United Nations visiting mission to Spanish Sahara
Encyclopedia
To assist in the decolonization
process of the Spanish Sahara
(now Western Sahara
), a colony
in North Africa
, the United Nations
General Assembly
in 1975 dispatched a visiting mission to the territory and the surrounding countries, in accordance with its resolution 3292 (December 13, 1974).
, UN ambassador of the Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
; accompanying him were Marta Jiménez Martinez, a Cuba
n diplomat, and Manouchehr Pishva, from Iran
.
It toured Spanish Sahara on May 12-19, 1975, after initially having been denied entry by Spanish authorities. On May 8-12 and again on May 20-22, it visited Madrid, Spain; and from May 28 to June 1, it toured the neighbouring countries Mauritania, Morocco and Algeria
; in Algeria - which supported the Polisario since late 1974 - it also met with leaders of the Polisario Front.
The mission estimated the largest demonstration they witnessed, "organized by the Frente Polisario", in El-Aaiun on May 13, 1975, to have consisted of 15,000 people - significant, since a 1974 census by the Spanish authorities had set the total population at just below 75,000 people.
of the International Court of Justice
on October 16. The court argued that while there were historical ties between both Mauritania and Morocco to the tribes and lands of Spanish Sahara, neither country's claim sufficed to grant it ownership of the territory. The court also ruled that the Sahrawis possessed a right of self-determination, meaning that any solution to the problem of the status of Spanish Sahara had to be approved by the Sahrawi public. (A position regarded as supportive of the referendum.) As a response to the ICJ verdict, King Hassan II of Morocco announced within hours of the release of the court's findings, that he would organize a Green March
into Spanish Sahara to assume ownership of the territory.
Decolonization
Decolonization refers to the undoing of colonialism, the unequal relation of polities whereby one people or nation establishes and maintains dependent Territory over another...
process of the Spanish Sahara
Spanish Sahara
Spanish Sahara was the name used for the modern territory of Western Sahara when it was ruled as a territory by Spain between 1884 and 1975...
(now Western Sahara
Western Sahara
Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...
), a colony
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
in North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
, the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
General Assembly
United Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
in 1975 dispatched a visiting mission to the territory and the surrounding countries, in accordance with its resolution 3292 (December 13, 1974).
Purpose of the visiting mission
The mission intended to investigate the political situation in the Spanish Sahara, as well as the conflicting claims to the territory:- SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
had administered the Spanish Sahara since the Berlin Congress in 1884, but had announced it was pulling out of the territory. A MadridMadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
-backed political party, the Partido de Unión Nacional Saharaui (PUNS), argued for a gradual transition to independence and demanded privileged relations between Spain and a future Western Sahara. - The Polisario FrontPolisario FrontThe POLISARIO, Polisario Front, or Frente Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro is a Sahrawi rebel national liberation movement working for the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco...
, an indigenousIndigenous peoples of the AmericasThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
anti-colonialColonialismColonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
organization that was waging a guerrilla warGuerrilla warfareGuerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
against Spanish forces since 1973, claimed the country for its inhabitants, the Sahrawis, and demanded immediate independence. - MoroccoMoroccoMorocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
invoked historical ties between its royal family and the Sahrawi tribes, claiming the territory as its Southern ProvincesSouthern ProvincesThe Southern Provinces or Moroccan Sahara are the terms used by Morocco for Western Sahara, in reference to the part of Western Sahara that lies to the west of the Moroccan Berm...
. - MauritaniaMauritaniaMauritania is a country in the Maghreb and West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest...
referred to common ethnicity (of Sahrawis and MoorsMoorsThe description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
) and historical territorial connections, to claim it as a northern part of the country; Tiris al-GharbiyyaTiris al-GharbiyyaTiris al-Gharbiyya was the Mauritanian name for the area of Western Sahara under its control between 1975 and 1979.-Background:...
. - The United Nations had since 1966 demanded that a referendumReferendumA referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
among the native population should determine the future status of the territory.
The mission
The mission was composed of three members. Its head was Simeon AkéSimeon Aké
Simeon Aké was an Ivorian politician.Simeon Aké studied law in the University of Dakar in Senegal, and gained his certificate in 1957. Aké began his political career as Director of Protocol of State in from 1959–60, when the Ivory Coast gained independence...
, UN ambassador of the Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
Côte d'Ivoire
The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...
; accompanying him were Marta Jiménez Martinez, a Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n diplomat, and Manouchehr Pishva, from Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
.
It toured Spanish Sahara on May 12-19, 1975, after initially having been denied entry by Spanish authorities. On May 8-12 and again on May 20-22, it visited Madrid, Spain; and from May 28 to June 1, it toured the neighbouring countries Mauritania, Morocco and Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
; in Algeria - which supported the Polisario since late 1974 - it also met with leaders of the Polisario Front.
