Greenpeace en su informe denuncia el expolio de los recursos naturales

En su último informe Greenpeace denuncia el expolio de los recursos naturales del Sáhara Occidental por parte de Marruecos.


Pesca y fosfatos en el Sáhara Occidental

El Frente Polisario ha denunciado en repetidas ocasiones el saqueo de los recursos naturales del Sáhara por parte de Marruecos, con la colaboración de empresas e intereses extranjeros. La última ocasión fue una carta dirigida en abril de 2009 a la Asamblea General y el Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU.

En ella, este organismo denuncia que el Reino de Marruecos viola el Derecho Internacional al utilizar y comerciar con los recursos naturales del Sáhara Occidental, aunque éste es un territorio no autónomo de acuerdo a la Carta de Naciones Unidas. La resolución 63/102 de la Asamblea General de la ONU, de diciembre de 2008, señala que en virtud de ese status es el pueblo saharaui quien tiene el derecho de gestionar y explotar sus recursos naturales.

El territorio del Sáhara y sus costas y mares albergan importantes recursos naturales. Uno de ellos son los fosfatos, con unas reservas estimadas en más de 1.100 millones de metros cúbicos de roca fosfática. Sólo de la mina de BrucCaa, en la zona noroccidental de este territorio, se extraen anualmente tres millones de toneladas de roca fosfática.

Además, sus riquísimas reservas de pesca son explotadas por barcos de bandera marroquí y de otros países, especialmente de la UE (en el marco del Acuerdo de Colaboración Pesquera entre la Comunidad Europea y el Reino de Marruecos, del año 2006). Mediante este acuerdo se permite a los barcos europeos faenar en aguas de Marruecos, a cambio de compensaciones económicas.

El acuerdo es muy problemático, ya que no incluye una delimitación geográfica del territorio. Esto supone que las aguas del Sáhara podrían formar parte del mismo y que son las empresas pesqueras y las autoridades marroquíes las que interpretan cuál es el área sometida al acuerdo.

En el año 2008, la Comisión Europea reconoció que barcos de la UE estaban faenando en aguas saharauis. En respuesta a una pregunta escrita formulada por varios diputados del Parlamento Europeo, reconocía que barcos de España, Lituania y el Reino Unido actuaron en aquellas aguas durante el año 2007.

Por otro lado, en abril de 2009 se denunciaba que el carguero Sac Flix, perteneciente a Ership SA, había llegado al puerto de Huelva con fosfatos procedentes del Sáhara. El destino de los mismos era la planta de FMC Foret en Huelva.

http://www.greenpeace.org/espana/campaigns/090925/090929-22/090929-24

WSRW comments on European Parliament report

Statement from Western Sahara Resource Watch, 24 March 2009.


The report was debated at the European Parliament on the 17 March 2009:

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2004_2009/documents/oj/773/773839/773839es.pdf

Western Sahara Resource Watch
24 March 2009

Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW) notes the European Parliament’s report concerning human rights in Western Sahara, and would like to express the following:

1. WSRW welcomes the European Parliament’s commitment in respect of the human rights situation in Western Sahara, be it in the area occupied by Morocco or the area controlled by the SADR.

2. WSRW welcomes the European Parliament’s recognition of the reality of systematic violations of human rights perpetrated by Morocco in the occupied territory of Western Sahara.

3. WSRW applauds the European Parliament's stance that considers the violation of the Sahrawi people’s human right to self-determination as the root of all violations, and deems it impossible to consider the human rights violations in the occupied area whilst ignoring the fundamental cause of these infringements.

4. WSRW regrets that the European Parliament, in its report on human rights in Western Sahara, ignores a right of crucial importance, namely the right to enjoy the natural resources of the territory, as recognized in the first article of the International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights and in the International Convenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This is all the more regrettable since the European Union is an active accomplice in the plundering of those resources (above all through the illegal Fisheries Agreement between the EU and Morocco), which WSRW continually denounces.

