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In 1884 Spain claimed a [[protectorate]] over the coast from [[Cape Bojador]] to [[Cap Blanc]]. Later, the Spanish extended their area of control. In 1958 Spain joined the previously separate districts of [[Saguia el-Hamra]] (in the north) and [[Río de Oro]] (in the south) to form the province of [[Spanish Sahara]].
In 1884 Spain claimed a [[protectorate]] over the coast from [[Cape Bojador]] to [[Cap Blanc]]. Later, the Spanish extended their area of control. In 1958 Spain joined the previously separate districts of [[Saguia el-Hamra]] (in the north) and [[Río de Oro]] (in the south) to form the province of [[Spanish Sahara]].


Raids and rebellions by the [[Indigenous peoples of Africa|indigenous]] [[Saharan]] population kept the Spanish forces out of much of the territory for a long time. [[Ma al-Aynayn]] the Saharan pro-Moroccan caïd of Tindouf and Smara named by the [[List of rulers of Morocco|Moroccan]] sultan started an uprising against the [[France|French]] in the 1910s, at a time when [[France]] had expanded its influence and control in North-West Africa, he died in the same year and his son [[El Hiba]] succeded him. French forces defeated him when he tried to conquer [[Marrakesh]], and in retaliation destroyed the holy city of [[Smara]] in 1913{{citation needed|date=August 2011}}. Not until the second destruction of Smara in 1934{{citation needed|date=August 2011}}, by joint Spanish and French forces, did the territory finally become subdued. [[Ifni War|Another uprising in 1956 - 1958]], initiated by the [[Moroccan Army of Liberation]], led to heavy fighting, but eventually the Spanish forces regained control, again with French aid. However, unrest simmered, and in 1967 the [[Harakat Tahrir]] arose to challenge Spanish rule peacefully. After the events of the [[Zemla Intifada]] in 1970, when Spanish police destroyed the organization and "[[disappeared]]" its founder, [[Muhammad Bassiri]], Sahrawi nationalism again took a militant turn.
Raids and rebellions by the [[Indigenous peoples of Africa|indigenous]] [[Saharan]] population kept the Spanish forces out of much of the territory for a long time. [[Ma al-Aynayn]] the Saharan pro-Moroccan caïd of Tindouf and Smara named by the [[List of rulers of Morocco|Moroccan]] sultan started an uprising against the [[France|French]] in the 1910s, at a time when [[France]] had expanded its influence and control in North-West Africa, he died in the same year and his son [[El Hiba]] succeded him. French forces defeated him, when he tried to conquer [[Marrakesh]], and in retaliation destroyed the holy city of [[Smara]] in 1913.{{citation needed|date=August 2011}} Not until the second destruction of Smara in 1934,{{citation needed|date=August 2011}} by joint Spanish and French forces, did the territory finally become subdued. [[Ifni War|Another uprising in 1956 - 1958]], initiated by the [[Moroccan Army of Liberation]], led to heavy fighting, but eventually the Spanish forces regained control, again with French aid. However, unrest simmered, and in 1967 the [[Harakat Tahrir]] arose to challenge Spanish rule peacefully. After the events of the [[Zemla Intifada]] in 1970, when Spanish police destroyed the organization and "[[disappeared]]" its founder, [[Muhammad Bassiri]], Sahrawi nationalism again took a militant turn.


===Conception of the Polisario Front===
===Conception of the Polisario Front===

Revision as of 08:56, 1 January 2012

Western Sahara conflict

Gathering of Saharawi troops, near Tifariti (Western Sahara), celebrating the 32nd anniversary ot the Polisario Front (2005).
Date1975 –present
Location
Western Sahara, Morocco, Mauritania
Result
Belligerents
 Morocco
 Mauritania (1975–1979)
 France (1977-78)		 Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Polisario Front
 Algeria (1976)
 Libya (1975-1984)
Commanders and leaders
Morocco Hassan II
Morocco Ahmed Dlimi
Morocco Abdelaziz Bennani
Mauritania Mokhtar Ould Daddah
MauritaniaMustafa Ould Salek
MauritaniaMohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah
France Valéry Giscard d'Estaing		 Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Mohamed Abdelaziz
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed †
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Lahbib Ayoub
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Brahim Ghali
Algeria Houari Boumediène (1976)
Libya Muammar Gaddafi (1975-84)
Strength
Morocco: 30,000 (1976)[1] - 150,000 (1988)[2]
Mauritania: 3,000[3]-5,000[1] (1976) - 18,000 (1978)[4]		 5,000 (1976)[5]
Casualties and losses

