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PEACE AND SECURITY COUNCIL 668th MEETING ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA 20 MARCH 2015

PSC/PR/2.(DCLXVIII)

REPORT OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE COMMISSION ON THE EVOLUTION OF THE PEACE PROCESS IN WESTERN SAHARA AND OTHER RELATED ISSUES

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REPORT OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE COMMISSION ON THE EVOLUTION OF THE PEACE PROCESS IN WESTERN SAHARA AND OTHER RELATED ISSUES

I. INTRODUCTION

1. This report is submitted in pursuance of the relevant decisions of both the Executive Council and the Assembly of the Union, requesting me to pursue my efforts with respect to the search for a solution to the conflict in Western Sahara and to provide regular updates on the evolution of the situation.

II. BACKGROUND

2. The question of the unfinished task of the decolonization of Western Sahara and the current stalemate in the peace process has been of utmost concern to the AU, which has remained engaged in the diplomatic and political efforts at the continental and international level, in order to secure its peaceful resolution, in full compliance with the principles enshrined in the AU instruments and in the UN Charter.

3. The dispute over the non-self-governing Territory of Western Sahara is among the oldest on the agenda of the United Nations. Since 1963, the Territory has been inscribed on the list of non-self-governing territories to which UN General Assembly resolution 1514(XV) of 14 December 1960 on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples applies. To this day, Western Sahara is on the UN list of the remaining 16 dependent territories which are yet to exercise their right to self-determination, and the only one on the African continent.

4. Efforts towards the search for a solution to the problem have proceeded in the past, in some form or another, ever since the UN, in mid-1970s, had called on Spain, as the Administering Power, to organize a referendum of self-determination for the people of Western Sahara. The challenge brought forth at the time by the Moroccan claim subsequently led to the occupation of the Territory by the latter, in spite of the Advisory Opinion rendered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 16 October 1975, affirming that it had not found legal ties of such a nature between Western Sahara and the concerned neighboring countries that might affect the application of resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960 and, in particular, of the principle of self-determination through a free and genuine expression of the will of the people of the Territory. This led to a 16-year long armed struggle against Moroccan occupation of the Territory by the armed forces of the POLISARIO Front.

5. In August 1988, the Parties accepted the Settlement Proposals presented to them by the UN and the Organization of African Unity (OAU), on the basis of the Peace Plan adopted by the 19th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 6 to 12 June 1983. The objective was to enable the people of Western Sahara to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and independence. On 29 April 1991, the UN Security Council, in resolution 690 (1991), established the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) with the mandate, to organize and conduct the referendum, in close cooperation with the OAU.

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6. Over the last four decades, the OAU/AU has made numerous calls to the international community and initiated efforts to resolve the Sahrawi crisis. The AU’s efforts are within its mandate as Guarantor of the Peace Plan endorsed in resolution of Assembly of Heads of State and Government (AHG/Res.104 (XIX)) of the 19th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the OAU, held in Addis Ababa from 6 to 12 June 1983, which essentially served as the basis of the August 1988 Settlement Proposals that set into motion the peace process for Western Sahara and as also endorsed by the UN Security Council in April 1991.

7. To date, the Settlement Proposals remain the only Agreement ever accepted by both the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front towards the peaceful resolution of the dispute over Western Sahara. While the ceasefire component of the Plan, agreed to by the two sides on 6 September 1991, still holds, no progress was made regarding the holding of the envisaged referendum of self-determination. Albeit the efforts deployed by successive UN Secretaries- General and their Personal Envoys, the direct negotiations between the two parties initiated under the Manhasset process (Manhasset, New York) in 2007-2008 remain in continued stalemate.

III. RECENT EVOLUTION OF THE PEACE PROCESS

8. Despite sustained efforts of the UN Secretary-General and the calls by the UN Security Council and the African Union Policy Organs for the two parties to resume direct and serious negotiations, without preconditions, for the definitive resolution of the conflict, no progress has been made in the peace process and the deadlock still remains. The UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Western Sahara, Ambassador Christopher Ross, was unable to engage the parties due to the preconditions posed by Morocco to resume talks, namely the acceptance of the autonomy plan by Front Polisario it put forward in 2007, as the only basis for negotiations.

9. Information has also emerged, over the last couple of weeks that the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Western Sahara, since January 2009, has submitted his resignation – a development that cannot but be a further complication to the peace process, given what it might require to get the mediation back on track.

10. On 11 August 2016, Morocco forces crossed the berm of the buffer strip in south-west Western Sahara, in El-Guergarat, in contravention of the 1991 Ceasefire Agreement. This action of Morocco prompted the deployment of military forces by the POLISARIO Front, to the area. Morocco’s action was widely condemned by the AU and the wider international community, but the UN Security Council failed to address this matter in a way it should have been, as a result of divisions within it. I urged both parties to fully respect the Military Agreement Number 1 and to immediately end any violation to the 1991 Ceasefire Agreement, as well as to work in good faith and without preconditions, to create the necessary environment for resumption of talks and the early holding of the referendum for self-determination of the Saharawi people consistent with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and the resolutions and decisions of UN and AU. In that connection, Morocco announced, on 27 February 2017, that it has unilaterally withdrawn from El-Guergarat, in response to the request of the UN Secretary General, while the POLISARIO Front, for its part, having described the Moroccan withdrawal of its forces for some meters, as a diversionary maneuver to hide its military occupation of Western Sahara and stated that its forces shall remain in the El-Guergarat region.

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IV. UNITED NATIONS MISSION FOR THE REFEREUNDUM IN WESTERN SAHARA

11. MINURSO was established by resolution 690 (1991), following the acceptance by the two Parties of the OAU/UN Settlement Plan and its subsequent endorsement by the UN Security Council with the mandate to oversee the Ceasefire Agreement and organize the self- determination referendum for the People of Western Sahara.

12. On 16 March 2016, Morocco transmitted to the UN Secretary General a list of 84 international civilian personnel of MINURSO and the AU which it ordered to leave the Territory within three days. On 20 March 2016, all listed personnel left Western Sahara including the three Officers of the AU Observer Delegation.

13. On 29 April 2016, the UN Security Council adopted resolution 2285, which extended the mandate of MINURSO until 30 April 2017 and emphasized the urgent need for MINURSO to return to full functionality. The UN Security Council also requested the Secretary-General to brief the Council within 90 days as to whether MINURSO would return to full functionality. The Council further expressed its intention, if MINURSO have not achieved full functionality, to consider how best to facilitate achievement of this goal. So far, only 25 officials were reported to have returned to Laayoune in implementation of the UN Security Council resolution 2285 (2016) on the return of MINURSO to Full Functionality.

V. ROLE OF THE AU OFFICE IN WESTERN SAHARA

14. The OAU/AU Office in Western Sahara was established following the adoption of UN Security Council resolution 690 (1991), endorsing the UN/OAU Settlement Plan and authorizing the establishment of MINURSO. The resolution had mandated the implementation of the Settlement Plan to be in cooperation with the OAU. At the time when MINURSO was engaged on the identification of potential Sahrawi voters for the planned referendum, OAU/AU observers and observers from over ten OAU Members States participated in the exercise, to ensure the integrity of the identification process undertaken to determine eligibility of the applicants.

15. Since then, the AU Office, which is headed by my Special Representative, Ambassador Yilma Tadesse, of Ethiopia, and located in the MINURSO premises, has continued to provide regular updates on the situation. On the ground, the Special Representative maintains close consultations with MINURSO. He also undertakes consultations with both Parties, Morocco and the POLISARIO Front. The Office participates in donor conferences for humanitarian assistance to the Sahrawi refugees in Tindouf, and its staff travel to military team sites to observe the ceasefire regime between the two sides in the conflict. Furthermore, discussions and exchanges of views on the AU perspectives regarding the dispute, as well as on the way forward on the search for a solution to the conflict, are also conducted by the Senior Representative when Ambassadors and other foreign dignitaries, including Personal Envoy Christopher Ross, and other international actors visit Laayoune.

