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Udenrigsudvalget 2014-15 (1. samling)
URU Alm.del Bilag 144
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AFRICAN UNION

UNION AFRICAINE

UNIÃO AFRICANA

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, P.O. Box: 3243, Tel.: (251-11) 551 38 22

Email: [email protected]

Fax: (251-11) 551 93 21

PEACE AND SECURITY COUNCIL

496

MEETING

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA

27 MARCH 2015

PSC/PR/COMM/1.(CDXCVI)

COMMUNIQUÉ

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PSC/PR/COMM/1.( CDXCVI)

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COMMUNIQUÉ

The Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU), at its 496

meeting held on 27

March 2015, adopted the following decision on the situation in Western Sahara:

Council,

Takes note

of the report of the Chairperson of the Commission on the situation in Western

Sahara [PSC/PR/2(CDXCVI)], as well as of the update provided by the Special Envoy of the

Chairperson of the Commission for Western Sahara, former President Joaquim Chissano of

Mozambique. Council

also takes note

of the statements made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of

the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), as well as by the representatives of the Federal

Republic of Nigeria, as an African member of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, and the

United Nations Secretariat;

Recalls

the Plan of Action adopted by the Special Session of the Assembly of the Union on

the Consideration and Resolution of Conflicts in Africa, held in Tripoli, Libya, on 31 August 2009

[SP/ASSEMBLY/PS/PLAN(I)], expressing support to the UN efforts to overcome the impasse in the

peace process in Western Sahara and to relevant UN Security Council resolutions, which call for

direct negotiations between the Parties to the conflict, namely the Kingdom of Morocco and the

Frente Polisario, without preconditions and in good faith, with a view to achieving a just, lasting and

mutually acceptable political solution, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of

Western Sahara, in the context of arrangements consistent with the principles and purposes of the

UN Charter, and, to this end, calling for the intensification of efforts towards the holding of a

referendum to enable the people of the Territory to choose between the option of independence

and that of integration into the Kingdom of Morocco;

Further recalls

decision EX.CL/Dec.758 (XXII) adopted by the 22

Ordinary Session of the

Executive Council held in Addis Ababa, from 24 to 25 January 2013, requesting the Commission to

take all necessary measures for the organization of a referendum for the self-determination of the

people of Western Sahara, in compliance with the relevant decisions of the Organization of African

Unity (OAU) and the UN, as well as decision EX.CL/Dec.773(XXIII) adopted by the 23

Ordinary

Session of the Executive Council held in Addis Ababa, from 19 to 23 May 2013, reiterating OAU/AU’s

earlier decisions and pronouncements on the situation in Western Sahara and requesting the

Chairperson of the Commission to pursue her efforts, including further consultations with the

Parties, as well as continued interaction with the UN and other relevant international stakeholders;

Also recalls

decision Assembly/AU/Dec.559(XXIV) adopted by the 24

Ordinary Session of

the Assembly of the Union, held in Addis Ababa, from 30 to 31 January 2015, reiterating UN

Security Council calls to the Parties to continue negotiations without preconditions and in good

faith, expressing AU’s full support to the efforts of the UN Personal Envoy, welcoming the steps

taken by the Chairperson of the Commission to follow-up on the relevant decision of the Executive

Council and requesting her to pursue her efforts, in order to mobilize the necessary support for the

UN-led process;

Welcomes

the continued efforts of the UN Secretary-General, as well as those of his

Personal Envoy, towards the search for a solution within the framework of the relevant resolutions

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of the UN Security Council, including the consultations undertaken by the Personal Envoy as part of

his new approach as outlined in the report of the Secretary-General on the situation concerning

Western Sahara of 10 April 2014 (S/2014/258);

Further welcomes

the steps taken by the Chairperson of the Commission in implementation

of the relevant decisions of the AU policy organs and in support of the UN-led efforts, including the

appointment of former President Joaquim Chissano as AU Special Envoy and the initiative to

interact with the Parties to the conflict. Council

expresses satisfaction

at the consultations

conducted by the Special Envoy with the permanent members of the UN Security Council and Spain,

as the former occupying power, as well as with the UN Secretariat, and

commends

him for his

commitment in the discharge of his mandate;

Notes with deep concern

that four decades after the onset of the conflict in Western

Sahara and fifty years after the decision to decolonize Western Sahara, all efforts aimed at finding a

solution have so far failed to achieve the expected results and that the prevailing stalemate not only

heightens tension in the Territory, but also undermines efforts to promote integration in the

Maghreb region. Accordingly, Council

expresses

the urgency of renewed efforts to overcome the

current impasse. In this respect, Council:

