SAHRAWI PRISONERS: THE MFA RESPONDS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 RABAT 002032

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/MAG, DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/02/2009
TAGS: MO PBTS PHUM PREL
SUBJECT: SAHRAWI PRISONERS: THE MFA RESPONDS

REF: RABAT 2015 AND PREVIOUS

Classified By: Pol/C Timothy Lenderking for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary and Comment: On the evening of September 23,
the MFA passed us the following document concerning the
status of the Sahrawi prisoners discussed reftel. The
document is entitled "Elements of Information Relating to the
Campaign Orchestrated by Algeria and the Polisario on the
Conditions of Detention in the Prison of Laayoune." It is
the first official document we have received from the GOM
concerning the prisoners and the first sign of tangible
engagement by the MFA in the issue. The document,
unfortunately, offers only a modicum of factual information
-- the kind of details the international community is seeking
about the status of the prisoners and how the Moroccans would
counter the charges being made -- before deteriorating into a
diatribe against the Polisario and Algeria for whipping up a
propaganda campaign against Morocco. While we probably the
first mission to receive this document, it was distributed to
a dozen or so donor embassies at an MFA briefing on Western
Sahara issues on September 26 (septel). The version provided
to the US, however, contains paragraphs with additional
criticism of Algeria and the Polisario not found in the
document provided to other embassies on September 26. End
Summary and Comment.


2. (SBU) Begin document (MFA translation):

Similar to other penitentiary institutions of the Kingdom,
the prison of Laayoune is indeed experiencing overpopulation
due to the number of prisoners being presently held in
detention which exceeds the normal capacity of the prison.

This prison, designed for 400 detainees, actually houses 600
prisoners as follows:

-- 10 prisoners guilty of murder
-- 80 prisoners guilty of theft;
-- 30 prisoners guilty of rape;
-- 190 prisoners guilty of drug trafficking;
-- 80 prisoners guilty of complicity in illegal immigration;
-- 190 prisoners detained for various offenses.

To this figure we need to add the approximately 20 detainees
being questioned following the events which took place in the
city of Laayoune, namely for having perpetrated acts of
violence and vandalism (throwing stones and Molotov cocktails
at security forces, attacking police posts, burning the
national flag, destroying public property, etc.)

The following clarifications are appropriate in relation to
the 37 prisoners whom the Polisario claims are political
prisoners:

-- 1 person is guilty of having caused the death of another
with no relation to the events of Laayoune (Hassan Mekki),
-- 1 person has already been released after having served his
sentence (Mohamed Bahia Errachdi),
-- 20 detainees have already been found guilty in relation to
the incidents of Laayoune,
-- 15 detainees have been referred to the examining
magistrate.

This situation, about which reports have been produced by
national NGO's such as the Consultative Council of Human
Rights (CCDH),the Moroccan Human Rights Association (AMDH)
and the Moroccan Human Rights Organization (OMDH),(embassy
comment: CCDH is the only organization to date that has
actually visited the prisoners since the hunger strikes
began) has already been brought to the attention of the
penitentiary administration, which has begun to take measures
designed to improve the conditions of detention of prisoners,
in conformity with generally observed norms and standards.

Moreover, anxious to improve the conditions of detention in
all the penitentiary establishments of the Kingdom, the
Moroccan authorities have created relevant mechanisms, namely
the Prison's Observatory and the Mohammed V Foundation for
the Rehabilitation of Prisoners.

The shameful use of the situation of the detainees for
political ends is an exercise of pure propaganda orchestrated
by the Polisario and its supporters in order to falsely
inflame international public opinion by resorting to lies.

Indeed, it has been duly established, on this day, that the
photographs being circulated showing the conditions of
detention in the prison of Laayoune -- the staging of a
macabre scenario -- demonstrate nothing more than the
perpetrators' minimal respect for humanity.

Through this rude and false campaign, the Polisario is
seeking to demonstrate that all the detainees in Laayoune are
political prisoners. This is, undoubtedly, a vile maneuver
as proven by the abovementioned classification of prisoners
according to the crimes committed, who all belong to the
category of common law.

The Kingdom of Morocco, as a responsible and peaceful State,
has never circulated any propaganda - which is, beyond any
doubt, a sordid tool of communication - and never intends to
do so. On the contrary, Morocco remains committed to
pursuing the bold reforms undertaken in various fields,
namely reinforcing the rule of law, and expanding individual
and collective liberties. (In the version provided to us on
September 23, the sentence continues, "which bothers and
destabilizes certain countries, in particular Algeria, due to
the "domino effect" that such advances may trigger in
neighboring countries).


3. (SBU) The following additional paragraphs were included
in the document shared with the Embassy on September 23 but
were not part of the draft shared with other embassies on
September 26.

US-only text continued:

Likewise, the serenity demonstrated by Morocco in its
management of the Sahara issue - namely by its continuously
reiterated disposition to settle the issue in the framework
of a consensual political solution - is countered by an
Algerian intransigence that gains in intensity each time the
direct responsibility of this country, concerning the
continuation of this artificial conflict, is underlined.

Observers will easily discern that the clear and unambiguous
position of certain great powers regarding the Sahara
conflict, a position which confers a bilateral character to
this issue (Morocco/Algeria) today utterly disconcerts the
Algerian authorities, who desperately seek to block this
evolution by orchestrating untrue campaigns. They create
false problems in the hope of diverting the international
community's attention.

With the release of the 404 Moroccan prisoners, which was
recently made possible by international pressure and namely
by the direct intervention of the United States alongside
Algerian authorities, Algeria hoped to rid itself of the
responsibility relating to the atrocities committed on its
soil. It did not, however, take into account Morocco's
determination to take all the necessary steps to make sure
that these crimes of war do not go unpunished.

In this sense, former prisoners of Tindouf have filed a case
before the International Criminal Court against those
responsible for human rights violations committed in these
camps, among them high-ranking Algerian officials.

Former Polisario members, as survivors of the Tindouf
detention camps, are stepping up awareness-raising campaigns
and testimonies denouncing atrocities carried out on Algerian
territory.

This unanimously expressed determination further irritates
and destabilizes the Algerian authorities, who attempt to
create a diversion in order to mislead the international
community and escape its obligations.

One must recall that Algeria has no respect for human rights
as is daily shown by the international Press and NGO's, which
never cease to denounce the brutal methods used by the
Algerian security services and demand the truth about the
missing thousands, be they Algerian or Moroccan.

Morocco cannot be lectured to by Algeria, let alone by the
Polisario which is implicated in international terrorism, as
is proven by its involvement in the theft of large quantities
of dynamite from the Zouirate mines of Mauritania, in arms
trafficking, in the attack on the Mauritania garrison of
Lamgheiti, and in trafficking in illegal immigrants.
End document.
BUSH