Polisario vraagt nu ook officieel om vervanging VN bemiddelaar
In een brief aan VN Secretaris-Generaal Ban Ki-Moon, heeft Frente Polisario's Secretaris-Generaal, Mohamed Abdelaziz, de VN officieel gevraagd om Peter van Walsum als bemiddelaar in het Saharaanse conflict te vervangen.
Sinds mei herhaalt de top van Frente Polisario het tegen iedereen die het horen wil: Van Walsum moet weg.
Maar tot voor kort was de enige organisatie die deze eis hard kon maken daar niet van op de hoogte gesteld: met name de VN, die ondertussen al twee keer had bekend gemaakt dat Polisario geen officiële aanvraag ter vervanging van Van Walsum had ingediend.
Observatoren kwalificeerden dit manoeuvre als een superieure vertragingstrategie: een proces dat niet naar wens verloopt rekken, en tegelijk toch laten uitschijnen dat men actie wil. Een methode die door beide conflictpartijen tot een kunstvorm verheven is.
Het is nu afwachten of de VN bereid zal worden gevonden om Polisario's verzoek in te willigen. Maar zelfs indien dit zou gebeuren, lijkt enige beweging in de Saharaanse kwestie weinig waarschijnlijk vooraleer de verkiezingen in de Verenigde Staten en Algerije achter de rug zijn.
Abdelaziz' briefBir lahlou, 04 August 2008
H.E Ban Ki-moon Secretary General of the United nations New York
Mister Secretary General,
Three months after the adoption by the Security Council of the resolution 1813 (2008) demanding the continuation of the negotiations between POLISARIO Front and the kingdom of Morocco with a view to reach a mutually acceptable political solution that guarantee self-determination for the people of Western Sahara, I would like to share with you our observations regarding the developments of the process of negotiation that the Security Council charged you to supervise.
I would like, first of all, to reiterate you POLISARIO Front’s support to the efforts that you deploy since your election as Secretary General, to reach a definitive solution to this problem of decolonisation on the basis of the international legality and conforming to the doctrine and practice of the United Nations in matters of decolonisation.
As it is constantly and clearly reaffirmed by the UN’s General Assembly and Security Council, through the years, the problem of the last territory under colonial occupation in the African continent can only find solution through the exercise by the people of this territory of their inalienable right to self-determination and independence as stated in the general Assembly’s resolution 1514 (XV).
I would secondly like to renew POLISARIO Front’s complete readiness to continue participating, with good faith, to the negotiations initiated by the Security Council under your authority, and renew its firm will to reach, with the kingdom of Morocco, a definitive settlement to this painful conflict that would enable the Saharawi people to freely decide over their future.
In this respect, I would like to express you POLISARIO Front’s astonishment and rejection of the statement, last April before the Security Council, declared by your Personal Envoy, Mr Peter Van Walsum, who radically and unacceptably detached himself from the traditional position of the United Nations on this problem of decolonization and thus from the international legality as consecrated by the UN’s pertinent resolutions.
This position contradicts the general line of your reports to the Security Council, including your report of April 14, 2008. It is even more surprising because the previous position adopted by the Personal Envoy had clearly excluded the possibility for the UN to support a referendum on self-determination that doesn’t include the option of independence.
By recommending the holding of the negotiations on the basis of the Moroccan project of autonomy, the Personal Envoy suggests to the Security Council, and through it to the international community, to recognise the fait accompli and thus recognise the sovereignty of Morocco on a territory that is listed by the UN as a Non-Self-Governing territory, which is occupied by force since 1975, while no State in the world recognizes such sovereignty to this date, as the Personal envoy well know.
By adopting a deliberately pro-Moroccan attitude that supports the position of Morocco that sees the solution only "within the framework of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the kingdom", the Personal Envoy abandons the impartiality that he must uphold and trample down the international legality, and consequently completely disqualifies himself from any future mediation in the negotiations between POLISARIO Front and Morocco.
I am confident, Mister Secretary General, that you will take the necessary decisions for the continuation of well organised negotiations that conform to the international legality and for the preservation of the rules of impartiality and fairness that characterises our Organisation, which responsibility towards the Saharawi people remains fully relevant.
By doing this, you will strengthen the position that has always been the UN’s towards the settlement of this question of decolonisation and reinforce the international legality as incarnated by the pertinent UN’s resolutions.
Best regards
Mohamed Abdelaziz Secretary General of POLISARIO Front and President of the Saharawi Republic.
Afrika's laatste kolonie Sinds 1975 wordt drie kwart van de Westelijke Sahara bezet door Marokko. Een groot deel van de oorspronkelijke bevolking leeft vandaag nog steeds in vluchtelingenkampen in Algerije. Zij die in het thuisland achterbleven worden door de Marokkaanse bezetters onderworpen aan ernstige mensenrechtenschendingen. Al meer dan 40 jaar wachten de Saharawi op de uitoefening van hun legitiem recht op zelfbeschikking.
Bij ons weten het eerste collectieve werk over de juridische aspecten van het conflict omtrent de Westelijke Sahara. Beschikbaar in het Engels en Frans. Bestel het hier.
Sinds 1975 wordt drie kwart van de Westelijke Sahara bezet door Marokko. Een groot deel van de oorspronkelijke bevolking leeft vandaag nog steeds in vluchtelingenkampen in Algerije. Zij die in het thuisland achterbleven worden door de Marokkaanse bezetters onderworpen aan ernstige mensenrechtenschendingen. Al meer dan 40 jaar wachten de Saharawi op de uitoefening van hun legitiem recht op zelfbeschikking.