Spanish Sahara
In the territory, the mission encountered opposing demonstrations by the Polisario Front and the PUNS, both demanding independence, but differing in their approach to the Spanish authorities. Tony Hodges writes:- During its visit to the territory," [the UN mission] reported, "the mission did not encounter any groups supporting the territorial claims of neighbouring countries and consequently had no say of estimating the extent of their support, which appeared to be submerged by the massive demonstrations in favour of independence.
-
- and
- Although the mission met privately with a number of groups in the northern region representing PUNS," the UN envoys noted, "it did not witness any separate public demonstrations in support of that party. This was in marked contrast to the Frente Polisario, whose supporters from the onset appeared en masse carrying the flags and emblems of their movement. It was not until the mission visited the southern region that PUNS, following the example of its opponents, organized mass demonstrations to greet the mission at each place visited."
-
- and
- At Villa Cisneros and other settlements in the south, Polisario and PUNS supporters staged separate, rival demonstrations, but "although both groups mustered a large number of supporters," the mission noted, "the preponderance was clearly in favour of the Frente Polisario." The placards of Polisario and PUNS were "similar," for "both demanded complete independence for the territory and opposed integration with neighbouring countries."
-
- and
- Owing to the large measure of cooperation which it received from the Spanish authorities, the Mission was able, despite the shortness of its stay in the Territory, to visit virtually all the main population centers and to ascertain the views of the ovverwhelming majority of their inhabitants. At every place visited, the Mission was met by mass political demonstrations and had numerous private meetings with representatives of every section of the Saharan community. From all these, it became evident to the Mission that there was an overwhelming consensus among Saharans within the Territory in favour of independence and opposing integration with any neighbouring country [...] The Mission believes, in the light of what it witnessed in the Territory, especially the mass demonstrations of support for one movement, the Frente Polisario [...] that its visit served as a catalyst to bring into the open political forces and pressures which had previously been largely submerged. It was all the more significant to the Mission that this came as a surprise to the Spanish authorities who, until then, had only been partly aware of the profound political awakening of the population.
The mission estimated the largest demonstration they witnessed, "organized by the Frente Polisario", in El-Aaiun on May 13, 1975, to have consisted of 15,000 people - significant, since a 1974 census by the Spanish authorities had set the total population at just below 75,000 people.
Surrounding nations
- In Mauritania, the mission met with President Moktar Ould DaddahMoktar Ould DaddahMoktar Ould Daddah was the President of Mauritania from 1960, when his country gained its independence from France, to 1978, when he was deposed in a military coup d'etat.- Background :...
in NouakchottNouakchott-Government:The town was first divided into districts in 1973. First it was divided into four. From 1986, the city has been split into nine districts.* Arafat* Dar Naim* El Mina* Ksar* Riad* Sebkha* Tevragh-Zeina* Teyarett* Toujounine...
, where he reiterated his demand for the integration of the territory into Mauritania. The mission also travelled to the northern towns of AtarAtarAtar is the Zoroastrian concept of holy fire, sometimes described in abstract terms as "burning and unburning fire" or "visible and invisible fire" ....
, Zouerate, Bir MoghreinBir MoghreinBir Moghrein is a city in Tiris Zemmour region of northern Mauritania, close to the border with Western Sahara....
, and NouadhibouNouadhibouNouadhibou is the second largest city in Mauritania and serves as a major commercial centre. The city itself has about 75,000 inhabitants expanding to over 90,000 in the larger metropolitan area. It is situated on a 40-mile peninsula or headland called Ras Nouadhibou, Cap Blanc, or Cabo Blanco, of...
, where they witnessed "large rival demonstrations" by the Parti du Peuple MauritanienParti du Peuple MauritanienMauritanian People's Party was the sole legal party of Mauritania from 1961 to 1978. It was headed by President Moktar Ould Daddah....
(PPM; Ould Daddah's ruling party) and the Polisario Front.
- In FesFes, MoroccoFes or Fez is the second largest city of Morocco, after Casablanca, with a population of approximately 1 million . It is the capital of the Fès-Boulemane region....
, King Hassan II repeated the Moroccan claim to the territory, and the mission witnessed "large pro-annexationAnnexationAnnexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...
demonstrations in towns in the far south of the country, near the Western Saharan border" that "left in no doubt [...] the depth of popular support in Morocco for Hassan's campaign of 'reunification,' as well as his governments determination to achieve its objectives. The mission was informed that Morocco would not accept the inclusion of independence among the options to be put to the Western Saharans in a referendum. The only acceptable question was: 'Do you want to remain under the authority of Spain or to rejoin Morocco?'"