Morocco: 7,000[6], - 15,000 soldiers killed [citation needed]; 2,155[7] - 2,300 captured[8]


Mauritania: 2,000 soldiers killed[9]		 1,000[citation needed] - 4,000 combatants killed[6]; 200 captured[citation needed]

Civilian Casualties:
3,000 killed (Eckhardt,1985)[10], 650 missing.[11]
18-38 killed; 173-738 injured (2010 protests)

40,000 (1976)[12] - 80,000 (1977)[13] refugees
Part of a series on the
Western Sahara conflict
Background
Regions
Politics
Clashes
Issues
Peace process

The Western Sahara conflict or the Polisario Front dispute for Independence is an ongoing conflict, developed from past armed confrontation between the Polisario Front and Morocco into current unarmed civil campaigns of Sahrawi people to gain independence for Western Sahara. The conflict erupted after the withdrawal of Spain from the Spanish Sahara in accordance with the Madrid Accords. The Polisario Front, backed by Algeria and Libya engaged into a 16 year war against Mauritania and Morocco. In 1979, Mauritania withdrew from the conflict and a cease-fire agreement was reached with Morocco in 1991, with most of the territory is under Moroccan control.

The conflict reemerged as the Independence Intifada in 2005, a Saharawi Polisario activist coinage for a series of disturbances, demonstrations and riots that broke out in May 2005 in the Moroccan-held parts of Western Sahara. In late 2010, the protests re-erupted in Gdeim Izik camp in Western Sahara. While the protests were initially peaceful, they were later marked by clashes between civilians and security forces, resulting in dozens of causalties. Another series of protests began on 26 February 2011, as a reaction to the failure of police to prevent anti-Sahrawi looting in the city of Dakhla, Western Sahara, and blossomed into protests across the territory. The protests were related to the earlier Gdeim Izik protest camp, the previous fall, which had resulted in violence between Sahrawi activists and Moroccan security forces and supporters. 2011 protests largely dimmed by May 2011.

To date, large parts of Western Sahara are controlled by the Moroccan Government, and related as southern Moroccan provinces, whereas some 20-25% of the Western Sahara territory are controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), the Polisario controlled state with limited recognition. Issues of mutual recognition, establishment of the Sahrawi state and solution to the Sahrawi refugees problem are among the key issues of the Western Sahara peace process.

Background

Spanish Sahara

Main article: Spanish Sahara

In 1884 Spain claimed a protectorate over the coast from Cape Bojador to Cap Blanc. Later, the Spanish extended their area of control. In 1958 Spain joined the previously separate districts of Saguia el-Hamra (in the north) and Río de Oro (in the south) to form the province of Spanish Sahara.

Raids and rebellions by the indigenous Saharan population kept the Spanish forces out of much of the territory for a long time. Ma al-Aynayn the Saharan pro-Moroccan caïd of Tindouf and Smara named by the Moroccan sultan started an uprising against the French in the 1910s, at a time when France had expanded its influence and control in North-West Africa, he died in the same year and his son El Hiba succeded him. French forces defeated him, when he tried to conquer Marrakesh, and in retaliation destroyed the holy city of Smara in 1913.[citation needed] Not until the second destruction of Smara in 1934,[citation needed] by joint Spanish and French forces, did the territory finally become subdued. Another uprising in 1956 - 1958, initiated by the Moroccan Army of Liberation, led to heavy fighting, but eventually the Spanish forces regained control, again with French aid. However, unrest simmered, and in 1967 the Harakat Tahrir arose to challenge Spanish rule peacefully. After the events of the Zemla Intifada in 1970, when Spanish police destroyed the organization and "disappeared" its founder, Muhammad Bassiri, Sahrawi nationalism again took a militant turn.