16. It is to be recalled that the AU Officers were also expelled by Morocco together with the UN international civilian Officers, on 20 March 2016. As such, the Observer Delegation of the AU has still not been allowed by Morocco to return to Laayoune and resume its collaboration with MINURSO, despite the decision of the UN Security Council, in its resolution 2285, calling for the return to full functionality of MINURSO.

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VI. FOLLOW-UP TO THE RELEVANT DECISIONS OF THE AU POLICY ORGANS

17. During the period under review, the policy organs have remained actively seized of the situation in Western Sahara. In decision Assembly/AU/6(XXVIII) adopted by the 28th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union on 30 to 31 January 2017, on the report of the Peace and Security Council on its activities and the State of Peace and Security in Africa, the Assembly reiterated the urgent need for renewed international efforts to facilitate an early resolution of the conflict and reiterated its call to the UN General Assembly to determine a date for the holding of the self-determination referendum for the people of Western Sahara and protect the integrity of the Western Sahara as a non-self-governing territory from any act which may undermine it. The Assembly also urged the UN Security Council to fully assume its responsibilities in restoring the full functionality of MIURSO, as it is indispensable for overseeing the ceasefire and organizing the self-determination referendum in Western Sahara. The Assembly also stressed the need for addressing the issues of the respect of human rights and the illegal exploration and exploitation of the Territory’s natural resources, particularly in line with the important judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union issued on 21 December 2016, on the arrangement between the EU and Morocco signed in 2012, on the mutual liberalization of the trade in agricultural and fisheries products. The Assembly further reiterated its Declaration adopted at its 24th and 26th Ordinary Sessions, regarding the convening by the Crans Montana Forum, a Switzerland-based organization, of a meeting in the occupied territory of Western Sahara and calls on the Crans Montana to desist from this activity and appealed, once more, to all Member States, African civil society organizations and other relevant actors to boycott any such event.

18. In its decision adopted at the 588th meeting, held on 6 April 2016, the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) requested the Chairperson of the Commission to pursue and intensify her efforts, including through the Special Envoy, former President Joaquim Chissano, towards effective follow-up of the relevant provisions of its decisions. As a follow-up, it requested the Special Envoy to undertake consultations with the UN Security Council and UN Secretariat, as well as other international stakeholders in New York.

19. As such, from 26 to 29 April 2016, the Special Envoy undertook a consultation mission to New York. During his mission, the AU Special Envoy held consultations with the UN high level officials, Ambassador Christopher Ross, UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara; Mr. Tayé-Brook Zerihoun, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs; Mr. Edmond Mulet, Chef de Cabinet to the UN Secretary-General. The AU Special Envoy also met with various representatives of the Permanent Missions to the UN namely, Ambassador Liu Jieyi of China, President of the UN Security Council for the month of April; Ambassador Rafael Dario Ramirez Carreno, Permanent Representative of Venezuela; Ambassador Vitaly I. Churkin, Permanent Representative of Russian Federation to the UN; the Delegation of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR); Ambassador Gerard Jacobus Van Bohemen, Permanent Representative of New Zealand; Ambassador Michele Sison, U.S. Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN; Ambassador Sabri Boukadoum, Permanent Representative of Algeria to the UN; Ambassador Elbio Rosselli, Permanent Representative of Uruguay to the UN; Ambassador François Delattre, Permanent Representative of France to the UN; Ambassador Román Oyarzun Marchesi, Permanent Representative of Spain to the UN. Furthermore, the AU Special Envoy held in-depth consultations with the Permanent Representative of Angola, Ambassador Ismael A. Gaspar Martins, in its capacity as an African member of the UN Security Council. He further briefed the

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UN Security Council during the Arria-Formula Meeting on Western Sahara, which was jointly organized by the Permanente Missions of Angola and Venezuela, on 26 April 2016.

