Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1990
WESTERN SAHARA
The sovereignty of the Western Sahara remains the subject of
diplomatic and military dispute. Morocco assumed
administration of the northern three provinces of the Western
Sahara after the withdrawal of Spanish forces in 1975, and of
the southernmost province in 1979 when Mauritania renounced
its claim to the area. Since 1973 the Polisario, an
organization which Algeria has supported and which seeks
independence for the Western Sahara, has challenged first
Spain's and later Morocco's claim to the territory. Though
Moroccan and Polisario forces have fought since 1975, there
were no significant clashes in 1990. An estimated 165,000
Sahrawi refugees have resided since the mid-1970 ' s in camps
near Tindouf in Algeria.
At the request of the United Nations General Assembly, the
International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion in
1975 that the people of the Western Sahara were entitled to
self-determination and that Spain, Morocco, and Mauritania
were not entitled to exercise sovereignty over the territory.
The Organization of African Unity (OAU) attempted without
success to mediate a solution. In 1981 Morocco agreed to hold
a referendum to determine the population's wishes regarding
independence or integration with Morocco. Attempts to resolve
the qiiestion of sovereignty through mediation or referendum
collapsed in 1984 when the Saharan Arab Democratic Republic
(SADR), the civilian arm of the Polisario, was seated at the
OAU summit and Morocco withdrew from the OAU in protest. In
1986 Morocco agreed to revive efforts to reach a solution and
asked the United Nations to administer a referendum; in 1986
U.N. Secretary General Perez de Cuellar began efforts to
arrange it. In November and December 1987, a U.N. technical
team visited the territory to explore the practical
arrangements for a referendum. On August 30, 1988, Morocco
and the SADR accepted in principle the Secretary General's
proposal for a referendum under U.N. and OAU auspices, and the
Secretary General named a special representative to work out
the details.
In 1990 the Secretary General made progress towards organizing
a referendum in the Western Sahara in which the Sahrawi would
decide between integration with Morocco or independence. Both
the Secretary General and his special representative held
consultations in the region with all parties to the conflict.
The U.N. Security Council in June unanimously approved the
Secretary General's report on the Western Sahara and urged him
to draw up a final plan for a referendum. Though the
interested parties are still not in complete agreement on
several important modalities for conducting the referendum,
the Secretary General is continuing his efforts.
Since 1977, the northern provinces of El Ayoun, Smara, and
Boudjour have participated in Moroccan elections. The
southernmost province of Oued ed Dahhab also participated in
the 1983 and 1984 Moroccan elections. Sahrawi fill all 10
parliamentary seats allocted to the Western Sahara, and the
four governors of the region, who are appointed by the King of
Morocco, are Sahrawi. In December 1989, Moroccan voters
approved (by a majority of 99 percent with a reported 100
percent participation, according to the Government) a 2-year
extension of the term of the current Parliament to allow time
for holding a referendum in the Western Sahara so that Western
Saharans would be able to participate in the next parliamentary
elP'"' ions, which must occur before September 1992.
The civilian population in the approximately 85 percent of the
Western Sahara under effective Moroccan control is subject to
Moroccan law. In general, they experience the same human
rights and worker rights practices as Moroccans in Morocco.
There are reports that Sahrawi often have more difficulty
obtaining passports, that their political views are more
closely monitored than those of residents of Morocco proper,
and that police and paramilitary authorities react especially
harshly against those suspected of supporting the Polisario.
The Moroccan Government denies such charges and counters with
allegations of Polisario human rights abuses. Since there has
been no opportunity to evaluate the human rights practices of
the Polisario in areas of the Western Sahara outside of the
Moroccan Berm, the earthwork defense line which runs along the
eastern and southern borders of the Moroccan-occupied area,
these allegations cannot be confirmed or refuted.
Freedom of movement within the Western Sahara is limited in
militarily sensitive areas, but is otherwise unrestricted, as
is travel to Morocco. There are frequent commercial flights
and buses between the Western Sahara and Casablanca,
Marrakech, and other Moroccan cities. In 1989 and 1990 there
were highly publicized defections to Morocco of Polisario
officials, who were accorded warm welcomes in Morocco and, in
several cases, positions in the Moroccan Government.
The same labor laws that apply in Morocco apply in the
Moroccan-controlled areas of the Western Sahara, and
enforcement is equivalent to that in Morocco proper.
Within the Western Sahara there is little organized labor
activity. Since salaries in both private and public sectors
are significantly higher than those in Morocco, wage demands
are not an issue. Unemployment is also not a problem because
of the Government ' s investment in the region and a program of
taking young people out of the region to work in Morocco.
This program reportedly eliminated youth unemployment, but the
Polisario launched an international human rights campaign
accusing Morocco of abducting youth for use as forced labor.
This accusation appears groundless.
Outside the territory controlled by Morocco, the Polisario has
established a labor wing called the Sario Federation of Labor
(UGTSARIO), which reportedly enjoys close relations with a few
Arab and African national labor centers. UGTSARIO does not
engage in customary trade union activities in the
Polisario-controlled areas.
