THE STRUGGLE FOR THE WESTERN Part ill: The SahrHwT People by Barbara Harrell-Bond

lescribes the author's visits to SahrBwT efugee camps in the and Ugeria and the continuing war between the )olisario Front and .

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THE AUTHOR BARBARA E. HARRELL-BOND is a the Afrika-Studiecentrum, Leiden. Ap- social anthropologist who has conducted pointed a Senior Research Fellow at the research in England and in . School of Law, University of Warwick, in Her special interests are family, urban 1976, Dr. Harrell-Bond joined the Field problems, law, and the history of the im- Staff in I978 to report on West Africa. position of alien law in colonial Africa. She received a B. Litt. and D. Phil. in anthropology from the University of Oxford. Her publications include Modern Marriage in Sierra Leone: A Study of the Professional Group and Community Leadership and the Transformation of Freetown (1801-1976), the latter being co-researched and written with two historians, Dr. Allan Howard and Dr. David Skinner. She has also published widely in academic journals, lectured in a number of universities including the Uni- versity of Illinois (Urbana), the University of Helsinki, and the University of ,981, ~~~~i~~~universities Warsaw, and was a Visiting Scholar at Staff, Hanover, NH 1981/No. 39 by Barbara Harrell-Bond THE STRUGGLE FOR THE Africa [BHB-9-'811 WESTERN SAHARA Part Ill: The SahEw-People

The SaIyBwTX people include civil- head of India's Institute for Stra- He went on to explain that inside the ians living in refugee camps inside tegic Studies), and myself -were camps there are no outsiders-no and an unknown number told that this marks the beginning of Algerians, no Libyans, no Cubans, inside the fenced and guarded cities the which Algeria has no experts of any other nationality. occupied by Moroccan armed allocated to the SahrZwT for the "Not even Peace Corps?" I asked forces on the coast.The Moroccan duration of the war. jokingly. He laughed, "No, the people, too, have been severely Our party of four was shown into SahrZwiare determined to do every- affected by the war, and resulting thing for themselves inside the economic difficulties strain political one of the rooms where the chill of the weather gave way to the camps. They believe in self-reli- stability there. Many have died on ance." both sides of the war, and there are warmth of SatyZwian hospitality. A more than 1,500 Moroccan prisoners young girl, smiling, welcomed us About 400 P.M. Ahmed reappeared near . Inside Morocco there saying "SalZm alay-kum." She set to tell us to prepare for the 180- are SabrZwT "prisoners of con- up a small gas burner on the floor kilometer ride to the Dakhla camp. science" (Amnesty International's and, sitting down, made the first of We were instructed to take luggage term): in many cases their only what was to become an endless for only three days: the rest could crime has been to proclaim their succession of small glasses of very remain at the reception center for SatyZwTidentity. hot, delicious, sweet green tea. our return. We then began the first of many such trips across the un- Visiting the Camps at Tindouf We were given forms to fill in that asked the purpose of our mission, marked desert, bundled in blankets The visitor to the SahrZwi refugee what we would like to see, and against the wind and sand, riding in camps must first fly to and whom we might want to interview. open Land Rovers, windshields 2,000 kilometers from there to the After a large meal of cous-cous with removed to prevent the vehicles small town of Tindouf. The military meat and vegetables and a dessert being spotted by aircraft. It was long airstrip there is simply a stretch of of tinned plums (a bowl of milk was after dark when we arrived at tarmac in the desert. Stepping out also passed around), we met Dakhla, but in the moonlight we of the plane into the January Ahmed, who was to be our host for could see many tents stretched out noonday sun, one is met by freezing the next few days. After he traced in long, even rows.We were ushered temperatures and bitter winds. The the history of the struggle of the inside a large tent near a clump of name of the region, in , palm trees-the only palms we saw means "Oh it is hot! Oh, it is cold!" Sahrzwifor independence, we were then advised to rest while our growing in this incredibly arid In January and February, oh, it is region. cold. program was being arranged. From the airstrip one is driven some Instead we sat huddled in piles of Once again we were welcomed with 40 kilometers past Tindouf over an blankets on the cold floor talking to warm handshakes and more tea. open sweep of the desert to a low a young Algerian who joined our After eating our evening meal of mud-brick building, the SahrZwT party. He had been assigned, he cous-cous, meat, vegetables, the official reception center. The flag of said, to the Algiers office of the customary bowl of milk, and tinned the Saharan Arab Democratic by the Algerian fruit, we had another visitor, Republic (SADR) flies over the Ministry of Information and he Ouaddaddi Ahmed Heiba, President building. We-a French photog- occasionally visits the camps. As far of the SahrZwi Red Crescent. He rapher, five Indians (three journal- as the Algerian government is con- explained something of the philoso- ists, a political scientist, and the cerned, he explained, the SabrZwT phy of the SRC: while it was a are already independent inside this humanitarian organization, it recog- territory and, as an outsider, he nized the fact of the war; while *Accent marks for the term SahrBwi always keeps a low profile on visits. upholding human rights, it was must be applied to this typeface by The SabrZwT. he pointed out, are forced to recognize the political hand; thus they are used only on page very particular about maintaining dimension of the struggle in which one. their autonomy. Sahr;?wT society was engaged. He invited us to attend the opening meeting of the Dakhla Popular Assembly the next day. The tent was much warmer than the mud-brick reception center, but still too cold for us to remove our coats. We slept on mats on the carpeted tent floor, covered by piles of blankets. In the morning before our breakfast of bread, cheese, coffee- and, yes, more glasses of tea-we were given a small amount of water, but in the freezing temperatures no one wanted to wash more than hands and face. About ten o'clock that morning we were escorted to a large mud-brick building where the Popular Assem- bly was meeting and were shown to chairs at the front. Ahmed whis- pered a rough translation of the speeches in my ear, but I could not concentrate on what he said. It was Tents do not last long in the harsh Saharan climate, but those of traditional fascinating to look over the sea of hair like this one are more durable. faces. I had heard that the civilian population of the camps consisted to Tindouf. Here the SRC takes over international agencies] to get a few mainly of women, children, and old distribution. Needs, he said, are tents or clothing? We have a few men. Even those sitting beside me in assessed locally then organized sewing machines and some sup- military uniform were women! through the ministries of health and plies, but to meet the needs of the education of the SADR government: people we have to get used Suddenly I realized that all those clothing. It is always insufficient. If eyes were turned on me and First we must understand the prob- we had more machines and cloth, everyone was clapping. Ahmed lems of the refugees. We must we could make our own clothes. We