5. WSRW demands that the European institutions immediately put on hold the ongoing procedures regarding the granting of an “advanced status” to Morocco, taking into account that the European Parliament, the European institution with the highest democratic legitimacy, has established that the Moroccan authorities violate the human rights of a territory under its control.

Western Sahara Resource Watch is an international non-governmental organisation with members from more than 30 countries that defends the respect for international law upholding the decolonisation of Western Sahara and the sovereignty of the Saharawi people over their natural resources. More on: www.wsrw.org .

For questions, contact:
Cate Lewis
International Coordinator
Western Sahara Resource Watch
lewis.cate@gmail.com
+61 407 288 358
http://www.wsrw.org

Swedish MPs demands stopping EU agreement with Morocco

Several Swedish parliamentarians from one of the parties in the Swedish government, have motioned that the Swedish Government should work to prevent the EU from signing any new agreements or agreements of advanced status with Morocco "as long as the country occupies Western Sahara".


In their motion 2008/09: U276 to Parliament, Mrs Agneta Berliner and her fellow liberal parliamentarians state that "Morocco is an occupying power. Since 1975 the country is occupying its neighbour Western Sahara and is conducting assaults on the Sahrawi people".

The Folkpartiet (fp) is part of the Swedish coalition government, and has for several years urged for the Sahrawi people's right to self-determinatino. The current Swedish minister for EU affairs, Mrs. Cecilia Malmström, is of the same party. She has earlier demanded that the government should recognize the Sahrawi Arabic Democratic Republic.

The 4 parliamentarians conclude that "it is an occupation that violates the principle of sovereignty and which has been condemned by the UN. According to a UN resolution a referendum should have taken place in 1992 in which the Saharawi people would take a stand on their country's future, but Morocco has still not allowed the vote to take place. Negotiations to obtain a change has basically stood still since 2004."

Despite this, the EU has over the years included, inter alia, association agreement with Morocco, which has benefited the country's economy which is dependent on the European market. Morocco's current
objective in its relations with the EU is to become an "advanced partner", which would further deepen cooperation between the Union and the kingdom both financially and security wise.

Reactions from the EU has notably come from Commissioner Benita Fererro-Waldner and French President Nicolas Sarkozy who have predicted that the proposed status to become a reality.

"If the EU accepts such a status on cooperation, we would further legitimize and finance the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara. The current partnership agreement has apparently not made Morocco prepared to comply with international law. However, the EU has a key role to play to safeguard the right of the Sahrawi people to decide themselves about their future in accordance with international law. The EU should therefore condition any further agreements with Morocco so that the
occupation of Western Sahara ends", they write.

The Liberal Party of Norway demands EU clarification

The Executive Board of The Liberal Party of Norway demands that Western Sahara be excluded from EU's cooperation with Morocco.



Below is an unofficial translation, made by Western Sahara Resource Watch, of a resolution from the Executive Board meeting of The Liberal Party of Norway, November 8th, 2008. See original (in Norwegian) here. The campaign referred to below is to be found on the homepages of Western Sahara Resource Watch. ELDR refers to the European Liberal Democrats.



The Liberal Party of Norway demands an independent Western Sahara!

The Liberal Party of Norway supports the campaign calling for Western Sahara being excluded from the cooperation between the EU and Morocco.

The territory on the north-western shores of Africa is occupied by Morocco. In 1991, a ceasefire was declared between the liberation group Polisario and Moroccan authorities, under the precondition that the people of Western Sahara were to vote whether it was supposed to be declared an independent state in 1992. This referendum has not yet been arranged and a large part of the people currently lives in refugee camps in Algeria.

Morocco is now about to be granted a so-called “Advanced Status” cooperation with the EU. But so far, the EU has not tried to prevent occupied Western Sahara from being included in the cooperation. The Liberal Party of Norway is very concerned for what consequences it could have for the Sahrawis and for their struggle for an independent Western Sahara if the occupied territories be included into the EU cooperation. Morocco’s Minister for Foreign Affairs has recently stated that the EU partnership will lead to Morocco getting international political support in the Western Sahara issue. It can also lead to Western Sahara’s economy being even further integrated into the Moroccan economy, through international commercial participation and possibly European aid arrangements.