(i)

appeals

for an enhanced and coordinated international action towards the early

organization of a referendum for the self-determination of the people of Western

Sahara, in compliance with relevant OAU/AU decisions and UN resolutions;

urges

the UN Security Council to take all necessary decisions to ensure progress in

the search for a solution to the conflict in Western Sahara, acknowledging its critical

role and primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and

security. In this respect, Council

encourages

the UN Security Council, at its

forthcoming April 2015 meeting on Western Sahara, to give serious consideration to

the recommendation contained in the above-mentioned Secretary-General report of

10 April 2014 for a comprehensive review of the framework it provided for the

negotiating process in April 2007, should no progress occur before April 2015, on

the understanding that such a review should aim at facilitating the early holding of a

referendum for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara;

renews its support

to the calls made by the UN Security Council for direct

negotiations between the two Parties, namely the Kingdom of Morocco and the

Frente POLISARIO, without preconditions and in good faith, with a view to achieving

a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution, which will provide for the

self-determination of the people of Western Sahara, in the context of arrangements

consistent with the principles and purposes of the UN Charter; and

appeals

to the larger international community to lend its full support to the efforts

aimed at overcoming the current impasse;

(ii)

(iii)

(iv)

Encourages

the Chairperson of the Commission, including through her Special Envoy and

any other appropriate framework, to pursue and intensify the efforts already initiated as a follow-

up to the relevant decisions of the AU policy organs, in particular renewed contacts with the

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Parties, the neighboring states and other AU Member States, as well as with the UN and other

relevant international stakeholders, with a view to ensuring the effective implementation of the

relevant OAU/AU decisions and UN resolutions on Western Sahara, bearing in mind the role of the

OAU/AU as Guarantor of the Peace Plan endorsed in resolution AHG/Res.104(XIX), adopted by the

Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, held in Addis Ababa from

6 to 12 June 1983, which served as the basis of the August 1988 Settlement Proposals that set into

motion the peace process for Western Sahara. In this respect, and taking into account that Western

Sahara remains an issue in the completion of the decolonization process of Africa, Council:

(i)

decides

to reactivate the

ad hoc

Committee of Heads of State and Government on

the conflict in Western Sahara, established pursuant to resolution AHG/Res.92(XV),

adopted at the 15

Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and

Government of the OAU, held in Khartoum, Sudan, from 18 to 22 July 1978. Council

further decides

to expand the composition of the

ad hoc

Committee to comprise

ten Heads of State and Government, two from each of the five regions of the

continent. Council

requests

the Chairperson of the Commission to urgently

undertake the necessary consultations for the finalization of the composition and

the operationalization of the

ad hoc

Committee;

requests

the Commission, through the appropriate channels, to undertake a

demarche towards the UN Security Council, for the AU Special Envoy for Western

Sahara to be given the opportunity to address the Security Council during its

meeting on Western Sahara scheduled to take place in the month of April 2015.

Council

further requests

the African members of the UN Security Council, working

within the framework of the A3, to support and facilitate this request;

decides

to establish an International Contact Group for Western Sahara (ICG-WS), in

order to keep the issue on the international agenda and to mobilize the necessary

support for the early resolution of the conflict, and

invites

the Chairperson of the

Commission to undertake the necessary consultations to this end; and

further decides

to regularly review the situation in Western Sahara, at least twice a

year, on the basis of updates and recommendations provided by the Chairperson of

the Commission;

(ii)

(iii)

(iv)

Looks forward

to the renewal of the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in

Western Sahara (MINURSO) at the expiration of its current mandate, on 30 April 2015, as decided

by the Security Council in resolution 2152 (2014) of 29 April 2014. Council

urges

the UN Security

Council to take the necessary steps to provide MINURSO with a human rights mandate, taking into

account the need to ensure sustained, independent and impartial monitoring of human rights in

both the Territory and the refugee camps. Council

requests

the High Commissioner for Human

Rights to take appropriate steps in this respect;

10.

Requests

the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) to undertake, as

soon as possible, a mission to Western Sahara and to the refugee camps in Tindouf, to assess the

human rights situation and make recommendations to Council, building on the outcome of its visit

to the region in September 2012. In this regard, Council

urges

the Government of the Kingdom of

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Morocco to extend full cooperation to the ACHPR, in particular by allowing it to access the

Territory;

11.

Calls on

the UN Security Council to address the issue of the illegal exploitation of the

Territory’s natural resources, bearing in mind the call made in the UN Secretary-General report of

10 April 2014, for all relevant actors, in the light of the increased interest in the natural resources of

Western Sahara, to “recognize the principle that the interests of the inhabitants of these territories

are paramount”, in accordance with Chapter XI, article 73 of the Charter”. In this respect, Council

recommends

consideration of a strategy of global boycott of products of companies involved in the

illegal exploitation of the natural resources of Western Sahara as a way of further sustaining the

attention of the international community on the situation in Western Sahara;

12.

Invites

the Chairperson of the Commission to forward this communiqué to the Parties, for

their information and action as appropriate. Council

further invites

the Chairperson of the

Commission to transmit the communiqué to the UN Secretary-General and to request that it be

circulated as an official UN Security Council document, as well as to other relevant international

stakeholders;

13.

Decides

to remain actively seized of the matter.