up

Bir Lehlu, 13/09/2005 (SPS) The President of the Saharawi Republic, Mohamed Abdelaziz, solicited from the Archbishop. Desmond Mpilo Tutu, to intervene vis-à-vis Morocco for the release of the 37 Saharawi political prisoners on hunger strike in the Moroccan cells, whose state of health has reached a critical stage.  

Here is the translation fro m Arabic of the letter, of which SPS received a copy:     

"The Reverend Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu

Bir Lehlou, 8 September 2005  

On behalf of the Saharawi people, who for three decades have been fighting for freedom and justice for which you also have fought, I would like to address to you this letter to express our appreciation for your exceptional humanitarian work and the great efforts that you have been deploying personally and through your charity organisation for fighting all forms of injustice and promoting the values of tolerance, justice, and peace in South Africa and the world as whole. With your unwavering belief in God and the in potential of your people you have managed to liberate South Africa from Apartheid, hatred and deadly confrontation by promoting equality, hope and love for life. History will speak of Archbishop Desmond Tutu as one of the few men who managed to defeat the power of firearms with the power of peace prayers. 

Reverend Archbishop, 

As you are aware, the legal status of Western Sahara is that it remains a Non-self-governing Territory yet to be decolonised through a self-determination referendum for the Saharawi people (The Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice of 16 October 1975 and the verdict of the UN legal department of 29 January 2002). This process was brutally thwarted when Morocco, on 31 October 1975, invaded militarily the territory in contravention of the ICJ’s ruling, the report of the UN visiting mission (12 October 1975) and the successive resolutions adopted by the General Assembly and the Security Council.  

The small and peaceful Saharawi people, who had been fighting against the Spanish colonial rule since the sixties, were the victim of a fierce, genodical war waged by the Moroccan Royal Forces that in the process perpetrated the most appalling of massacres that had no resemblance but to those committed by the Apartheid regime in South Africa. The victims of those massacres were the people who managed to flee to south-west Algeria after having been bombarded with napalm and phosphorus. Despite the harsh environment, those people embarked on a laudable modernising project incarnating the aspirations of the Saharawi revolution for justice, emancipation and equality, which demonstrates that a full-fledged Saharawi State is an irreversible reality. Those who were left behind have been subjected to all sorts of repression, discrimination, torture and detention. Hundreds of Saharawi civilians were jailed in Moroccan detention centres between 1975 and 1991, when 200 hundred were released, while more 500 others remain disappeared whose cases are documented by specialised international organisations. Their families continue to suffer as result of the reluctance of the Moroccan authorities to account for the fate of the disappeared.    

Reverend Archbishop, 

Furthermore, as widely known and stressed particularly by President Thabo Mbeki in his letter addressed to the King of Morocco (1 August 2004),  the Moroccan Government is still unwilling to settle the conflict in Western Sahara in conformity with the strictures of international legality. Indeed, the conflict has resulted in many humanitarian tragedies. One of them is the fact that Saharawi families have been divided between a party that is under occupation and another one in the liberated territories and refugee camps owing to a deadly Moroccan defensive wall of 2500 km equipped with about 7 millions landmines including the internationally banned antipersonnel landmines that continue to take a heavy tool on the civilians. Another issue is the prisoners of war held by the two parties, the Frente POLISARIO and the Moroccan Kingdom, which witnessed a great development during the last months when the Frente POLISARIO ensured, on 18 August 2005, to the voluntary and unconditional release of the last 404 Moroccan POWs, settling thus this issue once and for all. 

Reverend Archbishop, 

We have made this humanitarian initiative that is indicative of our good will and genuine interest in easing tension and pushing the peace process forward in the wake of the appointment by the UN Secretary-General of his new personal envoy and special representative for Western Sahara. Nonetheless, the initiative came at the same time as Morocco continues to reject to engage in the just settlement of the conflict as proposed by the United Nations, which Morocco had already accepted. The settlement is based on the holding of a UN-supervised democratic plebiscite for the Saharawi people to choose between independence and integration into Morocco as provided for in the Security Council resolution 1495 (June 2003). Moreover, Morocco is still unwilling to cooperate with international organisations with regard to the 151 Saharawi POWs and to account for the fate of 500 Saharawi disappeared. It also refuses to cooperate with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in order to continue the visits exchange among Saharawi families who, owing to the conflict, are divided between the refugee camps and the liberated territories on the one hand and the cities and towns under Moroccan occupation, on the other. All this is happening at the same time as it carries on its campaigns of repression, detention and unfair trials against Saharawi citizens in the occupied territories of Western Sahara as a consequence of the peaceful demonstrations that erupted in the territory on 21 May in which the demonstrators were demanding a democratic right affirmed by international legality and law, namely the right to self-determination.  

We have made this unilateral initiative on the basis of our deep-rooted humanitarian traditions and our firm belief in the cause of just peace, and as a demonstration of our desire to bring happiness to many families of the brotherly Moroccan people who are not to blame for the expansionist policies pursued by their rulers.  