explained that I had been introduced understand that they live in a desert always try to apply the principle of as "their sister from Oxford." where agriculture is impossible self-sufficiency. We have built Outside again in the clear cold air although we have made many schools and hospitals through the after the session, the women attempts. There are always sand popular committees, but what is gathered around our group to shake storms and the year has two climatic lacking is equipment inside them. hands and greet us- by now I could divisions-either very cold or very The energy of our people is directed sayL "SalZm alay-kum, alay-kum hot and dry. The climate has direct towards self-sufficiency, but where Salam, la bzs, la b%," with the best effects on the health of the refu- is there [enough] humanitarian aid of them! gees. We have to work to prevent to enable us to [achieve this]. Even That evening we were again visited illness. But water for drinking is when an emergency is identified and by Mr. Ouaddaddi Ahmed Heiba. As already in short supply, to say the request has been forwarded to noted in Part I, I had been asked to nothing of water for hygienic pur- an international organization, it give OXFAM (Oxford) a report on poses. There are only a few camps takes at least eight months before conditions in the camps and to with enough wells. In some we have materials arrive in the camps. only four water-tankers to supply advise how it might be of assistance. Mr. Heiba told me that each year a I therefore asked the SRC President water for six or seven thousand people. There is never enough for conference is Held in where to spell out the most immediate agencies and action groups sympa- requirements. drinking and washing. Putting aside for the moment the question of thetic to their cause meet to discuss He explained how before the inva- adult literacy, we need tables, the Sahrawi's needs and to insure sion of the Western Sahara, the pencils, and paper for the children. that aid is not duplicated or wasted. SRC had served the people as a These innocent children lack every- The SRC has contacts with human clandestine group, but after 1975 it thing. Colonialism and revolution rights groups, the UN Refugee had been officially organized and have changed the living conditions Commission, OXFAM in Quebec linked with the International Red of our people. We are trying to im- and Belgium, etc. Cross. It now worked with a number prove their situation at all levels. "The in the occu- of international agencies, including Look at the problem of housing. pied zones," Mr. Heiba continued, the UN Commission for refugees How can one tent last in the sand- "lead a completely different exis- and the Algerian Red Crescent storms and the heat? It must be tence." (ARC). Aid is directed through the constantly repaired to guarantee ARC in Algiers which takes respon- even three months use. How many We have explained this to inter- sibility for transporting supplies requests must we make [to the national organizations. We have given them precise details and house offices, medical facilities, and meets at least once annually to names of women who have been schools. I asked how they kept organize the program for the year. A raped, children who have been vio- working when every day each man National Popular Assembly meets lated, and prisoners who have been was thinking that tomorrow he every four years. At this time, elec- tortured by the . Our might return to his homeland. The tions are held for all national offices. own people still living there are not answer was, "When we return, we The next elections at national level free. They do not even have the will know how to build." are scheduled for 1982. right to listen to Radio Free SADR. The Organization of the Camps The Preventive Medicine Program lam giving you this message to take For security, the refugee camps near The observations of a medical to the English people. At the same Tindouf are dispersed over several officer from one of the international time 1 mustn't forget to include a hundred kilometers. They are aid agencies who visited the camps salute to our women, to the great divided into three large wilZyZt (or in 1977 contrast dramatically with role which our women play. They provinces); each wilZiya is sub- what one finds today. He found are in the forefront of the revolution, divided into several dZira (perhaps then that medical workers had no whether on the battlefield, in the "county" is the best analogy in medicine and that there was very hospitals, or in the camps. At every English). Each ds'ira is further little food. Children were dying-as level they help to realize the objec- divided into tent neighborhoods. many as eight or ten a day-from a tives of the SADR. Despite the great distances between measles epidemic and there was no each wilzya, the camps are near the refrigerator in the camps to store Tools and raw materials are high on vaccines for an immunization pro- their list of priorities. For example, in Moroccan border and vulnerable to attack. As a precaution, a shelter gram. Adults as well as children the 27 February School (where they were suffering from a wide variety make sandals when leather is has been dug in the sand under each tent. of illnesses, especially from tubercu- available) they are eager to have losis, bronchitis, and dysentery. The cobblers' tools. They asked me to The SRC estimates that it has to present level of organization in the suggest other suitable cottage provide for 150,000 people and my camps is a remarkable accomplish- industries. Knowing that they are own observations confirm at least ment in only a few years. always short of school supplies, I that number. (The size of the The work of the health committee told them about a machine, simple Sahrawi population is, however, a and fairly inexpensive, for making and the program of preventive matter of persistent debate-see medicine illustrate how the Poli- chalk; they were most interested. Part I.) Each person in the camps They would also like to be able to sario's "experiment in democracy" over 16 years of age is a member of (as they are always careful to make their own school exercise one of the 5 committees: health, books; again there is simple describe their system of government education, justice, artisan, and food. in the camps) functions. machinery for this if paper is These committees function at the available. "We could do everything neighborhood level of the ds'ira and The principle underlying the creation for ourselves if we only had the form the base for the political struc- of all the new institutions is that materials," was the frequent re- ture. Each committee is headed by a knowledge must be disseminated sponse to my queries about "responsible," who together repre- throughout the society rather than shortages. sent the neighborhood on a ds'ira- encouraging the development of In line with this policy of self-reli- level council. Council responsibles exclusive professions. This strategy ance, the WilZiya Popular Assemb- represent the ds'ira level at the appears to have been particularly lies decided in 1979 that the refu- Wilzya Popular Assembly which successful in the area of health. The gees should begin to practice agri- culture. Although the soil around Tindouf is not conducive to cultiva- tion, today every wilzya has an experimental garden, irrigated from a well with a small pump. Vege- tables are grown for patients in the national hospital (there is not enough for distribution to the camps) The people working in these gardens complained that their entire tomato crop this year had been destroyed by frost and that their crops suffered from pests for want of pesticides. The spirit of self-reliance is future directed, too. Everywhere I saw old men patiently turning out mud brick and constructing new buildings to

