పశ్చిమ సహారా: కూర్పుల మధ్య తేడాలు

2017 నాటికి ఐక్యరాజ్యసమితిలో ఇతర సభ్య దేశాలు పశ్చిమ సహారా ప్రాంతాలపై మొరాకో సార్వభౌమత్వాన్ని అధికారికంగా గుర్తించలేదు.

<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/en/sc/repertoire/93-95/Chapter%208/AFRICA/93-95_8-3-%20WESTERN%20SAHARA.pdf|title=Report of the Secretary-General on the situation concerning Western Sahara (paragraph 37, p. 10)|format=PDF|date=2 March 1993|accessdate=4 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wsrw.org/a105x1410|title=Western Sahara not part of EFTA-Morocco free trade agreement – wsrw.org|first=Western Sahara Resource|last=Watch|website=www.wsrw.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scilj.se/news/international-law-allows-the-recognition-of-western-sahara/|title=International law allows the recognition of Western Sahara – Stockholm Center for International Law and Justice|date=7 November 2015|publisher=}}</ref> అయినప్పటికీ అనేక దేశాలు మొరాకో స్వాధికార భూభాగంగా భవిష్యత్తు గుర్తింపుకు మద్దతు పలికాయి. మొత్తంగా అనేక ఇతర వివాదాస్పద విలీనాల (ఉదా: రష్యా క్రిమియాను విలీనం చేసుకోవడం) లాగా ఈ విలీనం తగినంతగా అంతర్జాతీయ సమాజం దృష్టిని ఆకర్షించలేదు.{{fact|date=November 2018}}

 

The earliest known inhabitants of Western Sahara were the [[Gaetuli]]. Depending on the century, Roman-era sources describe the area as inhabited by Gaetulian Autololes or the Gaetulian Daradae tribes. Berber heritage is still evident from regional and place-name [[toponymy]], as well as from tribal names.

In the 11th century, the [[Maqil]] Arabs (fewer than 200 individuals) settled in [[Morocco]] (mainly in the [[Draa River]] valley, between the [[Moulouya River]], [[Tafilalt]] and [[Taourirt, Morocco|Taourirt]]).<ref name=khaldun>History of Ibn Khaldun Volume 6, pp80-90 by [[ibn Khaldun]]</ref> Towards the end of the [[Almohad Caliphate]], the Beni Hassan, a sub-tribe of the Maqil, were called by the local ruler of the [[Sous]] to quell a rebellion; they settled in the Sous [[Ksar|Ksours]] and controlled such cities as [[Taroudant]].<ref name=khaldun/> During [[Marinid dynasty]] rule, the Beni Hassan rebelled but were defeated by the Sultan and escaped beyond the Saguia el-Hamra dry river.<ref name=khaldun/><ref>''[[Rawd al-Qirtas]]'', [[Ibn Abi Zar]]</ref> The Beni Hassan then were at constant war with the [[Lamtuna]] nomadic Berbers of the [[Sahara]]. Over roughly five centuries, through a complex process of acculturation and mixing seen elsewhere in the Maghreb and North Africa, some of the indigenous Berber tribes mixed with the Maqil Arab tribes and formed a culture unique to Morocco and Mauritania.{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}}

 

[[File:Western Sahara 1876.png|thumb|upright=1.8|Western Sahara 1876]]

While initial Spanish interest in the Sahara was focused on using it as a port for the slave trade, by the 1700s Spain had transitioned economic activity on the Saharan coast towards commercial fishing.<ref>Besenyo, Janos. ''Western Sahara''. Publikon, 2009, P. 49.</ref> After an agreement among the European colonial powers at the [[Berlin Conference]] in 1884 on the division of [[scramble for Africa|spheres of influence in Africa]], Spain seized control of Western Sahara and established it as a Spanish colony.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www1.american.edu/ted/ice/sahara.htm |title=ICE Conflict Case ZSahara |publisher=.american.edu |date=17 March 1997 |accessdate=13 November 2011 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120125165704/http://www1.american.edu/ted/ice/sahara.htm |archivedate=25 January 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> After 1939 and the outbreak of World War II, this area was administered by [[Spanish Morocco]]. As a consequence, [[Ahmed Belbachir Haskouri]], the Chief of Cabinet, General Secretary of the Government of Spanish Morocco, cooperated with the Spanish to select governors in that area. The Saharan lords who were already in prominent positions, such as the members of Maa El Ainain family, provided a recommended list of candidates for new governors. Together with the Spanish High Commissioner, Belbachir selected from this list.{{citation needed|date=May 2010}} During the annual celebration of [[Muhammad]]'s birthday, these lords paid their respects to the caliph to show loyalty to the Moroccan monarchy.{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}[[File:Morocco Protectorate.svg|thumb|Spanish and French protectorates in Morocco and Spanish Sahara, 1912.]]As time went by, Spanish colonial rule began to unravel with the general wave of decolonization after World War II; former North African and sub-Saharan African possessions and protectorates gained independence from European powers. Spanish decolonization proceeded more slowly, but internal political and social pressures for it in mainland Spain built up towards the end of [[Francisco Franco]]'s rule. There was a global trend towards complete [[decolonization]]. Spain began rapidly to divest itself of most of its remaining colonial possessions. By 1974–75 the government issued promises of a referendum on independence in Western Sahara.

