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, and leads a nationalist movement comprised of members of the Sahrawi ethnic group. It controls the less-populated interior of the territory. The constitution of the government-in-exile states that the leader of the Polisario Front is the territory’s president, but it does not hold regular elections within the territory.

In the Moroccan-controlled portion of the territory, voters elect 13 representatives to the Moroccan parliament. Representatives who serve in Rabat cannot contest the region’s status. Turnout in municipal and parliamentary elections in Western Sahara is difficult to ascertain, but reports are that it 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 the Moroccan-controlled territory, the prohibition of any candidate who challenges Moroccan control of the territory to run for Parliament, and Moroccan control of the media.

The Polisario Front, which controls the government-in-exile and the eastern portion of the territory, does not allow other political parties to compete. In recent years, the Polisario has cracked down on political dissent, imprisoning a number of opponents of the regime. In 2018, a vocal critic, who was imprisoned for his activity, was found dead at the Dheibya prison, apparently from hanging. The Polisario stated he died by suicide, but the man’s family claimed he was assassinated.

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 function 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.

People’s political choices in Moroccan-controlled areas are dominated by the Moroccan government. 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 lack of sovereignty, no segment of the population has full political rights or electoral opportunities. However, women play a significant role in politics. Many women are leaders in the independence movement and organize the refugee camps in Algeria.

Western Sahara has no freely elected leaders. Representatives from the “Southern Provinces” serve in the lower house of the Moroccan parliament, which is dominated by the monarchy. The monarchy determines government policies regarding the territory. The Polisario Front governs portions of the territory in its control.

The Polisario has accused Morocco of exploiting Western Sahara’s natural resources, and Morocco–European Union (EU) trade agreements have included Polisario-claimed territory. The European Parliament approved agricultural and fisheries agreements with Morocco in 2019; the European Council also approved the fisheries agreement 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 launched a legal action against them at the ECJ that year. The case remained pending at the end of 2020.

In February 2020, the Moroccan parliament adopted legislation meant to formalize Rabat’s control over Western Saharan territorial waters. In December, the United States recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.

Corruption among Moroccan state officials and in the economy 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, official corruption among members of the Polisario is similarly widespread and endemic.

Moroccan access-to-information laws apply to 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 parliament members, judges, and civil servants—are required to declare their assets. However, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) assert that many officials do not hand over this information, and the law provides no penalties for noncompliance.

ADDITIONAL DISCRETIONARY POLITICAL RIGHTS QUESTION

Is the government or occupying power deliberately changing the ethnic composition of a country or territory so as to destroy a culture or tip the political balance in favor of another group? −3 / 0

Before and since the establishment of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) in 1991, Morocco has endeavored to tip the population’s balance in its favor. By some counts, Moroccans now outnumber Sahrawis in Western Sahara. Morocco continues to work to prevent a referendum over the territory’s final status. Morocco constructed a sand berm to divide territory under its control from Sahrawi-controlled territory in the east.

Some pro-Sahrawi media outlets do operate, such as the all-volunteer Equipe Media group, but they face regular harassment by Moroccan authorities, who ensure that reporting does not dispute Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara. The Moroccan 2016 Press Code criminalizes challenging its “territorial integrity,” which potentially criminalizes independent journalism that focuses on the dispute in Western Sahara. 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. Reporting by Moroccan journalists working in the territory is sharply constrained.

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 Sahrawi-controlled territory in the east, press freedoms are also 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.

Journalists in Moroccan- and Polisario-controlled territory faced detention or trial in 2020. In May, journalist Ibrahim Amrikli was arrested for breaching health measures and insulting public officials; Amrikli reported that he was ill-treated while in custody. Amrikli was conditionally released but was in hiding as of December. In June, Algargarat Media founder Essabi Yahdih was interrogated by Laâyoune police while visiting a police station for administrative purposes. Police accused Yahdih of offending the Moroccan king and threatened to harm him while in custody, but Yahdih was released without facing prosecution. In August, journalist Mahmoud Zeidan was detained in Tindouf after criticizing the distribution of pandemic-related aid but was released after a day.

Moroccan authorities generally do not interfere with religious practices, though as in Morocco proper, 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 proper, 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 profoundly curtailed in Polisario-controlled areas as well.

Demonstrations and protests are broken up regularly, particularly on sensitive issues such as self-determination and Sahrawi prisoners held by Morocco. 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 of Moroccan-controlled areas of Western Sahara have been expelled in recent years.

In March 2020, a Laâyoune court handed Sahrawi activist Khatri Dada a 20-year sentence for vandalism and offending public officials. Dada denied the charges, saying that his confession was the result of coercion. In September, a Laâyoune prosecutor opened an investigation into the Sahrawi Organ against Moroccan Occupation, a proindependence group.

Moroccan unions have a presence in Western Sahara, but they are largely inactive. Government restrictions limit the right to strike. Most people in unions work for the Moroccan government.

The Polisario Front has a trade union called the Sahrawi Trade Union (UGTSARIO), which is also inactive; there is little 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 its 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. International human rights groups view many Sahrawis in Moroccan prisons, including human rights activists and proindependence advocates, as political prisoners.

Tensions remain between the Moroccan military and the Polisario Front, with periodic mobilization of forces. Moroccan forces cleared a Western Sahara road in November 2020, after supporters of the Polisario Front reportedly blocked it. The Polisario then declared an end to its cease-fire with Morocco and subsequently engaged in fighting with Moroccan forces.

In 2018, the first UN-brokered talks between the Polisario and the Moroccan government in six years took place. Both sides agreed to continue talks in 2019, but little progress was made. The UN’s envoy to Western Sahara, former German president Horst Köhler, resigned in 2019 for health reasons; his position remained unfilled at the end of 2020. Morocco ritually offers autonomy to the Western Sahara, but the Polisario demands an independence referendum.

Torture and degrading treatment by Moroccan authorities continues to be a problem, especially against proindependence advocates.

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 Sahrawi 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. The sand berm, constructed by Morocco in the 1980s, is 1,700 miles long. The wall, which is surrounded on both sides by land mines, constitutes 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 country’s natural resources generally does not benefit the Sahrawi population. Sex trafficking, often affecting young girls, takes place in coastal fishing villages.