An experimental garden in the desert. members of the health committee at the neighborhood level are respon- sible for maintaining sanitation and a safe water supply each day. They also monitor the health of each individual and impart health educa- tion within their small community. When a community member is ill, the committee sees that he or she gets attention, in the first instance from either the dispensary or clinic in each dzira. These are housed either in tents or in small mud-brick buildings. Should the illness be beyond the local competence, the patient is referred to a central hos- pital; there are three, one for each wilZya. The central hospitals are quite large buildings, again hand-built, fur- nished like tents, with mats on the floor. There is one national hospital, some distance from the camps, where a paramedical training pro- Women line up for treatment at a dg'ira dispensary, which has a limited supply of gram provides the personnel for the medicine, shown below. local institutions. The trained para- medics are rotated among the wilZy5t. The hospital director is a Spanish- trained Sahrawian who, like some of the nurses, was trained before the war. The hospital has beds for patients, but is otherwise modestly equipped for its work. There are two laboratories and an X-ray machine, powered by a generator. One laboratory, as the young "re- sponsible" explained, is for emer- gency analyses and the other for "research." Asked what kind of research, the responsible reminded me of a slogan I had seen over one dispensary: "We remember our traditions in our revolution." One of the highly valued traditions is the indigenous knowledge of medicine. In this laboratory, traditional medi- cine is being tested and standard- ized. Traditional medical specialists have also been incorporated into the overall program: I was reminded that during the first two years in the and nourishing food rather than easily in the camps. "Here," one camps the people had been totally reliance on medicines. dependent on the knowledge of responsible explained, "we have the best chance of convincing mothers these people; even now, despite The most impressive Sahrawian modern training, they could not of the value of a balanced diet in innovation is a system of "protec- maintaining health." The children afford to bypass this valuable source tion centers" for children. Outside of knowledge and expertise. are fed a special supplementary diet each wilZiya is a small camp where and are examined and weighed each While imported medicines are mothers come with children who are day: "Thus the mother is able to see needed and are being used, there is suffering from malnutrition or re- before her own eyes a demonstra- skepticism about the value of many covering from serious disease. In tion of the value of good food rather pharmaceuticals and the preventive this environment they are protected than medicine." Women remain in health program stresses sanitation from infections which spread more these centers until the child has simply part of the discipline of the revolution." The diseases that persist are chiefly those associated with the climate: bronchitis in the winter and in- testinal problems in the hot season. The extremes of temperature are not the only health hazard. Flies, even in the coldest weather, are a perpetual problem, and the shortage of water makes efforts to promote personal cleanliness very difficult. The health committee aims to pro- vide enough water for each person to have a weekly bath, but my experience suggests supplies are inadequate for that, to say nothing of laundry requirements. The schools cooperate with the health committee in stressing personal hygiene and require that children arrive at school with hair combed and hands and faces clean. There are no toilet facilities as such; people used the sand outside the stone boundaries of the camps. Goats and sheep are also kept outside this stone boundary because of the flies they attract. Even this practice marks an enormous change in the customs of these nomadic people who were traditionally accus- tomed to living in proximity to their The National Hospital in Tindouf, where animals. this mother and her child rest, is the best-equipped medical facility. The result of this comprehensive Below, a malnourished child awaits health program with its stress on attention in a 'protection center." sanitation, nutrition, prevention (they have even launched an antismoking campaign), and educa- spend their time profitably. At eight tion is a population which is remark- months the expectant mother is ably healthy despite the conditions moved into the hospital-either a under which they live. Hospitals had central hospital or the national hos- very few patients in care during my pital, depending on whether com- visit. plications are expected. This pre- caution is taken because of the The national hospital has no difficulties of traveling in an open operating theater and there are no Land Rover over the rough terrain. trained surgeons among the All women are encouraged to Sahrawi. Patients who require oper- breast-feed their infants and I was ations are taken to an Algerian given more than one lecture by hospital near Tindouf. One Sahrawi Sahrawi women on "breast is best." is now abroad studying to be a surgeon. When he returns, they A full immunization program has hope to be able to equip the hospital been carried out and every Sahrawi for his work and they expect him to gained sufficient weight to with- carries an immunization carnet. stand the conditions of the main train others. Detailed medical records are kept by camps. medical institutions at each level. While the aim is to spread all new Pregnant women are also given Realizing what a gold mine of data knowledge among the population, it special care. Once a woman knows this would be for some future epi- is necessary to send students she is pregnant, she is relieved of demiologist studying the health of a abroad to study specialized fields. arduous work and her health is refugee population, I congratulated We discussed the problem-com- monitored by the clinic in the dz'ira. the responsible for his dedication to mon elsewhere in Africa-that such There are special literacy classes for this task. He modestly replied, students are sometimes reluctant to pregnant women to enable them to "Keeping good medical records is return home to put their skills to the service of the community. The Poli- There are shortages of everything in sario make a special effort to keep these schools-from pencils, pens, such students in close touch with notebooks, and chalk, to desks and the conditions in the camps through chairs. The children are very poorly regular home visits. Sometimes the clothed and the classrooms were students go to the battlefront during bitterly cold. Nevertheless, in each long vacations. While abroad, they one I visited, the children appeared have special responsibilities in pro- to be eagerly involved in their moting the Sahrawian cause at the studies. diplomatic level. In addition to the schools in the Education in the Camps wilZiyZit there is a boarding school Education is organized as efficiently for children up to 16 years of age. It as health care in the refugee camps. has a capacity for 2,000 children and There are schools for children from is completely filled. This school five to eight years old in each