The UN attempted to settle these disputes through a [[UN visiting mission to Spanish Sahara|visiting mission]] in late 1975, as well as a [[International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on Western Sahara|verdict]] from the [[International Court of Justice]] (ICJ). It acknowledged that Western Sahara had historical links with Morocco and Mauritania, but not sufficient to prove the sovereignty of either State over the territory at the time of the Spanish colonization. The population of the territory thus possessed the right of [[self-determination]]. On 6 November 1975 Morocco initiated the [[Green March]] into Western Sahara; 350,000 unarmed Moroccans converged on the city of [[Tarfaya]] in southern Morocco and waited for a signal from King [[Hassan II of Morocco]] to cross the border in a peaceful march. A few days before, on 31 October, Moroccan troops invaded Western Sahara from the north.<ref>{{cite book|last1=János|first1=Besenyő|title=Western Sahara|date=2009|publisher=Publikon Publishers|location=Pécs|isbn=978-963-88332-0-4|url=http://www.kalasnyikov.hu/dokumentumok/besenyo_western_sahara.pdf}}</ref>

 

 

[[File:Western sahara walls moroccan map-en.svg|thumb|upright=1.6|System of the [[Moroccan Wall]]s in Western Sahara set up in the 1980s]]

The Moroccan and Mauritanian annexations were resisted by the [[Polisario Front]], which had gained backing from [[Algeria]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7091323//|title=Algeria Claims Spanish Sahara Is Being Invaded|last=|first=|date=1 January 1976|work=The Monroe News-Star|access-date=19 October 2016|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> It initiated guerrilla warfare and, in 1979, Mauritania withdrew due to pressure from Polisario, including a bombardment of its capital and other economic targets. Morocco extended its control to the rest of the territory. It gradually contained the guerrillas by setting up [[Moroccan Western Sahara Wall|the extensive sand-berm in the desert]] (known as the Border Wall or Moroccan Wall) to exclude guerrilla fighters.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/05/western-sahara-struggle-freedom-cut-wall-150528065625790.html|title=Western Sahara's Struggle for Freedom Cut Off By a Wall|last=McNeish|first=Hannah|date=5 June 2015|work=Al Jazeera|access-date=17 October 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/is-one-of-africas-oldest-conflicts-finally-nearing-its-end|title=Is One of Africa's Oldest Conflicts Finally Nearing Its End?|quotation=For the past forty years, tens of thousands of Moroccan soldiers have manned a wall of sand that curls for one and a half thousand miles through the howling Sahara. The vast plain around it is empty and flat, interrupted only by occasional horseshoe dunes that traverse it. But the Berm, as the wall is known, is no natural phenomenon. It was built by the Kingdom of Morocco, in the nineteen-eighties, and it's the longest defensive fortification in use today—and the second-longest ever, after China's Great Wall|website=Newyorker.com|accessdate=30 December 2018}}</ref> Hostilities ceased in a 1991 cease-fire, overseen by the peacekeeping mission [[United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara|MINURSO]], under the terms of a UN [[Settlement Plan]].

 

[[File:Maps of Western Sahara.png|thumb|upright=3.4|{{center|Ways to show Western Sahara in maps}}]]

The referendum, originally scheduled for 1992, foresaw giving the local population the option between independence or affirming integration with Morocco, but it quickly stalled. In 1997, the [[Houston Agreement]] attempted to revive the proposal for a referendum but likewise has hitherto not had success. {{As of|2010}}, negotiations over terms have not resulted in any substantive action. At the heart of the dispute lies the question of who qualifies to be registered to participate in the referendum, and, since about the year 2000, Morocco considers that since there is no agreement on persons entitled to vote, a referendum is not possible. Meanwhile, Polisario still insisted on a referendum with independence as a clear option, without offering a solution to the problem of who is qualified to be registered to participate in it.

According to a NATO delegation, MINURSO election observers stated in 1999, as the deadlock continued, that "if the number of voters does not rise significantly the odds were slightly on the [[Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic|SADR]] side".<ref>{{cite web |author=iBi Center |url=http://www.nato-pa.int/archivedpub/trip/as79gsm993-morocco.asp |title=NATO PA&nbsp;– Archives |publisher=Nato-pa.int |accessdate=13 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928052936/http://www.nato-pa.int/archivedpub/trip/as79gsm993-morocco.asp |archive-date=28 September 2011 |dead-url=yes |df=dmy-all }}</ref> By 2001, the process had effectively stalemated and the UN Secretary-General asked the parties for the first time to explore other, third-way solutions. Indeed, shortly after the Houston Agreement (1997), Morocco officially declared that it was "no longer necessary" to include an option of independence on the ballot, offering instead autonomy. Erik Jensen, who played an administrative role in MINURSO, wrote that neither side would agree to a voter registration in which they were destined to lose (see ''[[#Bibliography|Western Sahara: Anatomy of a Stalemate]]'').

