H.E.
Mr Gustavo Meza-Cuadra
Permanent Representative of the Republic of Peru to
the United Nations
President of the Security Council of the United Nations
President of the Security Council of the United Nations
New York, 2 April 2018
Excellency,
On behalf of the Frente POLISARIO, the legitimate representative of the people of Western Sahara, I am writing to you in your capacity as the President of the UN Security Council to place on record the following:
1. The
Frente POLISARIO refutes categorially all the utterly unfounded and false
allegations made by Morocco’s representative to the UN regarding the terms of
the UN-supervised ceasefire and the related military agreement no. 1 in Western
Sahara as well as the current situation on the ground in the Territory.
2. The
terms of the ceasefire of 1991 and the military agreement no. 1 of 1997, accepted
by both parties the Frente POLISARIO and Morocco, are unequivocal and leave no
room for tendentious interpretations. Furthermore, the United Nations Mission
for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) is present on the ground in
Western Sahara. Its mandate as established by the Security Council involves, inter
alia, monitoring and reporting on the situation regarding the ceasefire and
the related military agreement no. 1. MINURSO has not reported any violations
by the Frente POLISARIO of such a nature as alleged falsely by Morocco, a fact
that already puts into question the latter’s allegations and exposes its
ulterior motives.
3. Despite
the repeated delays of the self-determination referendum for which MINURSO was
established as well as Morocco’s well-documented obstructionism and blatant
defiance of UN authority and Security Council resolutions, for the past 27
years the Frente POLISARIO has been firmly committed to the cause of peace as a
strategic policy option. It has strictly respected the terms of the ceasefire
and the related military agreement no. 1, and has constructively engaged in the
UN peace process aimed to bring about a peaceful and just solution providing
for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.
4. It is
well known that it was Morocco that had sought to change the status quo by
constructing a road across its military wall and the buffer zone in Guerguerat area
in Western Sahara. The dangerous and provocative move, to which the Frente
POLISARIO had to respond at the time, was a clear breach of the ceasefire
agreement and the related military agreement no. 1, and it remains the root
cause of the current tension in the area.
5. It is
also well known that Morocco has rejected the deployment of a UN technical
mission as proposed by the UN Secretary-General to address the fundamental
questions related to the ceasefire and related agreements in response to the
call made by the Security Council in its resolution 2351 (2017), operative
paragraph 3. The Frente POLISARIO, which has already accepted the deployment of
the UN technical mission, calls on the Security Council to ensure the immediate
implementation of its resolution 2351 (2017) in its entirety. The Frente
POLISARIO also recalls that the current presence of some of its members in the Guerguerat
area is strictly civilian and non-military.
6. The
escalation of Morocco’s aggressive actions and rhetoric, in which the perpetrator presents itself as the victim, comes at a time
when the Security Council is due to consider the situation concerning Western
Sahara. It also takes place against the backdrop of the strongly expressed
intention of the UN Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy for Western
Sahara, Mr Horst Köhler, to relaunch the negotiating process between the two
parties as called for by Security Council resolutions. Apprehensive about the
outcome of the negotiations, Morocco has already been searching for excuses to
disengage from the UN peace process and its concomitant commitments.
7. Morocco’s
escalation is also due to the setbacks that it has
suffered recently at the hands of the European Court of Justice that ruled
against its illegal plunder of the natural resources of Western Sahara. The
strong position expressed by the African Union in its latest summit as regards
the urgent need for direct negotiations between the two parties to the conflict
in Western Sahara has also dealt a major blow to Morocco’s attempts to
neutralise Africa’s great contribution to peace efforts in its last
colony.
8. Morocco’s unfounded and false
allegations regarding the UN-supervised ceasefire and the current situation on
the ground in Western Sahara, therefore, are not more than a smokescreen designed deliberately to divert the attention of the Security
Council from the real issues that underlie the current stalemate. It is also a pre-emptive
move to forestall the outcome of the dynamic efforts deployed so far by the UN
Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Mr Köhler, with a view
to relaunching the political process and bringing the two parties back to the
negotiating table.
9. Recognising
its inability to impose by military force its colonial fait accompli in
the whole territory of Western Sahara and recently to change the status quo,
Morocco is desperately reaching out to the Security Council to ask for the
impossible, namely the illegal annexation of a Non-Self-Governing Territory
under the responsibility of the United Nations and over which Morocco has never
had any sovereignty.
10. Morocco’s
recent moves clearly represent another episode of its blackmail policy and defiant
behaviour, which unfortunately was not met by the necessary and robust response
from the Security Council. This includes, among other things, its opposition to
human rights monitoring within MINURSO mandate, expelling of the mission civilian
component, trying to change the status quo in the Guerguerat area, imposing that
MINURSO vehicles bear Moroccan number plates, affixing stamps on the passports of MINURSO staff members
upon entry to and exit from Western Sahara, and repeatedly defying the authority of MINURSO in
its mission area.
11. The Frente POLISARIO therefore
calls urgently on the Security Council to ensure that such diversionary tactics
do not distract it from the real issues that must be addressed for the negotiating
process between the two parties to advance towards its ultimate objective,
namely a peaceful and just solution providing for the self-determination of the
people of Western Sahara. The Frente
POLISARIO also calls on the Security Council to use its authority to urge
Morocco to engage seriously and constructively in the political process, to
respect strictly the terms of the ceasefire and the military agreement no. 1,
and to desist from taking any action that may increase tension in the region
and threaten its stability and security.
12. The
Frente POLISARIO would like to reiterate to the Security Council, the UN
Secretary-General, and his Personal Envoy for Western Sahara its firm commitment
to the terms of the ceasefire and the related military agreement no. 1. The
Frente POLISARIO also remains strongly committed to direct negotiations without
preconditions under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General and his Personal
Envoy for Western Sahara with a view to reaching a peaceful and just solution
that provides for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.
I would be most grateful if you would bring this
letter to the attention of the Members of the Security Council.
Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my
highest consideration.
Ahmed Boukhari
Representative of the Frente POLISARIO to the United
Nations