mira. caters to children who have Often, I observed very old men completed wilZya-level instruction. teaching reading and writing to It is better equipped, too, than the the youngest pupils: the old men camp schools because international were sitting crosslegged and smiling agencies, particularly OXFAM Bel- Above, a child answers a mathematical as the little children were shouting gique, have treated it as a special problem at the 7 June Boarding School. out the Arabic alphabet. Other project. Conditions are crowded and materials younger teachers tell stories to the Although I did not visit them, there rudimentary at other Sahrawi schools smallest children and teach them are two other boarding schools for (below) but the children remain active. songs. The large numbers of chil- dren make it necessary to run two daily shifts. (Some of these "palace of children" schools, as they are called, taught as many as 2,500 kids each day.) Each school is equipped with a small first-aid center and a canteen. When there are sufficient food supplies the children are given a supplementary meal at school. Arabic is to be the first language of the Saharan Arab Democratic Republic; the second language is Spanish. As one Sahrawi put it, "we are not ashamed that we are teaching a colonial language. We do not want to be enemies of any nation and we have had long contact with . Many of our people have even married into their families." But colonial connection is not otherwise promoted in the edu- cational program. There is a set program of study for all the schools. Children must pass at each point before going on to a more advanced level. The Ministry of Education has prepared a set of core course books, mimeographed for the teachers' use; there is not enough paper to make books for the children. The syllabus includes a standard array of subjects-mathe- matics, language, speech, geog- raphy, and sciences-but in con- trast to many other educational programs in Africa, the children learn first about their own society- they are taught Sahrawi history and Sahrawi literature. The buildings of the 27 February School, like others in the camps, are constructed from locally made mud bricks. The students are women, ranging in age from 16-70. Below, they learn the func- tions of the heart. children sixteen and over. One offers military training for those, as the responsible put it, "who want to fight," then he added, "we are all combatants and every duty is the same as fighting." The other boarding school runs a two-year teacher training course to supply staff for the camp schools. The 27 February School The name of this school commemo- rates the declaration of the Saharan Arab Democratic Republic. It is a school for women from 16 to 70 years old. Welcoming our group, the "responsible" explained the school's mission: This school is the center of cultural, professional, and military training for women. The school guarantees the total social milieu of the woman. She may come with her small children, with her weak and old mother and father. Her husband may visit her when he is back from the front. There is a children's edu- cational center with staff to teach the children. Infants and small chil- dren are cared for during the day in nurseries. Women eat their mid-da y meal in the canteen and return to their tents at night to cook for their families. women make sandals. There is also we do a lot of things with it. We also The course of study in the 27 Febru- a workshop where knives, spoons, need leather. We have a lot of ideas, ary School runs for one year and 700 and cooking pots are pounded out but we don't have the materials and women are enrolled. The curriculum of salvaged war materials. I saw we need other tools. For example, includes reading and writing for some men at work mending military we could make our own shoes if we those who are illiterate. (Sahrawi boots.The Sahrawi are famous for could buy the cow skins. It would be often stress in conversation that their leatherware and the women cheaper. women's education was neglected make various miniature items for under colonial rule.) It includes a cultural programs organized by Asked where she hoped her school would be located after the war, she range of academic subjects, includ- Polisario representatives in other replied: "We would like to make our ing French. I visited a biology class countries. What are their needs? and another in geography. A wide The responsible replied: entire territory into a school for women - right into the remotest variety of manual skills are taught If 1 told you that we did not lack bush." and there is military training-theo- things it would be a lie. If we had retical and practical. Every woman more materials, we would make I noticed that many of the teachers learns to drive. Although women more of the things that our people were young men and asked her may specialize according to their need. But we are in a country that is why. Some of her colleagues, she ability, everyone goes through the not our own, so it is natural that explained, had been among the first entire course and there are examina- many things are lacking. For in- graduates of this school: "It takes a tions. stance, the wool we receive [for long time to train enough teachers. It is in this school that clothing is knitting and weaving carpets] is Look at our military education. We sewn for the camps and where the white and we have had many diffi- were taught by men, but now all the donated, used clothing is sorted, culties with dyeing. We don't have instructors are women." She mended, and distributed. When enough anyway. We don't only use stressed the importance of training there are enough supplies, the wool to make carpets or sweaters; for women: "We will be able to take part [in the war1 ourselves if it be- While I observed some children exclaimed, "In such a society a comes necessary, and some of us caring for the goats and sheep, it woman must only be an object." already work as nurses in the battle- appears that most domestic work is They went on to explain very field." The women also learn some managed by adults. The only play I patiently that the Muham- mechanical skills in this school. saw was three or four small children med never intended any man to using old belts and some string for have more than one wife. He was Not only in this school, but every- skipping and, in one protection simply posing a riddle when he said, where I went, Sahrawi women center, two youngsters were being "'All right, you may have four asked me repeatedly what the reprimanded for playing too roughly wives, but you must love them all women in my society know about with a cat. While playthings may be equally.' Everyone knows it is them. My response was to ask them the very last kind of aid sent to impossible for a man to love more what they would like my friends refugees (and as Mr. Heiba pointed than one woman." back home to know. One young out, "We can never ask aid agencies woman replied: for toys"), the problems of children Since the establishment of the camp society, however, many changes The woman of the Sahara - yester- who are doomed to spend their growing years in such circum- have been introduced into the tra- day's and today's Sahrawi woman - ditional system of marriage. A each contributed to the work of the stances have been seriously ne- glected. couple wishing to wed must now men. The difference today is that appear before the justice committee she is politicized.. .. As you know, Continuity and Change to demonstrate that they under- women now participate in all The Sahrawi have some very impor- stand what they