20. The consultations of the Special Envoy provided an opportunity to frankly exchange views on the situation in Western Sahara and the efforts being deployed towards resolution of the conflict. The following elements emerged from the Special Envoy’s mission:

- Deep concern of the AU about the prolonged suffering of people of Western Sahara and the lack of progress towards the early resolution of the conflict in the territory on the basis of international legality.

- Importance of the visit of the UN Secretary-General undertaken to Western Sahara and the region, from 3 to 7 March 2016, and the serious resolve the UN Secretary General showed to end the Conflict in the Territory.

- Regrettable actions taken by Moroccan authorities of not receiving the UN Secretary General in Rabat and also preventing him from visiting MINURSO Headquarters in Layounne, capital City of the occupied Western Sahara, as well as Morocco unilateral decision of expelling the civilian Component of MINURSO.

- The need for the UN General Assembly to determine a date for the holding of the self- determination referendum for the people of Western Sahara and also to the UN Security Council to fully assume its responsibilities of restoring the full functionality of MINURSO, as it is indispensable for overseeing the Ceasefire Agreement and organizing the self- determination referendum in Western Sahara.

21. On 31 May 2016, the Commission has learnt with great sadness the passing away of the President of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and Secretary General of the Polisario Front, H.E. Mohamed Abdelaziz, one of the key interlocutors and institutional memory of the peace process. Mr. Brahim Ghali was later elected as President of the SADR and Secretary General of the Polisario Front.

22. It is to be noted that Morocco’s application for membership to the AU was accepted, making it the 55th Member State of the AU by the 28th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union, held in Addis Ababa from 30 to 31 January 2017. In this respect, the Heads of State and Government expressed the hope that Morocco’s membership of the Union will contribute to the speedy resolution of the dispute over Western Sahara, in a manner consistent with the purposes and principles of the AU Constitutive Act.

23. As underlined above, the accession of Morocco to the membership of the AU should further give the Commission better opportunity to engage the parties for a speedy resolution of the conflict. This also calls speedy resolution of the Africa’s leading role and guidance for the international efforts regarding the conflict in Western Sahara.

VII. HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION

24. Over the past few years, the question of the protection of human rights of the Sahrawi population in the Territory has been of concern. Continued violations of human rights in the occupied Territory have been frequently reported and denounced by the AU and a number of

PSC/PR/2.(DCLXVIII) Page 6 stakeholders, both from within and outside the UN system. Moroccan authorities restricted rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly, prosecuting journalists and forcibly dispersing protests as well as tightened restrictions on human rights groups, both domestic and international.

25. The Moroccan authority continues to systematically prevent gatherings supporting self- determination for the Territory. Saharawis who express pro-independence views, who work on human rights activities, or who defend the Territory’s natural resources against plunder, continue to face harassment, political imprisonment and abuse. They are arrested, often violently and without explanation as to the reason for their arrest, held incommunicable in secret detention centres or police stations. At the same time, the Saharawi population is experiencing repression of their culture as well as discrimination in the education and employment fields.

26. In his 19 April 2016 report on the situation concerning MINURSO, the UN Secretary- General urged for further international engagement and, given ongoing reports of human rights violations, stressed the need for independent, impartial, comprehensive and sustained monitoring of the human rights situation in both Western Sahara and the camps have become ever more pressing. While UN Security Council resolution 2285 of 29 April 2016 did not empower MINURSO with such a mandate, it however stressed in its preamble the importance of improving the human rights situations in Western Sahara and the Tindouf camps and encouraged the Parties to continue with their respective efforts in this regard.

