent, which severely limits transparency. The Moroccan government publishes budget and financial information online, and public officials—including legislators, judges, and civil servants—are required to declare their assets. However, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) assert that many officials do not provide this information, and the law provides no penalties for noncompliance.

Some pro-Sahrawi media outlets try to operate, such as the all-volunteer Equipe Media group. Yet they face regular harassment by Moroccan authorities, who are keen on disrupting reporting that disputes Morocco’s sovereignty. In Morocco, the 2016 Press Code prohibits challenges to “territorial integrity” within Morocco and the territory it controls in the Western Sahara, which potentially criminalizes independent journalism. Print outlets found to violate this provision risk suspension, while news sites face potential blocking. Journalists accused of challenging Morocco’s territorial integrity could face prison sentences of between six months and two years.

International media are carefully vetted and scrutinized during their visits to Moroccan-controlled territory. Reporters visiting Tindouf are said to enjoy greater freedom of movement and inquiry, but such claims are difficult to substantiate. In Polisario-controlled territory, press freedoms are also sharply limited, with television and radio coverage reflecting the ideology and viewpoints of the Polisario. Some exiled groups provide coverage from outside Western Sahara. Internet access is limited throughout the territory.

Moroccan authorities generally do not interfere with religious practices, although mosques are closely monitored by authorities. Moroccan law prohibits any efforts to convert a Muslim to another faith. It is illegal to publicly criticize Islam.

Educators practice self-censorship around the status of Western Sahara, as Moroccan law criminalizes debate that calls this into question. Other sensitive topics include the monarchy and Islam. The University of Tifariti was established in 2013 as the first university in Polisario-controlled territory.

As in Morocco, there is concern about state surveillance of online activity and personal communications, and people do not feel free to speak privately about the status of Western Sahara and other sensitive topics. Freedom of expression is also profoundly curtailed in Polisario-controlled areas.

Demonstrations and protests are broken up regularly, particularly on sensitive issues such as self-determination and Sahrawi prisoners held by Moroccan authorities. Protesters are frequently arrested and beaten.

NGOs that advocate for independence or question Islam as the state religion are denied official registration by the Moroccan government. Organizations that meet the government’s criteria are frequently denied registration as well. Foreign NGO representatives observing the human rights situation in Moroccan-controlled areas have been expelled.

In 2022, Moroccan security services violently assaulted five women activists who had participated in peaceful demonstrations advocating for Sahrawi self-determination and had expressed support for Sahrawi activist Sultana Khaya.

Moroccan unions are present but are largely inactive in Western Sahara. Government restrictions limit the right to strike. Most union members work for the Moroccan government.

The Polisario Front has a trade union called the Sahrawi Trade Union (UGTSARIO), which is largely inactive; there is little formal economic activity in the refugee camps in Tindouf, and there is no functioning labor market in Polisario-controlled territory.

Courts in Western Sahara are controlled by Morocco and their rulings reflect the Makhzen’s interests. Executive interference and corruption significantly impede judicial independence.

Due process rights are not respected. In 2017, a Moroccan appeals court issued prison sentences to 23 Sahrawis over the 2010 deaths of Moroccan security personnel during an uprising at the Gdeim Izik protest camp; confessions that were allegedly obtained by torture were used as trial evidence.

Proindependence advocates and other civil society leaders are often arbitrarily arrested, particularly in the aftermath of demonstrations. In November 2020, Moroccan authorities placed proindependence activist Sultana Khaya under arbitrary house arrest without a warrant. Security forces prevented Khaya from leaving her home until May 2022, when she was permitted to leave the territory to seek medical treatment in Spain.

International human rights groups view many Sahrawis in Moroccan prisons as political prisoners.

The Moroccan military and the Polisario Front have engaged in regular fighting since the 2020 collapse of a ceasefire; the Polisario Front uses guerrilla tactics against Moroccan forces, regularly targeting personnel deployed along the sand berm.

In 2021, UN Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Staffan de Mistura as his envoy to Western Sahara. De Mistura visited the territory for the first time in September 2023. In October, the UNSC extended MINURSO’s mandate for another year.

Torture and degrading treatment by Moroccan authorities is a problem, especially against proindependence advocates. While under arbitrary house arrest between 2020 and 2022, proindependence activist Sultana Khaya was repeatedly subjected to violent physical and sexual assaults by members of the Moroccan security forces enforcing her detention. Amnesty International reported that, as of September 2022, no investigation into the abuse had taken place. In another case, in March 2022, imprisoned Sahrawi activist Mohamed Lamine Haddi reported that guards had physically assaulted him in his jail cell. The UN Committee against Torture (CAT) has criticized the Moroccan government for failing to promptly and thoroughly investigate reports of torture and abuse against detainees.

In October 2023, four explosions occurred in the Moroccan-controlled city of Smara, injuring three people and killing one. The Polisario Front claimed responsibility for the attack.

Sahrawis experience discrimination in access to education and employment. According to Sahrawi activists, Moroccan settlers are favored by employers in the phosphate mining industry, which is a predominant source of employment.

Women play leadership roles at the Sahrawi camps in Algeria, and some Sahrawis have described life in these camps as matriarchal. However, cultural norms also dictate that women stay at home and manage the household.

Moroccan law prohibits same-sex sexual acts.

Morocco and the Polisario Front both restrict free movement in Western Sahara. A 1,700-mile-long sand berm, constructed by Morocco in the 1980s to divide territory under its control from Sahrawi-controlled territory in the east, is surrounded on both sides by land mines, constituting what may be the longest continuous minefield in the world.

The territory’s occupied status leaves property rights insecure. No credible free market exists within the territory. The SADR government routinely signs contracts with firms for the exploration of oil and gas, although these cannot be implemented given the territory’s status.

In Polisario-controlled territory and in Tindouf, women have a relatively higher social status than in Morocco. However, social freedoms are curtailed. Moroccan law criminalizes both adultery and premarital sex. Spousal rape is not considered a crime.

Economic opportunity is inhibited by the territory’s undetermined status. The economic activity generated by companies that exploit the territory’s natural resources generally does not benefit the Sahrawi population. Sex trafficking, often affecting young girls, takes place in coastal fishing villages.