are undertaking. national organizations. The Sahrawi tant inherited cultural advantages, (Members of this committee include woman today has two roles-her the esprit de corps and pragmatic 16-year-olds, and the most thorough productive role and her [role in1 attitude developed by the SADR. explanations of family law came child care.. .. She also works at the They are a highly literate people from discussions with some of these national level and she has her duties with a high regard for learning and very young people.) One explained in all institutions. .. . In general, then, literature. (Sahrawi women were the traditions and some of the the mission of woman is not limited. especially famous for their poetry.) changes. She has the same mission as the The society was also remarkably Long ago it was the parents of both Sahrawi man. The most important egalitarian, according to a contem- thing is to achieve our national the bride and the groom who porary Sahrawi's account, as re- decided about marriage in consulta- objective - to gain independence. gards relationships between men Sahrawi women hope to establish tion with the husband, But for a and women and between black and long time, even during colonialism, contact with English women. We white: are not yesterday's society. Today this attitude has not prevailed. Now, our society is based on equality In or Morocco you would we believe that the most important between the sexes. Our main prob- find who had slaves, veiled thing is for both partners to agree. lem is independence. women who did not work, But here The family must know about it, but it was totally the opposite. It is not it is the couple that must agree. I asked about the psychological we, the younger people, who have The SADR has also fixed a effects of war on children and found brought this equality to our society. that the women were highly con- minimum age for marriage-16 for It is not a theory. The situation was women, 18 for men. Realizing that cerned. On the one hand, they the same before and explained, it is necessary to instill this constitutes a considerable de- colonization was not able to destroy parture from the customs of other patriotism and, by explaining the it. reasons for living in the camps, they African societies, Islamic or not, I hope to give the children the The SADR constitution has rejected asked how it had been possible to courage needed to endure the diffi- any discrimination against indi- convince the "old men" of the cult conditions. On the other hand, viduals or groups and references to necessity of such a change. Two they try to keep their lives "as old divisions such as "tribes" are 16-year-olds explained how it had all normal as possible." explicitly banned. In terms of skin been discussed in the Popular color, the population is very mixed. I Assemblies.The arguments in favor The very austerity of camp life could see no evidence of discrimi- of the change included the impor- makes this difficult and there are no nation and dark-skinned Sahrawians tance of women being educated and toys or sports equipment (with the appeared to be represented in every the fact that girls are not physically exception of those at the boarding group including the highest political mature enough to bear children school) which might help divert offices. Moreover, I saw consider- before this age. One of the two girls them. The President of the Red able evidence of mixed marriages in involved in this discussion had been Crescent said he was worried, the camps. introduced earlier as a widow. The realizing the children were only other explained, "You are going to playing war games. "My dream," Polygamy, if practiced at all, was ask me why my friend who is 16 is a said Mr. Heiba, "is to give each child rare among the Sahrawi.The women widow.Well, she got married in 1977 a toy on 27 February when we cele- I talked to maintained that it had before we had this rule. Now no one brate the declaration of the Repub- never been a custom among them gets married before they are 16." lic.. . . We could make toys for the and they were horrified when I told children or allow them to make their them of my friend, a chief in Sierra The SADR is explicitly a religious own, but we have no materials." Leone, who has 54 wives. They society, but the only evidence I could find of an "extreme" position It is a mission. The man in charge of you see we have chosen this diffi- was their stand against the drinking others is a man who has to work cult reality because we are con- of alcohol. In all other respects they more than everyone else. He must scious. appeared to be tolerant and prag- really be an example to everyone. If matic. For example, when asked he is charged with responsibility, he I also asked about the system of about the death penalty for crimes is given more work and he becomes registration of births and deaths and proscribed by the Koran they ex- stronger through work, Every com- I learned that not only is this being plained this had never been prac- batant is aware that if a responsible carefully maintained, but that there ticed. Expulsion from a group was gives a direction, it must be carried is also a postal system in all the camps. "We are an organized state the most severe form of punish- out, since he knows it is in the inter- with all of its institutions, with all of ment. ests of everyone, We are not its archives. It is normal." anarchists. Our army gets its in- Our society is an historic one from struction on the battlefield. Leadership and the membership of the Koran. What we have is Islamic the camp committees are also based We know the responsibles very well; socialism. We are not going to dis- on merit and experience. All local or solve our customs because these we know them personally because neighborhood committees are every day they sit with us. He is the are what kept us alive for centuries. appointed for one year. Colonialism tried in all ways to first to start shooting the enemy.. .. destroy our society. It did not Thus a man may be a responsible, But they can last longer. You must succeed. So we do not forget our but he is with the combatants- have seen that we met some people traditions. Our changes will be sleeping, drinking, eating, doing who have been members of the natural, logical. Everyone is involved everything together. That's normal. health committee since 1977. If 1 belong to the health committee 1 in this experience. We respect old I also asked about freedom of move- gain some kind of specialization so 1 people. Our evolution is going to be ment within the camps because am likely to continue doing that logical. Progress is logical. Progress some reports indicated that the work for some time. 1 have never does not mean we throw out our population in each wilZya or ds'ira been a member of a neighborhood customs. We are sharpening them was composed of people who came committee [the speaker here was a through this evolution and this from specific places in the Western guide], but that is my own decision. experience. Sahara and that they were being Traditionally the Sahrawi have kept together for their eventual We talked about the Sahrawi appli- always engaged in private com- return to their own home area. I was cation of the principles of criticism merce and in the camps the goats told that people are free to live and self-criticism. and sheep are owned by individuals, where they like. If someone wants to move he works through the dzira The people are conscious of their although all other material supplies duty. The responsible who doesn't are distributed on a strictly egali- council. I asked