27. In fact, the continued gross human rights violations committed in the occupied Western Sahara illustrate the total inadequacy of UN Security Council approach to the matter. It is against that background that the AU, the POLISARIO Front, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) and a number of international human rights activists repeatedly call on the UN Security Council to empower MINURSO with a human rights monitoring mandate. As a UN peacekeeping mission, MINURSO, is extremely unusual in that it has no mandate to monitor human rights. Indeed, of all UN peacekeeping missions deployed to implement settlement plans, MINURSO is, strangely, the only one which does not have such a human rights protection mandate. Whilst UN Special Procedures, which involve short and non-frequent visits by UN rights experts to Western Sahara, are important, they are insufficient to effectively address the matter.

28. In this regard, my Special Envoy, former President Joaquim Chissano, conducted several consultations during the 34th Session of the UN Human Rights Council that was held from 28 to 1 March 2017, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. The Special Envoy addressed a meeting on the human rights and humanitarian situation in Western Sahara. He briefed on the AU efforts to resolve the conflict in the Territory and put a sharp focus on the human rights and humanitarian aspects of the situation in Western Sahara. He underscored that the UN Security Council, which should renew the mandate of MINURSO in its upcoming meeting to be held in April 2017, should provide the Mission with human rights mandate in order to ensure independent, impartial, comprehensive and sustained human rights monitoring in the Territory. The Special Envoy also held a meeting with the High Commissioner for Human Rights (HCHR), Mr. Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein, on 1 March 2017, at the Palais des Nations, where they exchanged views on various matters related to human rights, in Western Sahara. He reiterated the AU’s appreciation to the HCHR for deploying efforts aimed at promoting and protecting the rights of the Saharawi People and urged his Office and other relevant UN agencies to play a

PSC/PR/2.(DCLXVIII) Page 7 more meaningful role in monitoring human rights and providing technical assistance to the relevant human rights stakeholders across Western Sahara.

VIII. HUMANITARIAN SITUATION

29. In the humanitarian sphere, notably, at the end of 2015, 65.3 million people in the world were refugees or had been displaced from their homes and in late 2015, about 16 million people in Africa were either displaced or forced to flee to other countries. This was more than had ever been experienced since World War II. Among them are the Sahrawi refugees who have been living in the south-western part of the Algerian desert for 42 years now. The crisis of the Sahrawi refugees is virtually unknown to the world. Despite that in the refugee camps near Tindouf, Algeria, public life and social activities are conducted peacefully and in a relatively calm atmosphere, the severe living conditions, already affected by a continuing decrease in humanitarian aid, deteriorated further in October 2015 as a result of prolonged heavy rains that are common in this period of the year, which devastated the existing five camps, destroying many of the refugees’ mud-brick homes, infrastructure and food supplies.

30. The worsening of the humanitarian situation in Western Sahara, especially in the refugee camps, underlines the need for engagement, including by supporting humanitarian entities operating there and by augmenting the provision of humanitarian aid in the camps. I should also highlight that, the growing frustration in both Western Sahara and the refugees camps, threats posed by extremists and terrorist groups operating beyond borders and increased regional tensions, the harsh living conditions, and the deterioration of humanitarian situation will demand more attention towards a greater focus on young people, to prevent them from the attraction to violent extremist and terrorist groups.

IX. ILLEGAL EXPLORATION AND EXPLOITATION OF WESTERN SAHARA’S NATURAL RESOURCES

31. The continued illegal exploration and exploitation of Western Sahara’s natural resources, by foreign entities, including fishing grounds, is of grave concern to the African Union as outlined in the Assembly decision Assembly/AU/6(XXVIII) of 30 to 31 January 2017, which called on the UN Security Council to address the issue of illegal exploitation of natural resources of Western Sahara.

32. In this context, it is worth noting the importance of the verdict, issued on 21 December 2016, by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) regarding the agreements between the EU and Morocco, signed in 2012, on the mutual liberalization of the trade of agricultural and fisheries products, which ruled that such agreements cannot apply to the territory of Western Sahara given the separate and distinct status of the territory of Western Sahara, guaranteed in accordance with the Charter of the UN and the principle of self-determination of peoples. The Court further underlined that Western Sahara must be regarded as a third party which may be affected by the implementation of the liberalization agreements, therefore, the EU-Morocco agreements should not impose any obligations nor confer any rights on third States without their consent. There is need for full respect of this verdict which constitutes a major contribution to the efforts to stop illegal exploration and exploitation of Western Sahara’s natural resources.

