URU, Alm.del - 2015-16 - Bilag 168: Forslag fra Polisario om selvbestemmelse i Vestsahara

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URU Alm.del Bilag 168
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PROPOSAL OF THE FRENTE POLISARIO FOR A MUTUALLY

ACCEPTABLE POLITICAL SOLUTION THAT PROVIDES FOR THE SELF-

DETERMINATION OF THE PEOPLE OF WESTERN SAHARA

URU, Alm.del - 2015-16 - Bilag 168: Forslag fra Polisario om selvbestemmelse i Vestsahara

PROPOSAL OF THE FRENTE POLISARIO FOR A MUTUALLY

ACCEPTABLE POLITICAL SOLUTION THAT PROVIDES FOR THE SELF-

DETERMINATION OF THE PEOPLE OF WESTERN SAHARA

[Presented to UN Secretary General on April 10

, 2007]

I / The Conflict of Western Sahara is a decolonisation question:

1. Included since 1965 on the list of the Non-Self-Governing territories of

the UN Decolonisation Committee, Western Sahara is a territory of which

the decolonisation process has been interrupted by the Moroccan invasion

and occupation of 1975 and which is based on the implementation of the

General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) regarding the Declaration on the

Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.

2. The UN General Assembly and the Security Council have identified this

conflict as a decolonisation conflict between the Kingdom of Morocco and

the Frente POLISARIO whose settlement passes by the exercise by the

Saharawi people of their right to self-determination.

3 Likewise, the International Court of Justice, at the request of the General

Assembly has clearly ruled, in a legal opinion dated 16 October 1975,

that “the materials and information presented to it do not establish any tie

of territorial sovereignty between the territory of Western Sahara and

the Kingdom of Morocco or the Mauritanian entity. Thus the Court has not

found legal ties of such a nature as might affect the application of

General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) in the decolonization of Western

Sahara and, in particular, of the principle of self-determination through

the free and genuine expression of the will of the peoples of the

Territory”.

4. Furthermore, on 29 January 2002, at the request by the Security

Council, the UN Legal Counsel clearly established that Morocco was not

the administering power of the territory, that the Madrid Agreement of

1975 dividing the territory between Morocco and Mauritania did not

transfer any sovereignty to its signatories and, finally, that the status of

Western Sahara, as Non-Self-Governing Territory, had not been affected

by this agreement.

II / The solution of the conflict passes by the holding of a referendum

on self-determination:

5. The question of Western Sahara having been identified by the

International Community as a decolonisation question, the efforts aiming to

URU, Alm.del - 2015-16 - Bilag 168: Forslag fra Polisario om selvbestemmelse i Vestsahara

settle it have consequently and naturally been guided by the objective of

offering the people of this territory the opportunity to decide their future

through a free and fair referendum on self-determination.

6. The Settlement Plan approved by the two parties to the conflict, the

Kingdom of Morocco and the Frente POLISARIO, and by the Security

Council in its resolutions 658 (1990) and 690 (1991), complemented by

the Houston Agreements negotiated and signed in September 1997 by

the Kingdom of Morocco and the Frente POLISARIO, under the auspices of

James Baker III, Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General, and

endorsed by the Security Council as well as the Peace Plan for Self-

determination for the People of Western Sahara or Baker Plan approved

by the Security council in its resolution 1495 (2003), all provide for the

holding of a referendum on self-determination in Western Sahara. All

these efforts failed because of the reneging of the Kingdom of Morocco

on its international commitments.

III / Readiness of the Frente POLISARIO to negotiate with a view to

holding the referendum on self-determination and the granting of post-

referendum guarantees to Morocco and to Moroccan residents in

Western Sahara:

7. The Frente POLISARIO that unilaterally declared a cease-fire which it

has ever since respected scrupulously, and that accepted and

implemented in good faith the Settlement Plan by virtue of which the

United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO)

was deployed as well as the Houston Agreements, and that has honoured

all the commitments it has undertaken by making concessions sometimes

painful in order to offer to the Saharawi people the opportunity to freely

decide their destiny, reiterates solemnly its acceptance of Baker Plan and

declares its readiness to negotiate directly with the Kingdom of Morocco,

under the auspices of the United Nations, the modalities for implementing

it as well as those relating to the holding of a genuine referendum on self-

determination in Western Sahara in strict conformity with the spirit and

letter of the UN General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) and within the

format envisaged in the framework of Baker Plan, namely the choice

between independence, integration into the Kingdom of Morocco and self-

governance.

8. The Frente POLISARIO is also committed to accepting the results of the

referendum whatever they are and to already negotiate with the

Kingdom of Morocco, under the auspices of the United Nations, the

guarantees that it is prepared to grant to the Moroccan population

residing in Western Sahara for 10 years as well as to the Kingdom of

Morocco in the political, economic and security domains in the event that

URU, Alm.del - 2015-16 - Bilag 168: Forslag fra Polisario om selvbestemmelse i Vestsahara

the referendum on self-determination would lead to independence.

9. The guarantees to be negotiated by the two parties would consist in:

9.1: the mutual recognition of and respect for the sovereignty,

independence and territorial integrity of the two countries in accordance

with the principle of the intangibility of the borders inherited from the

independence period;

9.2: the granting of guarantees concerning the status and the rights and

obligations of the Moroccan population in Western Sahara, including its

participation in the political, economic and social life of the territory of

Western Sahara. In this respect, the Saharawi State could grant the

Saharawi nationality to any Moroccan citizen legally established in the

territory that would apply for it;

9.3 : the agreement on equitable and mutually advantageous

arrangements permitting the development and the joint exploitation of the

existing natural resources or those that could be discovered during a

determined period of time;

9.4 : the setting up of formulas of partnership and economic cooperation

in different economic, commercial and financial sectors;

9.5 : the renunciation by the two parties, on a reciprocal basis, of any

compensation for the material destructions that have taken place since the

beginning of the conflict in Western Sahara;

9.6 : the conclusion of security arrangements with the Kingdom of Morocco

as well as with the countries of the region that may be interested;

9.7 : the commitment of the Saharawi State to work closely with the

Kingdom of Morocco as well as with the other countries of the region with

a view to bringing to conclusion the integration process of the Maghreb;

9.8 : the readiness of the Saharawi State to participate with Morocco and

the countries of the region in the maintenance of peace, stability and

security of the whole region in the face of the different threats that could

target it.

Likewise, the Saharawi State would positively consider any request from

the United Nations and the African Union to participate in peace-keeping

operations.

10. The Frente POLISARIO is ready, under the auspices of the United

Nations and with the approval and the support of the Security Council, to

enter in direct negotiations with the Kingdom of Morocco on the basis of

URU, Alm.del - 2015-16 - Bilag 168: Forslag fra Polisario om selvbestemmelse i Vestsahara

the aforementioned parameters with a view to reaching a just, lasting and

mutually acceptable political solution that provides for the self-

determination of the people of Western Sahara in conformity with the

relevant resolutions of the United Nations mainly the General Assembly

resolution 1514 (XV), thus bringing about peace, stability and prosperity

for the whole region of the Maghreb.