if there was a lot of such movement. work, doesn't set a good example to tarian basis. Ahmed, our first guide, the people, he is the one who loses. explained how differences of wealth Yes, it happens all the time. It often In other words, criticism is positive, were not apparent in nomadic happens in the case of old people not destructive. If the people see society: "If you came into a camp, who have children scattered in that a responsible is really respon- you could not tell who is rich and different camps. Women, especially, sible and does his work well, he may who is poor." This is because of the want to be near their old parents in remain in that position for three or system of patron and client relation- order to care for them. There is con- four years or even more. He can be ships, found in many African soci- stant communication between the re-elected every time. On the other eties, whereby wealthy people lent camps and each da"ira. If, today for hand, if you see that someone is not their and to the poorer example, I wanted permission to go capable, it is the people who have members of the group. also to Dakhla because 1have something put him there and it is the people places great responsibility on the to do there and 1 don't have any who will remove him. wealthy to support those less for- work at the time, 1 would be allowed tunate. There is nothing to suggest to go without hindrance. It is like the Sahrawi will not continue to any other state. permit private enterprise among At the national level there is a their people in the future. I reminded him I had asked another person, Omar, the day before if any- 21-member Political Bureau which Leadership one ever tried to leave the camps to includes the governors of each This acknowledgment of differences go to Algiers to find a job. wilZiya and the "responsibles" of the in the abilities of individuals is also women's and youth organizations. reflected in their present social and That is very silly. If we wanted to These people are also members of political organization. Leadership in work, Morocco was ready to give us the which nomadic society rests on such quali- all the work we wanted. We know is made up of 41 people, all of whom ties as courage, generosity, and that kind of propaganda. Morocco were elected in 1978. All official eloquence. One Sahrawi combatant says, "Here you are, you have a SADR statements concerning its commented on their military organi- house, money, cars, women, the political stance are that it is zation and leadership: good life, anything you wantn-as if nonaligned. There is reason to such propaganda could take anyone expect that an independent SADR Well, one of the things 1know is that in. Propaganda is very good to listen would follow a middle-of-the-road responsibility is not an honor for us. to, but reality is very difficult. Thus nonaligned path in order to attract investment from both West and East. The War Inside Morocco The has given King Hassan II a means of rallying Moroccans and providing a focus of attention for his military forces, among whom there were, in the early 1970s, serious signs of dis- affection. The Madrid agreement laid the basis for some reconciliation between the King and domestic opposition groups that shared Hassan's economic interests in the area. The years 1974-1976 saw a series of trials, amnesties, and the release of political prisoners, in- cluding party members and left- Captured military equipment displayed at the Tindouf camp. wing students. Elections for munici- pal governments were held in 1976 and in 1977 there was a general elec- hand over full control to them. another source of help: in 1980 it tion. The ISTIQLAL and the USPF Hassan, on the other hand, fears his provided a large loan on concession- (The Socialist Union of the Popular military might initiate an attack on ary terms and is selling Morocco oil Forces, formed in 1974 from a domi- Algeria to reclaim Tindouf (the at reduced prices. Recently, how- nant branch of the UNFP), were the region has been in dispute since ever, the World Bank has put dominant parties in opposition. Still, independence), or the more imme- pressure on Hassan's government the elections bore familiar signs of diate danger of an attempt to oust to settle the war which is draining government control: several oppo- him from the throne. the economv. With ~hos~hate sition leaders were arrested and earnings less ihan the oil /rnpo;t bill, In 1980 conscription was extended others were intimidated! the cost of imported food staples for to include students who leave the domestic consumption is now An increasing number of the King's university (among whom draft- higher than the earnings from agri- opponents, moreover, did not dodging is common), and there is cultural exports. It is obvious why belong to established political common disaffection among the many observers see a distinct parties. New radical groups had peasants who constitute the parallel between the experiences of formed during the 1970s-the cannon-fodder for the war. One the Shah in Iran and the developing Frontistes and the Marxist-Leninists, prisoner of war being held by the situation in Morocco with a similar which aimed to create a new social- Polisario told me in Morocco, "We outcome becoming more likely as ist republic in Morocco. These are forced into the military at the time passes. groups were based mainly among point of a gun." For others, military the university communities, but they service was reportedly the only The Polisario's "Liberated Zones" also sought to involve the working- means to earn a living; there is high My visit among the Sahrawi class and unions. All advo- unemployment in Morocco. (De- included a trip into Polisario-con- cated self-determination for the clining morale among the lower trolled areas of the Western Sahara Western Sahara. In 1974-1976 there ranks of the armed forces may and another into Southern Mo- were widespread arrests of the account in part for the Polisario's rocco. (Before leaving London I was Frontistes and the heavy sentences success in capturing arms and warned by a journalist that he had they received showed that the ~risoners.) heard the Polisario simply drive you King's efforts at political recon- in circles and then teil you where ciliation were not to include radical The general war-weariness in Mo- you have been. I went, therefore, groups. rocco underlies rising labor unrest: armed with a compass and map, and in 1978-1979 there were strikes by our party carefully kept track of the During the same years, the number postal workers, airline employees, directions and distances traveled.) of Moroccan forces deployed to the bank clerks, teachers, and health Western Sahara increased dramati- service workers, all suppressed and We traveled in open Land Rovers- cally and the Polisario occupation of labeled treasonable. three for our party and our guides, parts of southern Morocco required and two escort and overs-which The soaring external debt (one more troops there as well. Senior contained supplies and eight armed officers in the Moroccan Army claim source reports the war is costing $3 combatants. Each night we camped their inability to contain the Polisario million per day) has resulted in a in the open, the combatants pre- decline in business confidence. In is due in part to the King's refusal to paring our meals on an open fire. 1980 Morocco received IMF assis- - tance (this standby credit said to be Except for the El Aaiun--Bu 1. The overview of internal political de- the second largest ever granted to a Craa triangle and Dakhla, visitors are velopments in