Conception of the Polisario Front

In 1971 a group of young Sahrawi students in the universities of Morocco began organizing what came to be known as The Embryonic Movement for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro. After attempting in vain to gain backing from several Arab governments, including both Algeria and Morocco, but only drawing faint notices of support from Libya and Mauritania, the movement eventually relocated to Spanish-controlled Western Sahara to start an armed rebellion.

The beginnings of armed struggle

The Polisario Front was formally constituted on 10 May 1973 in the Mauritanian city of Zouirate, [14] with the express intention of militarily forcing an end to Spanish colonization. Its first Secretary General was El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed. On 20 May he led the Khanga raid, Polisario's first armed action,[citation needed] in which a Spanish post manned by a team of Tropas Nomadas (Sahrawi-staffed auxiliary forces) was overrun and rifles seized. Polisario then gradually gained control over large swaths of desert countryside, and its power grew from early 1975 when the Tropas Nomadas began deserting to the Polisario, bringing weapons and training with them. At this point, Polisario's manpower included perhaps 800 men, but they were backed by a larger network of supporters. A UN visiting mission headed by Simeon Aké that was conducted in June 1975 concluded that Sahrawi support for independence (as opposed to Spanish rule or integration with a neighbouring country) amounted to an "overwhelming consensus" and that the Polisario Front was by far the most powerful political force in the country.[citation needed]

Conflict

=Western Sahara War

The Western Sahara War was an armed conflict, lated between 1975 - 1991, primarily between the Polisario Front and Morocco. The conflict erupted after the withdrawal of Spain from the Spanish Sahara, in accordance with the Madrid Accords, by which it gave administrative control of the territory to Morocco and Mauritania. The Polisario Front, backed by Algeria and Libya desired to establish an independent state in the territory, successively fought Mauritania and Morocco. In 1979, Mauritania withdrew from the conflict and a cease-fire agreement was reached with Morocco in 1991. The war resulted in 14,000-21,000 fatalities, and some 40,000-80,000 Sahrawi refugees, housed to date in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf province of Algeria.

Independence Intifada

The Independence Inttifada was a Saharawi Polisario activist coinage for a series of disturbances, demonstrations and riots that broke out in May 2005 in the Moroccan-held parts of Western Sahara. This event has also been called "The El-Aaiun Intifada" . International coverage of the disturbances has been limited because restrictions placed by the Moroccan authorities on international journalists, and Moroccan official sources have downplayed the events.

Gdeim Izik and 2011 protests

Main articles: Gdeim Izik protest camp and 2011 Sahrawi protests

The Gdeim Izik protest camp was established in Western Sahara on 9 October 2010 and lasted into November, with related incidents occurring in the aftermath of its dismantlement on 8 November 2010. While protests were initially peaceful, they were later marked by clashes between civilians and security forces, ending with dozens killed and hundreds injured.

In 2011, new protests erupted since 26 February, as a reaction to the failure of police to prevent anti-Sahrawi looting in the city of Dakhla, Western Sahara, and blossomed into protests across the territory. They were related to the Gdeim Izik protest camp in Western Sahara established the previous fall, which had resulted in violence between Sahrawi activists and Moroccan security forces and supporters. The protests also purportedly drew inspiration from the Arab Spring and successful revolts in Tunisia and Egypt,[15] The 2011 protests dimmed by May 2011.

Western Sahara peace process

Further information: MINURSO, Baker plan, Settlement plan, Manhasset negotiations, and Moroccan Initiative for Western Sahara

Current situation

Polisario controlled areas

Main articles: Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and Sahrawi refugee camps

The Polisario controlls about 20-25% of the Western Sahara territory,[16] as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR'), which is a partially recognised state that claims sovereignty over the entire territory of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony. SADR was proclaimed by the Polisario Front on February 27, 1976, in Bir Lehlu, Western Sahara. Polisario calls the territories under its control the Liberated Territories or the Free Zone, while Morocco controls and administers the rest of the disputed territory and calls these lands its Southern Provinces. The SADR government considers the Moroccan-held territory occupied territory, while Morocco considers the much smaller SADR held territory to be a buffer zone.[17]