 

As personal envoy of the Secretary-General, [[James Baker]] visited all sides and produced the document known as the "Baker Plan".<ref name="UN_S2000461">{{UN document |docid=S-2000-461 |type=Document |body=Security Council |year=2000 |accessdate=10 August 2007| date=22 May 2000}}</ref> This was discussed by the [[United Nations Security Council]] in 2000, and envisioned an autonomous [[Western Sahara Authority]] (WSA), which would be followed after five years by the referendum. Every person present in the territory would be allowed to vote, regardless of birthplace and with no regard to the Spanish census. It was rejected by both sides, although it was initially derived from a Moroccan proposal. According to Baker's draft, tens of thousands of post-annexation immigrants from Morocco proper (viewed by Polisario as settlers but by Morocco as legitimate inhabitants of the area) would be granted the vote in the Sahrawi independence referendum, and the ballot would be split three ways by the inclusion of an unspecified "[[Autonomous administrative division|autonomy]]", further undermining the independence camp. Morocco was also allowed to keep its army in the area and retain control over all security issues during both the autonomy years and the election. In 2002, the Moroccan king stated that the referendum idea was "out of date" since it "cannot be implemented";<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.countrywatch.com/facts/facts_default.aspx?type=text&topic=SEWSA |title=CountryWatch&nbsp;– Interesting Facts Of The World |publisher=Countrywatch.com |accessdate=13 November 2011 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081005160618/http://www.countrywatch.com/facts/facts_default.aspx?type=text&topic=SEWSA |archivedate=5 October 2008 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Polisario retorted that that was only because of the King's refusal to allow it to take place.

 

In 2003, a new version of the plan was made official, with some additions spelling out the powers of the WSA, making it less reliant on Moroccan [[devolution]]. It also provided further detail on the referendum process in order to make it harder to stall or subvert. This second draft, commonly known as Baker II, was accepted by the Polisario as a "basis of negotiations" to the surprise of many.<ref>Shelley, Toby. ''[http://www.merip.org/mero/mero080103.html Behind the Baker Plan for Western Sahara] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061210082330/http://www.merip.org/mero/mero080103.html |date=10 December 2006 }}'', Middle East Report Online, 1 August 2003. Retrieved 24 August 2006.</ref> This appeared to abandon Polisario's previous position of only negotiating based on the standards of voter identification from 1991 (i.e. the Spanish census). After that, the draft quickly garnered widespread international support, culminating in the UN Security Council's unanimous endorsement of the plan in the summer of 2003.

 

 

Baker resigned his post at the United Nations in 2004; his term did not see the crisis resolved.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/200406141270.html|title=Western Sahara: Baker Resigns As UN Mediator After Seven Years|date=14 June 2004|accessdate=4 October 2014}}</ref> His resignation followed several months of failed attempts to get Morocco to enter into formal negotiations on the plan, but he met with rejection. The new king, [[Mohammed VI of Morocco]], opposes any referendum on independence, and has said Morocco will never agree to one: "We shall not give up one inch of our beloved Sahara, not a grain of its sand."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesnews.co.ke/04apr06/insight/ins4.html|title=Times News – Bold, Authoritative, and True|website=Times News|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605000502/http://www.timesnews.co.ke/04apr06/insight/ins4.html|archivedate=5 June 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

In April 2007, the government of Morocco suggested that a self-governing entity, through the [[Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs]] (CORCAS), should govern the territory with some degree of autonomy for Western Sahara. The project was presented to the UN Security Council in mid-April 2007. The stalemating of the Moroccan proposal options has led the UN in the recent "Report of the UN Secretary-General" to ask the parties to enter into direct and unconditional negotiations to reach a mutually accepted political solution.<ref>[http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N07/299/28/PDF/N0729928.pdf?OpenElement Report of the Secretary-General on the situation concerning Western Sahara (13 April 2007)(ped). UN Security Council] {{webarchive|url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090711072545/http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N07/299/28/PDF/N0729928.pdf?OpenElement |date=11 July 2009 }}</ref>

 

[[File:Posten der Frente Polisario 2.jpg|thumb|A MINURSO car (left), and a post of the Polisario Front (right) in 2017 in southern Western Sahara]]

In October 2010 Gadaym Izik camp was set up near [[Laayoune]] as a protest by displaced [[Sahrawi people]] about their living conditions. It was home to more than 12,000 people. In November 2010 Moroccan security forces entered Gadaym Izik camp in the early hours of the morning, using helicopters and water cannon to force people to leave. The Polisario Front said Moroccan security forces had killed a 26-year-old protester at the camp, a claim denied by Morocco. Protesters in Laayoune threw stones at police and set fire to tires and vehicles. Several buildings, including a TV station, were also set on fire. Moroccan officials said five security personnel had been killed in the unrest.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11710400 | title=Deadly Clashes as Morocco Breaks Up Western Sahara Camp |publisher=BBC News | date=11 September 2010 | accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref>