SPS OCCUPIED
TERRITORIES/MOROCCO/MEDIA Tamek declares that Polisario
remains the only alternative for Saharawi people
16.03.05
Rabat, 16/04/2005 (SPS) Saharawi human right activist and
ex-political prisoner, Ali Salem Tamek, recently confirmed in an
interview published by the Moroccan magazine, Tel-Quel, that Polisario
Front remains the only alternative Saharawi people chose, stressing
that the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is a reality on the
ground.
"The Saharawi State exists. We have a national government today, a
nation and a Member State in the African Union, recognised by 70
sovereign states", he answered a question by the journalist Driss
Bennani, who was trying to intimidate the activist on several occasions
"to push him to the defensive", he said in his introduction.
To Tamek the referendum "is the best democratic way that will allow the
Saharawi people to express themselves" freely on their destiny, and
thus resolve the last dossier of decolonisation in Africa.
Here is the complete text of the interview, published Friday on the web
page of the Moroccan magazine, Tel-Quel.
"Interview, Ali Salem Tamek.
Independence, what after?
Tel Quel- You are one of the
rare Saharawi activists who openly declare
their membership to Polisario. Paradoxically, you belong to a tribe
which is almost Berber, and which lives outside the disputed zone in
the Sahara...
Ali Salem Tamek- Then what? I
express a personal political opinion. And
I still believe that the referendum is the best democratic way that
will allow the Saharawi people express themselves. I am a member of
this people and I do not need to prove it historically, demographically
or culturally.
T.Q- However, during the UN
operations of identification, a sheikh of
Polisario refused to register you on the lists of the voters,
contesting your Saharawi origins!
A.T- That is true, but not that
superficial. The sheikh of Polisario
expressed reserves on me and my inscription was rejected like thousands
others inscriptions in the camps or in the Western Sahara. It is a
detail to which I do not attach so much importance. From a nationalist
point of view, the tribal considerations are a crime. I do not believe
in the tribe as a social organisation. It is an obsolete and exceeded
form of organisation. We believe in one and only Saharawi State, modern
and respectful of its citizens.
T.Q The international law, to
which you refer, identifies the State as
a territory, people and a will of common life. Polisario provides for
"refugees" on an Algerian ground with international assistance.
Consequently, where is the State you are talking about?
A.T- Polisario is a movement of
liberation which was internationally
distinguished as a unique case. It has, in the meantime and in a
difficult context, carried out a war of liberation and paid efforts in
the construction of the State. And I think it reached important stages
in this construction. As a proof on that, let’s see the intervention of
the American diplomat, James Baker, on an American TV Channel, where he
hailed "the successful experience of Polisario", stressing in
particular on the participation of the woman in the management of the
public affairs, achievements in education and public health. The
Saharawi State exists. We have a National Government, people and a
Member State in the African Union recognised by 70 sovereign states.
T.Q- Polisario "manages" today
the affairs of some 100.000 refugees
installed in few tens of square kilometres, surrounded by the Algerian
army. Will it be able, tomorrow, to control, alone without an
international assistance, 500.000 people, with all their demographic
and tribal complexities, in a space of 266.000 km2?
A.T- Do not forget that we live
now a situation of political
instability. If a State is set up, when Saharawis would obtain their
independence, a political plurality and civil society will push an
elite to emerge and be able to lead their people. Do not forget that
this movement had administrated and organised refugees parting from no
means, nothing. Today, it guarantees to its children a minimum of
stability. You know that the rate of illiteracy in the camps got close
to 0%? We have qualified cadres, formed everywhere in the world for the
management of the public affairs. Concerning the assistance, I think it
is normal that the international community supports refugees. With
regard to been "surrounded by the Algerian army", it is mere
propaganda. You have only to consult tens of HCR groups and journalists
who visit the camps every year.
T.Q- Don’t you think that if
the referendum options includes the
integration to Spain, many Saharawi young people would automatically
join it?
A.T- It is the first time I
hear a similar thing. Polisario Front is
the only existing alternative. Now, there is the personal will of
certain people, but that cannot in no case be the opinion of the
majority. Saharawi young people are not weary of the struggle, be
comforted!
T.Q- Why did you agree to
occupy an official post in a Mayoralty of a
Government to whom you context the legitimacy on the territory?
A.T- It is normal. Any state
with disputed legitimacy tries to
guarantee a minimum of rights to its citizens, to make diversion.
T.Q- You had only to refuse the
"diversion"...
A.T- I accepted this job
without giving up my principles. But you have
to know that things changed. I did not present a file to the Instance
of Fairness and Reconciliation (IER); I did not ask to return to my
function or to take profit of the social assistance card.
T.Q- Well this is what was
missing indeed... but tell me first. You
openly claim your membership to Polisario today, in the middle of El
Aaiun. Can your cousins claim for their ‘Moroccanness’ someday in
Tindouf?
A.T- I do not believe that
there is a freedom of expression in Morocco.
Or, how to explain the repression of the students’ movements in Rabat
or “the brakes” put by Moroccan authorities to the associations in the
Sahara. There are no sub-movements within Polisario to say that there
is a pro-Moroccan. It is possible to have differences of point of
views, but there is unanimity on the goal.
T.Q- Because military
repression does not tolerate differences in
opinion?
A.T- Because the camps are an
area of open life space. Because
Saharawis living there can freely move to Algeria, Mauritania or Spain.
Further, I invite you to go to the camps to see by yourself what’s
going on in there, as the journalist Ali Lmrabet did. 700 people came
from the camps, within the framework of the UN’s supervised families
visits to Morocco. None stayed there, all of them got back.
T.Q All the Moroccans returned
to Morocco too...
A.T- Of course! But I would
rather say that Saharawis returned to The
Western Sahara. They did so because their life conditions here
encourage them to return, the point is why would the others have
returned to what the Moroccan authorities call "the hell"?
T.Q- Don’t you have the
impression of over idealising Polisario? What
do you think of the misappropriation of the international assistance,
traffic of all kinds?
A.T- Polisario is a movement of
liberation managed by human beings. It
is thus normal to make mistakes or problems. But then, it is necessary
to ask explanations to the persons in charge who will answer you better
to these questions.
T.Q- What would you have to say
to king Mohammed VI, if you meet him
one day?
A.T- (Long silence and much of
hesitation) I would ask him to provide
the necessary guarantees that will make it possible for Saharawi people
to decide on their fate and to build a solid and democratic Maghreb
Arab union.
(Read original text in French on the net:
http://www.telquel-online.com/171/sujet2.shtml). “(SPS)
SAHARA
PRESS SERVICE