In addition, the Polisario have a full autonomous control of the Sahrawi refugee camps. The refugee camps were set up in the Tindouf Province, Algeria in 1975-76 for Sahrawi refugees, fleeing from Moroccan forces, who advanced through Western Sahara during the Western Sahara War. With most refugees still living in the camps, the refugee situation is among the most protracted ones worldwide.[18][19] Most affairs and camp life organization is run by the refugees themselves, with little outside interference.[20]

The Western Sahara Berm

Main article: Moroccan Wall

The Berm of Western Sahara (Moroccan Wall) is an approximately 2,700 km-long defensive structure, mostly a sand wall, running through Western Sahara and the southeastern portion of Morocco. It de-facto acts as a separation barrier between the Moroccan-controlled areas and the Polisario-controlled section of the territory (SADR), that lies along its eastern and southern border. According to maps from MINURSO[21] or the UNHCR,[22] part of the wall extends several kilometers into internationally recognized Mauritanian territory. The Wall is often related as an aparteid wall, depreiving the Sahrawis of their sovereign rights and a humanitarian disaster.

Human rights in Western Sahara

Main article: Human rights in Western Sahara

The Western Sahara conflict has resulted in severe human rights abuses, most notably the aerial bombardments with Napalm & White phosphorus of the Sahrawi refugee camps, the consequently exodus of tens of thousands of Sahrawi civilians from the country, and the forced expropriation and expulsion of tens of thousands of Moroccan civilians by the Algerian government from Algeria in reaction to the Green March, as well as violations of human rights and serious breaches of the Geneva convention by the Polisario Front, the Moroccan government and the Algerian government.[23]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "With the Polisario Front of Sahara". MERIP reports, JSTOR. 1976. Retrieved 06-08-2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  2. ^ Lewis, Paul (31-08-1988). "Sahara foes move to end their war". NY Times. Retrieved 13-08-2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  3. ^ "Marruecos incrementa su presencia en Mauritania". El País. 21-07-1977. Retrieved 11-09-2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help) Template:Es icon
  4. ^ Jose Ramón Diego Aguirre, Guerra en el Sáhara, Istmo, Colección Fundamentos, Vol. 124, 1991, Page 193
  5. ^ "North Africa: Shadow war in the Sahara". Time. 03-01-1977. Retrieved 13-08-2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  6. ^ a b "The Sahara War 1975-1991". OnWar.com. 16-12-2000. Retrieved 06-08-2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  7. ^ "Western Sahara, the facts". New Internationalist Issue 297. 01-12-1997. Retrieved 01-10-2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  8. ^ "El misterio de la guerra del Sáhara". El País. 10-09-2006. Retrieved 06-08-2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help) Template:Es icon
  9. ^ J. David Singer, & Melvin Small (1982). Resort to Arms: International and Civil Wars, 1816-1980. Beverly Hills: Sage publications inc. ISBN 0803917775.
  10. ^ Leger Sivard, Ruth (1987). World Military and Social Expenditures 12th ed. (1987-88). Washington D.C.: World priorities. ISBN 0-918281-05-9. {{cite book}}: line feed character in |title= at position 39 (help) War statistics table by William G. Eckhardt.
  11. ^ Project Disappeared: Western Sahara
  12. ^ Asistencia en favor de las víctimas saharauis. Revista Internacional de la Cruz Roja, 1, pp 83-83 (1976) Template:Es icon
  13. ^ Western Sahara, Morocco and Algeria: Sahrawi refugees stateless for three decades Open Society Foundations
  14. ^ http://www.telquel-online.com/210/maroc3_210.shtml
  15. ^ Kettani, Abdelhak (14 February 2011). "A popular revolt is being meditated in Tindouf Camps against Abdelaziz and his junta". Tindouf. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  16. ^ Cuadro de zonas de división del Sáhara Occidental Template:Es icon
  17. ^ Numerous reports from the Official Portal of the Government of Morocco refer to the area as a "buffer zone".
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference unhcr_2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference hrw_2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference fmo_2004_c was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ Deployment of MINURSO
  22. ^ Western Sahara Atlas Map - June 2006
  23. ^ http://freethemnow.org/FranceLiberte.pdf The Conditions of Detentions of the Moroccan POWs Detained in Tindouf (Algeria)
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