Morocco is drawn from Third World country) and Saudi able to travel in the whole of the Amnesty International Briefing: Mo- Arabia supports the economy to the Western Sahara under the SADR rocco, October 1977. tune of $1 billion annually. Iraq is aegis. A journalist who was traveling at the same time with another group frozen in various positions of retreat, data. Yet we were given consider- told me that while he was camping and the military "experts" in our able freedom to ask questions.2 some 200 kilometers inside Morocco groups examined 8 to ascertain just one night, he heard a government how they had been destroyed. The radio broadcast announcing that on insides were completely melted, but 2. It is not known just how many the spot where he was sleeping the absence of any exterior damage Sahrawi prisoners the Moroccans are there were 15,000 Moroccan troops suggested that they must have been holding. The Cornit6 de Defense des in control. put out of action by Molotov cock- Sahraouis au Maroc et au Sahara tails, or destroyed after the Moroc- occup6, a Paris-based group, has for the Our group was served fresh vege- cans had fled the scene. (This latter past several years been attempting to tables with nearly every meal on the explanation seems unlikely, since investigate conditions. With the per- trip and we saw one large area the Polisario depend largely on cap- mission of the Moroccan authorities, under cultivation near a well where tured arms.) this group in early 1980 organized a dele- we stopped to refresh ourselves. gation, which included doctors, to visit Such evidence supports Polisario That the area through which we Sahrawi in Moroccan prisons after a assertions that they control most of traveled was firmly in the hands of previous visit by a Professor Minkowski. the Western Sahara. the Sahrawi was also evidenced by Their visit lasted only 24 hours: the the availability of petrol and main- Although we did not visit the battle- Minister of Justice, M. Fehri Fassiferi, tenance services. We were never the only person authorized to accom- front (causing some frustration shown these installations-vehicles among the group), we did visit pany them to the prisons, was absent on would leave campsites at night and their arrival in Morocco. numerous battle sites where there return-but once, after the sixth was ample verification of the After this abortive trip, Professor puncture on the same wheel, we Minkowski gave a press conference on capacity of the Polisario to deal with were deposited under a tree while the Moroccan Army, despite the April 17, 1980 in which he described his combatants went off to get it previous experiences in Morocco. He latter's superior arms. Some dis- repaired. (Itwas at this point that we tance inside Morocco we were had earlier decided not to make this heard a Moroccan plane and were information public as it could jeopardize shown 54 tanks which had been asked to take cover.) destroyed: most of these were future visits by delegations. His de- One of the last events of my visit scriptions of appalling prison conditions was the rather theatrical display- and tortures inflicted on men, women assembled for the benefit of our and schoolchildren have been echoed group and others-of captured by members of the Movement of arms, documents taken from Mo- Catholic Lawyers, some of whom have roccan soldiers killed by the Poli- sewed as counsel to prisoners. sario, and three groups of prisoners The Comitk de Defence des Sah- of war. Information collected from raouis has also compiled compelling evi- interviews with prisoners when their dence of the mistreatment of Sahrawi in captors are present is hardly reliable Moroccan occupied zones. Their Febru- ary 1981 report contains an interview with French journalist Jean-Francois Left, a Moroccan pilot captured by the Boyer who lived for some time in El Polisario. Aaiun as a tourist in 1980. He describes Below, Polisario examine a tank de- persistent persecution and progressive stro yed inside Southern Morocco. impoverishment of the Sahrawi there. A group of seven men had been laughed and said he could tell us Sahara to 90 miles inside Morocco; captured only six days earlier. One that they were eating better now the repatriation of all Saharan had a slight wound on his hand and than when they were fighting in peoples to the territory and a three- was shaking with cold. We asked Morocco. Several were asked if they month period prior to the vote to this small group to sit down (all the had known just what this war was create a proper climate; installation prisoners has been standing in about before joining the army. Most of a provisional international admin- rows). Our guides did not object to said they had not. istration created by the UN and this or to journalists handing out OAU; and liberation of all Saharan cigarettes. All the prisoners to detainees held in Moroccan prisons3 whom I spoke offered the informa- tion that they had been allowed to The information for these Reports King Hassan has subsequently write home to their families but had was assembled in May and June qualified his commitment to the learned that the Moroccan Red 1981, just before the June meeting referendum and long delays seem Crescent had refused to deliver the of the Organization of African Unity certain over the matter of deter- letters. The Radio SADR also allows in Nairobi where the question of mining who is eligible to vote. Will it prisoners to send messages inform- granting membership to the SADR include only the 75,000 Sahrawi ing their relatives of their safety and was again debated. At the Nairobi reported in the 1974 Spanish whereabouts. (Of course, it is for- summit, King Hassan accepted pro- census, which Morocco accepts, or bidden in the occupied territory or in posals for a "controlled referen- a population in excess of 750,000 Morocco to listen to these broad- dum" to determine the Western and include refugees in Algeria, as casts.) Sahara's future. The OAU also the Polisario demands? passed a resolution, endorsed by the Many believe that Hassan used the Most of the prisoners did not speak Moroccan king, asking that a joint French, which suggests that they OAU meeting merely to buy time to UN-OAU peace-keeping force be try to consolidate his position mili- were peasants. One of the captured sent to the territory to enforce an pilots spoke English and, recog- tarily and to block action-as indeed immediate cease-fire. A committee he did-on SADR membership. nizing my accent, said, "If you are a of African heads of state-from friend of King Hassan, why don't Morocco reportedly now has 80,000 Guinea, , Nigeria, Sudan, Tan- of its 115,000 troops involved in you tell him to end this war?" Others zania, Sierra Leone, and Kenya asked whether, if we were planning action against an estimated 15,000 (chair)-was appointed to consider SADR combatants. Still, one can to visit Morocco, we would be kind how to conduct the referendum. enough to take messages to rela- only expect that the struggle will tives. Several journalists took down Polisario's acceptance of the "prin- continue, perhaps down to the last names and addresses. One visitor ciple" of a referendum was an- man, woman, and child. asked them about the food they nounced in midJuly, along with a were given in prison. One replied: statement setting out conditions for (August 1981 "We are all Muslim and it is not agreement to the vote. They --- polite for a guest to talk about the include: withdrawal of all Moroccan 3. Africa Report, September-October hospitality of his host." Another forces and administration from the 1981, p. 36.