Reverend Archbishop, 

The leadership of the Frente POLISARIO took a voluntary decision, during its extraordinary session held on 4 May, regarding the release of the last group of Moroccan POWs held by it. Nevertheless, we had to postpone the implementation of the decision in view of the systematic repression carried out by Morocco, since 21 May, following the peaceful demonstrations underway in the territory in which the demonstrators have called for enabling the Saharawi people to exercise their democratic right to self-determination through a free, democratic, fair and UN-supervised referendum.  

The United Nations has pointed the finger at Morocco as the responsible for hampering the original settlement plan, which was approved by the Security Council in its resolution 690 (1991), and as the party that is unwilling to implement the additional agreements that were signed in 1997 by the two parties in Houston under the auspices of former US Secretary of State, Mr. James Baker III. Morocco also is still reluctant to engage in the implementation of the Security resolution 1495 (July 2003) that unanimously endorsed the “peace plan for self-determination of the people of Western Sahara”, which was elaborated painstakingly, objectively and professionally by Mr. James Baker III in his capacity as the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara. More seriously, Moroccan has declared officially (in its letter dated 29 April 2004) its rejection of the principle of a self-determination referendum, a position that made Mr. Baker tender his resignation, and brought the UN settlement efforts to a deadlock, putting thus the region in a situation of tension that may open up the conflict for all possibilities.   

The Moroccan rejection of the legitimate and democratic solution to the conflict is what has led the Saharawi citizens in the occupied territories of Western Sahara to take to the streets and demonstrate in a peaceful and civilised way in order to demand to be enabled, without delay, to exercise their democratic right to self-determination. The Moroccan authorities reacted by engaging in campaigns of systematic and massive repression that was reported and aired by many international media, and denounced by several human rights organisations (Amnesty International’s report of 2 August 2005), and which remains a cause of great concern for many countries including South Africa. In their peaceful demonstrations, the Saharawis were drawing inspiration from your well-known words uttered in the wake of Johannesburg’s massacre, “do not hate… let us choose the peaceful path to freedom”, which set the example for how a civilised defence for the values and ideals of freedom was to be conducted. 

Reverend Archbishop, 

The explosive humanitarian situation in the occupied territories has led Morocco to impose a military siege and an information blackout on those territories and to continue expelling delegations of international observers and media and engaging in many repressive practices against peaceful demonstrators and human rights activists, and resorting to torture, kidnapping, unfair trials and arbitrary detention against dozens of Saharawi citizens. Among these are 37 Saharawi prisoners of conscience (whose list is enclosed herewith) who have been on an open-ended hunger strike since 8 August. Their health situation is deteriorating dramatically and some of them have already fallen into deep coma and their life is in danger unless something is done by institutions like yours and outstanding human rights advocates like you who have made of the defence of human rights, democracy, freedom and peace a universal concern that goes beyond geographical borders. Intervention is thus urgently needed before the Moroccan authorities in order that they: 

-         ensure the immediate and unconditional release of all Saharawi prisoners of conscience and revoke the unfair sentences passed on some of them on account of their peaceful demonstration, of which some mount to 20 years imprisonment;  

-         allow access to the territory by international observers, organisations and media;  

-         release the 151 Saharawi POWs and account for the fate of the 500 Saharawi civilians who have been disappeared since the start of the conflict; 

-         engage in the implementation of the Security Council resolution 1495 and allow the legitimate and democratic solution to the conflict, which is based on the principle of a popular plebiscite held under the supervision of the United Nations to express the wishes of the majority of the Saharawi people as regards either integration into Morocco or independence.  

I have to admit, Reverend Archbishop, that the Saharawi people and the hunger strikers for freedom count on you so much and on your efforts as a messenger of peace and justice. Thirty seven peaceful militants, who have been inspired by your seminal book, Making of a Peaceful Revolution (John Allen 1994), are seeking to implement its great ideas in Western Sahara. From behind the bars, they look forward to your playing a leading role before the international public opinion in the defence of the democratic right of the Saharawi people to self-determination and human rights in Western Sahara. In doing so, you will be honouring the memory of the freedom martyrs in South Africa, and contributing to eradicating colonialism from our beloved Africa.  

I would also like to avail myself of this happy opportunity to extend to you, on behalf of the Saharawi people, an invitation to visit the Saharawi refugee camps so that we may be able to convey to you in person, and through you to all free men and women in South Africa, our most sincere gratitude for the principled positions taken in support for our just cause. It will also be a chance for us to express in our way the same feelings expressed to you by a member of the Noble Prize upon your reception of the award, when he said, “as we hail Desmond Tutu, we are cherishing the memory of those who have died in South Africa for freedom, and who fought hatred and racism with love and peace.” We look forward to your visit, as it will be a significant step that will leave a good impression on the future of the just settlement in Western Sahara, peaceful resistance and respect for human rights and democracy.

Please accept, Reverend Archbishop, my highest regards and best wishes.

Mohamed Abdelaziz,

Secretary-General of the Frente POLISARIO

President of the Saharawi Republic". (SPS) 

010/090/100/ALG/TRD/MAZ 131437 sept 05 SPS

 

up