The Liberal Party of Norway:

• Joins the campaign with the goal of having Western Sahara excluded from the so-called “Advanced Status” cooperation, which Morocco is about the be granted by the EU.

• Calls on the Norwegian government to put pressure on the EU to make sure that the occupied Western Sahara be kept outside of the EU-Moroccan cooperation.

• Calls on the ELDR to join the campaign.

Morocco launches homepage on Advanced Status

And it includes occupied Western Sahara as part of its own territory.

A new Moroccan webpage about the Advanced Status to the EU has now seen its light.

The homepage, www.statut-avance.com, was registered on the 22nd of October 2008, and was announced on the Moroccan ministry of information propaganda service, MAP, on November 4th.

It is not clear on the webpage who is behind it. But according to MAP, it could be the Moroccan government:

"Morocco has launched, on Tuesday, a website dedicated to the advanced status granted by the EU to Morocco in view of promoting this agreement as well as the reforms undertaken by the Kingdom", MAP wrote.

As far as Western Sahara Resource Watch understands, the EU has actually not yet granted any Advanced Status to Morocco, only stated their intention to do so.

The site further states that it is "meant to provide information on the status and pays a tribute to those who support Morocco’s endeavours", according to MAP.

moroccan_advanced_status_logo.jpgThe webpage mentions places within Western Sahara as being part of Morocco, such as the cities of Laayoune and Dakhla, which are quoted as being important ports for Moroccan processing of fish.

Even the small logo of the entire page carries a map of Morocco, including territories that are both under Moroccan occupation and Polisario control. See its logo on the right.

No countries in the world, including none of the EU states, recognise Western Sahara as being part of Morocco.

Controversial sister pages
The new page which according to MAP is launched by "Morocco" is affiliated to a number of obscure Moroccan propaganda sites which have appeared over the last two years. It is registered by the US based company www.DomainsByProxy.com, the same registrant as used by a number of other controversial Moroccan pages, discrediting the other party of the Western Sahara conflict, the liberation movement Polisario.

The US blogger Will Sommer has on his blog One Hump or Two uncovered how the Moroccan sites are all related through the same servers.

This is the case for anti-Polisario pages such as www.polisario-confidentiel.com, www.polisario-verdad.org, www.camps-sequestres.org, www.lavage-de-cerveau.com and www.rabouni.com. They all appear to have the same graphical designer and registered on the same server. They also produce and reproduce the same news, together with MAP. Also the now closed propaganda site www.speakforsaharawis.org, which claimed to be a voice for Sahrawis abused by Polisario, had the same registrant. Most of the news on these sites are inventions, mentioning events, organisations etc. that do not exist, and quoting people erroneously.

The interesting new development, is that MAP now admits that www.statut-avance.com, which is on the same registrant as the mentioned propaganda sites, is actually made by what can only be interpreted as the Moroccan government.

The new webpage on the Advanced Status does not mention what plans Morocco has to withdraw from the territory it illegally occupies. Morocco remains in Western Sahara, despite over 100 resolutions from the UN Security Council and General Assembly demanding right to self-determination for the people of Western Sahara to be implemented.

On 6th of November 1975, 33 years ago, Morocco entered its neighbouring country despite of the ruling of the International Court of Justice, which said Morocco has no legitimate claim over the territory. Read the full version of the 1975 opinion here.

A petition was launched by Western Sahara Resource Watch this week-end to demand from the EU Commission that the Advanced Status shall only cover Morocco as it is internationally recognised, and not to include occupied Western Sahara. After 4 days, 55 organisations have so far signed the petition. The petition, with all signatories, will be sent to the Commission on December 4th.