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PRESS RELEASE............. |
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19 Hormead
Road, London |
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PRESS RELEASE............. |
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19 Hormead
Road, London |
The POWs
must be released in accordance with the UN-OAU Peace
Plan. Media and
independent observers must have free access to the
Sahrawi occupied territories. Morocco is
trying to cynically take advantage of the post-September
11th international climate by requesting the immediate
liberation of the Moroccan prisoners of war (POWs) held by
the Frente POLISARIO, without any thing to offer in
exchange. By doing this, Morocco is doing two things
: - first, by
finally recognizing the existence of these Moroccan soldiers
and their status as POWs, it acknowledges the existence of
an international war between it and the State of Western
Sahara (the Sahrawi Republic) in stark contradiction with
its claim that Western Sahara is "Moroccan" ; - second, by
trying to recuperate the POWs now, outside the scope of the
UN-OAU Peace Plan, which includes a special provision for
the exchange of POWs during the transition period before the
referendum, Morocco shows once more no will to respect the
terms of the Peace Plan and its commitment to the
referendum. Since the
beginning of the conflict, in 1975, the Frente POLISARIO has
released 900 Moroccan POWs. By doing so, it shows its
commitment to peace. Since 1975, it has always - as it is
confirmed by different NGOs' missions, including the ICRC
(International Committee of the Red Cross) - insured decent
conditions of living to the Moroccan POWs, despite the hard
conditions resulting from the Moroccan military invasion,
the exile, the war and other consequences. On the contrary,
Morocco continues to deny the existence of the Sahrawi POWs,
disappeared and detainees. It has been even denying the
existence of its own POWs for a very long time, and it was
only recently that it has raised this issue. Indeed, in
1989, Rabat refused to welcome 200 Moroccan POWs, who had
been liberated unilaterally by the Frente POLISARIO. Morocco
accepted their repatriation eight years later, in 1997 !
Obviously, the
Moroccan PoWs question is a humanitarian preoccupation, but
how about the fate of the all Sahrawi people who, for the
past 27 years, have been enduring a harsh life, as a result
of the Moroccan aggression of their country, and who
continue to live in precarious and painful conditions,
divided between the occupied territories and the refugee
camps ?! Since 1975, Morocco violates the human rights in
Western Sahara : it has used napalm bombs against civilians,
forced many thousands of people to flee their country,
caused the disappearance of hundreds of others, and
practiced all kinds of intimidation. More recently, 131
Sahrawi detainees has observed in the Lak'hal prison of El
Aaiun (Western Sahara) a hunger strike from 24th December
2001 to 17 January 2002 to denounce the Moroccan human
rights abuses. To only focus on the issue of Moroccan POWs,
and at the same time to ignore the Sahrawi POWs, the
repression committed against the Sahrawi civil population
and the inhumane conditions of the detainees in the occupied
territories, is an unfair (political) attitude which only
aims to legitimate the Moroccan occupation of Western
Sahara. It is worth
recalling that the issue of Moroccan POWs is treated by one
of the 1991 UN-OAU Peace Plan provisions. Therefore, it is
not honest to ignore provisions and only implement the ones
that serve the interests of Morocco. It must be recalled
also that the exchange of POWs intervene after the war ends.
Now the war has not ended yet. Of course a cease-fire is
observed since 6 September 1991, but there is no peace
because the war can resume at any time. The war will end
completely when the people of the last colony in Africa
&endash; Western Sahara - exert their right to
self-determination through a free, fair and transparent
referendum, according to the UN-OAU Peace Plan accepted in
1991 by Morocco and the Frente POLISARIO, and endorsed by
the UN Security Council and the General Assembly the same
year. UN must achieve the implementation of this Peace Plan
and impose the holding of the referendum either Morocco
agree or not, because it is its responsibility to complete
the process it has started in 1991. We call upon
the international community, particularly the British
opinion and Her Majesty's Government to stand with justice
and support the referendum of self-determination in Western
Sahara so that the POWs and detainees of both parties could
be released in accordance with the UN-OAU Peace Plan
provisions. Morocco must free all Sahrawi political
prisoners, including the Sahrawi disappeared. It must stop
terror and repression in the occupied territories. Media,
human rights organisations and independent observers must
have free access to the Sahrawi occupied territories.
London, Friday
1st February, 2002 Fadel
Ismail
UN
must impose the referendum either Morocco agree or
not.
Head of Western Sahara (POLISARIO) Mission for UK &
Ireland