- In Algeria, PresidentPresident of AlgeriaThe President of Algeria is the head of state and chief executive of Algeria, as well as the Commander-in-Chief of the Algerian armed forces.-History of the office:...
Houari Boumedienne stated that "Algeria had no interest in Western Sahara other than to see the Sahrawi's right to self-determination respected". The mission also visited the Sahrawi communities in TindoufTindoufTindouf is the main town in Tindouf Province, Algeria, close to the Mauritanian and Moroccan borders. The region is considered of strategic significance, and it houses Algerian military bases. Since 1975, it also contains several Sahrawi refugee camps operated by the Polisario Front a guerrilla...
, Oum el-Assel and Hassi AbdallahHassi AbdallahHassi Abdallah is a village and rural commune in Mauritania....
in Algeria, where they "were met by thousands of pro-Polisario demonstrators" and were shown Spanish officers of the Tropas NómadasTropas NómadasThe Tropas Nómadas were an auxiliary regiment to the colonial army in Spanish Sahara , from the 1930s until the end of the Spanish presence in the territory in 1975...
, held as prisoners-of-war by Polisario forces. Polisario General-Secretary El-Ouali Mustapha SayedEl-Ouali Mustapha SayedEl-Ouali Mustapha Sayed was a Sahrawi nationalist leader, co-founder and second Secretary-General of the Polisario Front, & also the first President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic....
stated that "a referendum was unnecessary since it was now evident that the majority of Saharawis wanted independence, but [...] said that that they would accept one, if the UN insisted, on condition that the Spanish administration had first been withdrawn and replaced by a 'national' administration, that all Spanish troops had been withdrawn and replaced by Polisario soldiers under UN and Arab League guarantees, and that all refugees had been allowed to return to the territory".
Consequences of the mission report
The mission presented its report to the United Nations on October 15, 1975. The results of the investigation were cited especially by the Polisario Front and its Algerian backers as supportive of their argument, but the debate was largely submerged by the presentation of the opinionInternational Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on Western Sahara
One of the main functions of the International Court of Justice is to provide Advisory Opinions - non-binding legal interpretations admitted by United Nations organs. In the summer of 1975, the court considered two questions regarding the disputed territory of Western Sahara...
of the International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
on October 16. The court argued that while there were historical ties between both Mauritania and Morocco to the tribes and lands of Spanish Sahara, neither country's claim sufficed to grant it ownership of the territory. The court also ruled that the Sahrawis possessed a right of self-determination, meaning that any solution to the problem of the status of Spanish Sahara had to be approved by the Sahrawi public. (A position regarded as supportive of the referendum.) As a response to the ICJ verdict, King Hassan II of Morocco announced within hours of the release of the court's findings, that he would organize a Green March
Green March
The Green March was a strategic mass demonstration in November 1975, coordinated by the Moroccan government, to force Spain to hand over the disputed, autonomous semi-metropolitan Spanish Province of Sahara to Morocco.-Background:...
into Spanish Sahara to assume ownership of the territory.
UN General Assembly archive number
The mission's final report is archived in the General Assembly Official Records.- United Nations Visiting Mission to Spanish Sahara, 1975, General Assembly, 30th Session, Supplement 23, UN DocumentA/10023/Rev.
See also
- Spanish SaharaSpanish SaharaSpanish Sahara was the name used for the modern territory of Western Sahara when it was ruled as a territory by Spain between 1884 and 1975...
- Western SaharaWestern SaharaWestern Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...
- History of Western SaharaHistory of Western SaharaThe history of Western Sahara can be traced back to the times of Carthaginian explorer Hanno the Navigator in the 5th century BC. Though few historical records are left from that period, Western Sahara's modern history has its roots linked to some nomadic groups such as the Sanhaja group and the...
- Green MarchGreen MarchThe Green March was a strategic mass demonstration in November 1975, coordinated by the Moroccan government, to force Spain to hand over the disputed, autonomous semi-metropolitan Spanish Province of Sahara to Morocco.-Background:...
- International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on Western SaharaInternational Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on Western SaharaOne of the main functions of the International Court of Justice is to provide Advisory Opinions - non-binding legal interpretations admitted by United Nations organs. In the summer of 1975, the court considered two questions regarding the disputed territory of Western Sahara...
External links
- Western Sahara Online Pro-Sahrawi page with excerpts from the visiting mission's report.
Further reading
- Tony Hodges (1983), Western Sahara: The Roots of a Desert War, Lawrence Hill Books (ISBN 0-88208-152-7)
- Anthony G. Pazzanita and Tony Hodges (1994), Historical Dictionary of Western Sahara, Scarecrow Press (ISBN 0-8108-2661-5)