US-Western Sahara Foundation sent a letter to the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, below, urging to call upon Morocco to release the seven Sahrawi human rights defenders arrested by Moroccan police as they arrived in Casablanca on October 8, 2009.
“These seven human rights advocates are known for their peaceful efforts to raise the unlawful and inhumane treatment of Sahrawi citizens in occupied Western Sahara as well as their support for the right to vote, specifically support for the long-promised referendum on self- determination on Western Sahara”, stated Suzanne Scholte and Carlos Wilson of US-WSF.
They added, that if the United States does not intervene with Morocco to immediately release the human rights defenders, that their lives will be in grave danger. Furthermore, their arbitrary arrest and secret detention will further stymie the efforts of the United Nations to resolve this conflict peacefully.
“While we acknowledge and appreciate the long-time friendship between the United States and Morocco, this friendship cannot be an excuse to allow Morocco to commit human rights violations against the Sahrawi people. Finally, we believe that the United States must show solid support for those who work peacefully for justice and self-determination through the rule of law and who renounce terror as a means to achieve own´s objectives,” noted Scholte and Wilson.
EU ‘ignoring Sahrawis’ wishes again’
The European Union meanwhile is being criticized for controversies over fishing in the waters off Western Sahara, misinterpreting the UN opinion on natural resources in Western Sahara, the Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW) reported.
In a statement this month, the EU Commission again omitted a central point from the UN opinion on natural resources in Western Sahara: the Sahrawis’ wishes.
“According to the legal adviser to the Secretary-General of the United Nations (12 February 2002) <...>, activities related to natural resources undertaken by an administering power in a non-self-governing territory are not illegal so long as they are not undertaken in disregard of the needs, interests and benefits of the people of that territory”, stated Mr. Joe Borg , European Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs.
The Commissioner’s argument is basically that the fishing in Western Sahara is allowed because they, and Morocco, know what is in the interests of the people of Western Sahara, and how well the people will benefit from financial contributions, the WSRW claims.
The NGO argues that EU keeps misinterpreting the Legal Opinion which actually does not refer to the “needs, interests and benefits”, as a criterion for legality, but “the interests and wishes of the people of Western Sahara.”
“The Sahrawi have a right to self-determination over their territory and its natural resources, meaning they have the right to decide on the future status of the territory and its possessions. Ignoring the Sahrawi people´s rights to self-determination, is exactly why the fisheries agreement is both in violation of international law and highly unethical”, said Sara Eyckmans of WSRW.
Phasing out phosphate imports
Some examples are available of world businesses turning their backs to Moroccan occupational rule.
An Australian fertilizer firm has announced a phasing out of phosphate imports from occupied Western Sahara. Norwatch recently wrote that the Norwegian Government´s pension fund was part owner in the company´s mother firm, Wesfarmers.
For at least 20 years, the Australian fertiliser firm Wesfarmers has been importing phosphate rock from Western Sahara through its subsidiary CSBP, regardless of green and HR protests in Australia.
Two weeks after Norwatch wrote about the imports of phosphate rock from Western Sahara, CSBP has announced that they are going to “reduce the company´s dependence on phosphate rock from Western Sahara”.
CSBP does open, however, the possibility that the imports will continue, albeit to a limited degree, depending on price and availability of alternative sources.
The trade with the phosphates is highly controversial, since it supports a violation of international law, and takes place in disregard of the wishes of the people of Western Sahara. Australia is one of the leading importers of this phosphate, an industry that is contributing to finance the Moroccan continued presence in the neighboring country, which it occupied in 1975.