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33. In his report of 19 April 2016 concerning the situation in Western Sahara, the UN Secretary-General called all relevant actors to “recognize the principle that the interests of the inhabitants of these territories are paramount”, in accordance with Article 73 of the Charter of the UN. Thus, Western Sahara, as non-self-governing Territory, ought to have its natural resources protected for the benefit of its own people, and therefore the international community, in particular the UN Security Council, ought therefore to ensure this protection.

X. OBSERVATIONS

34. It is a matter of deep concern that four decades after the onset of the conflict of Western Sahara, all efforts aimed at finding a solution have so far failed to achieve the expected results. As a result, the people of the Territory have not been able to exercise their right of self- determination, in line with relevant OAU/UN decisions and UN resolutions, although Western Sahara has been on the UN list of non-self-governing territories since 1963.

35. Against this backdrop, there is need to change the status quo of the current negotiation framework to serious negotiations without preconditions and in good faith, to reach a just and durable solution to the conflict. As rightly and repeatedly pointed out by the AU, the UN Security Council must fully assume its responsibility in this respect with a view to achieving a definitive solution, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara, in the context of arrangements consistent with the UN principles and purposes. The UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly shall equally facilitate this process by establishing a timetable for the referendum on self-determination.

36. As the current mandate of MINURSO expires on 30 April 2017, I look forward to its renewal and restoration of its full functionality by the UN Security Council, to give the required space and momentum for the continuation of the political and diplomatic efforts. Beyond the extension of MINURSO mandate and if the abuses suffered by the Saharawi people are to be curbed, and pending their self-determination referendum, the UN Security Council must provide MINURSO in the upcoming April 2017 meeting, with a human rights mandate in order to secure an independent, impartial, comprehensive and sustained human rights monitoring, protection and verification mechanisms. Furthermore, other relevant UN agencies, such as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) should be allowed to play a more meaningful role in monitoring human rights and providing technical assistance to the relevant human rights stakeholders across Western Sahara. Equally important is the need to address the issue of the illegal exploitation of the Territory’s natural resources, bearing in mind the decision of the AU Assembly and the call made by the UN Secretary-General’s report of 19 April 2016, as well as taking into consideration the 2002 Legal Opinion of the UN Under-Secretary General for Legal Affairs and Legal Counsel and the recent ruling of the CJEU, issued on 21 December 2016.

37. Taking into consideration Morocco’s accession to the Union and thereafter sitting side by side with the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and bearing in mind our commitment to pan-african solidarity, as well as Article 4 of the AU Constitutive Act calling for peaceful resolution of conflicts among Member States of the Union, conditions should be immediately created to allow the Kingdom of Morocco and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic to engage in direct and serious talks, with the support of the Member States and the Commission, in order to achieve an early and definitive solution to this conflict, which will provide for the self- determination of the People of Western Sahara. I therefore urge the Peace and Security Council to consider the appropriate ways that should effectively contribute to achieving this solution in line with the AU Constitutive Act and the Protocol establishing the PSC.

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38. I should like to seize this opportunity to pay tribute to my Special Envoy, former President Joaquim Chissano, for his readiness and dedication in supporting the search of a lasting solution to the conflict in Western Sahara. I am also grateful to my Special Representative to MINURSO, Ambassador Yilma Tadesse, for his continued efforts. I appreciate the support and continued fruitful collaboration of the UN Secretary General and his Special Envoy, as well as the MINURSO on the effort to implement the Settlement Plan accorded for Western Sahara. I also expect that with the newly elected UN Secretary General, the Western Sahara peace process will gain more impetus towards a speedy resolution of the conflict.