(Part Ill completes the series "The Struggle for the Western Sahara")

APPENDIX

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SAHARAN ARAB DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC Preamble believe in the militant solidarity of the Article 3: Islam is the state and peoples of the world to impose an the basis for law. Arabic is the national The Saharan Arab Democratic Republic equitable and just world order which will and official language. is the fruit of the heroic and historic contribute to the creation of a human struggle of the Sahrawi to safeguard Article 4: The quest for the unity of the condition where justice reigns and their national independence and terri- people of the Arab constitutes where all nations are united in a relation- torial integrity. The Republic is the a step toward African and Arab unity. ship of equality and mutual respect. visible expression of its own will to live The defense of the homeland and of in dignity and freedom, in accordance freedom is a sacred duty. The imple- Chapter I: Fundamental Principles with the decisions of international mentation of socialism and the applica- authorities, whose charters the SADR Article 7: Saguia El Hamra and Rio de tion of social justice are one of the undertakes to respect, which recognize Oro, within their historical boundaries, objectives of the State. its inalienable right to self-determination form an Arab Democratic Republic. The and independence. republican political system undertakes Article 5: The family, which is the basis to respect the open unionist program. of society, is founded on morality and The Sahrawis are an Arab, African, and religion. Muslim people. They stand for policies Article 2: The SADR belongs to the of nonalignment, the struggle for the Arab world, the African family, and to Article 6: All citizens are equal before unity of the Arab people, and for the the community of the people of the the law; they have the same rights and unity of the African continent, and they Third World. duties. Article 7: Freedom of speech is guaran- Chapter III : Legislative Power I. The General Popular Assembly teed within the limits of the law and the Article 21: The Sahrawi National Council It is held every four years and brings interests of the people. Education, and is a legislative and consultative author- together the delegates elected by the health and social services, are guaran- ity. It comprises 41 members. local popular assemblies. During this teed rights of all citizens. Article 22: It ratifies the conventions. assembly, the important political de- Article 8: Public property belongs to the cisions are taken and the Executive people; private property is protected as Chapter IV: Judiciary Powers Committee and the Political Bureau of long as it does not lead to exploitation. the Polisario Front are elected. Article 23: The judiciary is independent. Article 9: The payment of taxes and Judges are obliged to disperse justice. The General Popular Assembly: duties is compulsory under the law. Judgments are given and carried out in the name of the people. Establishes a program of national action. Article 70:The right to political asylum is Defines status of the Polisario Front guaranteed. A. Judiciary Council Establishes constitution of the SADR Article I I: The national flag and the coat Article 24: It is composed of Presidents of arms of the State are defined by law. of Tribunals and presided over by the Elects officers of the Polisario Front Chapter II: Government System Minister of Justice. II. The Executive Committee A. Revolutionary Command Council Article 25: It nominates judges, and dis- misses them after consultation with Elected by the General Popular Assem- Article 12: The Revolutionary Command experts. bly and also called the Revolutionary Council is the supreme body of execu- Command Council, the Executive Com- tive power of the SADR. It holds respos- Article 26: It defines its own internal mittee is composed of 9 members. sibility for all matters concerning sover- regulations. The Executive Committee, the supreme eignty and legislation. It determines the Article 27: It puts forward the laws for authority, sees to the implementation of general policy of the State. the organization of tribunals and their the political trends decided upon during Article 13: The Revolutionary Command competence to the Council of Ministers. the course of the General Popular Council is presided over by the General B. The Tribunals Assembly. The General Secretary of the Secretary of the Polisario Front. Polisario Front is elected by Assembly Article 28: The tribunals are made up of (since the Third Congress, brother Article 14: The Revolutionary Command primary tribunals, a Court of Appeal, Mohamed Abdelaziz has fulfilled this Council designates a Council of and a Supreme Court of the people. function, thus replacing the heroic Ministers comprising a President, min- Article 29: The Court for State Security martyr El Ouali Mustapha Sayed, who isters and general secretaries of minis- was killed in action in June 19761, and tries. is a special tribunal. Its members are designated by the Revolutionary Com- the President of the Council of Min- Article 15: The Revolutionary Command mand Council and its function is defined isters. Council has the power to declare war, bv law. II I. The Political Bureau sign treaties, nominate political repre- sentatives, and to accredit foreign polit- Chapter V: General Transition Pro- The Political Bureau is elected by ical representatives. cedures Assembly. It is composed of 21 members whose task is to undertake the B. Council of Ministers Article 30: The name of the Popular political education of the people. Liberation Army will remain in force until Article 16: The Council of Ministers is the Sahrawi Arab people regain The general secretaries of the grassroots composed of a President, ministers, and sovereignty over the whole of their organizations and the Wali (governors general secretaries of ministries. homeland. of Wil6ya) are part of the Political Article 17: It is presided over by a mem- Bureau. A permanent secretariat has Article 31: The Executive Committee of ber of the Revolutionary Command been set up. The Political Bureau is part the Popular Front will fulfill the func- of the National Sahrawi Council. Council. tions of the Revolutionary Command Article 18: It deals with all executive Council until the time of the first popular IV. People's Organizations general assembly after regaining sover- matters from directives laid down by the Women, workers and students are eignty. Command Council. organized into the National Union of Article 19: The general budget is Political Organizations Sahrawi Women, the General Union of promulgated by law. Sahrawi Workers, and the General The Polisario Front is the Political and Union of the Students of the Saguia El Article 20: The Sahrawi Popular Military body of the SADR. The Sahrawi Hamra and Rio de Oro respectively. National Army is at the service of the Popular Liberation Army being its mili- people. It protects the unity and tary branch. (Bibliography is appended in Part I.) territorial integrity of the homeland and participates in the economic and social activities of the country. Its organization is defined by law.