Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06RABAT1032
2006-05-30 19:06:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Rabat
Cable title:  

WESTERN SAHARA: GOM SATISFIED WITH HUMAN RIGHTS

Tags:  MO PBTS PHUM PREL 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0002
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRB #1032/01 1501906
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 301906Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3861
INFO RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 4008
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 2956
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID PRIORITY 5513
RUEHNK/AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT PRIORITY 3184
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 4220
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 8896
RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA PRIORITY 1733
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 0979
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0532
C O N F I D E N T I A L RABAT 001032 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/MAG, DRL, IO; GENEVA FOR RMA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/02/2009
TAGS: MO PBTS PHUM PREL
SUBJECT: WESTERN SAHARA: GOM SATISFIED WITH HUMAN RIGHTS
COMMISSION VISIT BUT NERVOUS ABOUT NEXT STEPS

REF: RABAT 913 AND PREVIOUS

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

C O N F I D E N T I A L RABAT 001032

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/MAG, DRL, IO; GENEVA FOR RMA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/02/2009
TAGS: MO PBTS PHUM PREL
SUBJECT: WESTERN SAHARA: GOM SATISFIED WITH HUMAN RIGHTS
COMMISSION VISIT BUT NERVOUS ABOUT NEXT STEPS

REF: RABAT 913 AND PREVIOUS

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


1. (C) Summary:


2. (C) Polcouns called on MFA Director of UN and
International Affairs Nasser Bourita May 24 for the GOM
perspective on the May 15-18 visit to Morocco and the Western
Sahara of the UN Human Rights Commission delegation. The
five-person delegation was led by Christophe Girod (Swiss),
and included Roueida El Hage (Lebanon),Karin Lucke
(Germany),Alain Chergui, and Daria Ferrari from DPKO in New
York. Bourita said the GOM had two overarching objectives
for the mission: disprove the idea that an "intifida" is
underway in the Western Sahara, as propounded by the
Polisario; and demonstrate that Algeria plays an integral
role in the Western Sahara conflict.


3. (SBU) Bourita enumerated the delegation's meetings and
activities. In Rabat on May 15 they met with MFA SYG Omar
Hilale; MOI Governor Mohiyuddin Amzazi; prison officials from
the Ministry of Justice; the Royal Council for Saharan
Affairs (CORCAS); Sahrawi parliamentarians; ex-POWs; and
prominent NGOs AMDH and OMDH (the Moroccan Association and
Organization, respectively, of Human Rights). In Laayoune
May 16-18, they met with prominent Sahrawi dissidents Mohamed
Daddach, Brahim Dahane, and twice with Ali Salem Tamek; with
MINURSO; with members of the banned Forum for Truth and
Justice; and they had dinner with the Wali. They met with
the royal prosecutor, with UNHCR, and visited Laayoune
prison. They met with Polisario "President" Abdelaziz's
brother, who is a lawyer in Laayoune (and whom, politically,
Bourita described as "halfway between Abdelaziz and
Abdelaziz's father, who is a member of CORCAS). Altogether,
the delegation had more than 30 meetings and met with more
than 100 people between Morocco and the Western Sahara,
Bourita said.


4. (SBU) As he has noted in previous conversations
(reftels),Bourita said the GOM did everything possible to
accommodate the delegation. The GOM did not obstruct or
prevent any meeting or site visit. They did not arrange the

meetings with the Sahrawi dissidents, but nor did they
obstruct them or intervene in any way. Polcouns asked
Bourita about reports on the Polisario website that several
of the dissidents were detained by the Moroccan authorities
after meeting the delegation. Bourita flatly denied the
reports, replying, "We are not that stupid." Bourita said
Moroccan officials made clear to the delegation that the
majority of people in the Western Sahara were peaceful, but
there was a minority of agitators. People are free to
express their views in the Western Sahara, but not to commit
violence, and that is where the GOM draws the line, Bourita
said.


5. (C) Bourita said it was clear the Polisario was "furious"
with the visit to the Western Sahara, as Girod had said
publicly after the Morocco leg of the trip that the GOM had
been fully cooperative, and that the delegation had been free
to circulate and meet with whomever they wanted. Bourita
commented that Girod, a former employee of the ICRC, seemed
"balanced and professional." Bourita said the Polisario had
deliberately provoked demonstrations in Laayoune during the
delegation's visit. More egregiously, names and contact
information for the delegation, including cell phone numbers,
email addresses, their schedule, and where they were staying
in Morocco, appeared on the Polisario website. Bourita said
this information must have been given to the Polisario by the
Algerians, because the Algerian and Moroccan missions in
Geneva were the only ones given this information. Having
this information shared had made some of the delegation
members uncomfortable, Bourita said.


6. (C) Bourita continued that the GOM sought to demonstrate
to the delegation that there was no disparity in the human
rights situation in the north and south of Morocco. There
was one human rights policy and one set of laws "for all of
Morocco." The global safeguards for human rights are the
same throughout Morocco, Bourita said. Yes, there are

deficiencies in administering the laws of Morocco, but the
same deficiencies are found throughout the country.


7. (C) The GOM sought to underline that Algeria, as a
country of first asylum, must provide protection to the
refugees in the Tindouf camps. Why can the refugees in
Tindouf not work? Why must they enroll only in Algerian
schools? Why are the refugees not free to travel? Algeria,
not the Polisario, must explain to the delegation the
precarious situation of the refugees, and as the protecting
power Algeria is responsible for violations against the
refugees. The GOM also hopes the delegation can clarify the
status of the missing.


8. (C) Bourita said the GOM remained disappointed with the
delegation's limited program in Algeria. There was an
imbalance between the Morocco and Algeria stops. Human
rights issues could not be discussed solely with the MFA in
Algeria. The GOM had given the delegation a file of specific
human rights cases for the delegation to follow up on.


9. (C) While satisfied with the visit, Bourita said the GOM
was somewhat uneasy about what follow-up activities the
delegation might recommend. The GOM hoped the delegation
would not be drawn into responding to every little allegation
from the Polisario. The delegation should not respond to
every letter from Abdelaziz that raises a human rights
complaint. The delegation must remain within their terms of
reference, which Bourita described as (reading from a UN
document): to gather information on the human rights
situation concerning the question of the Western Sahara; and,
to propose to the High Commissioner for Human Rights measures
through which the UN might be able to better assist all
concerned parties in addressing human rights concerns that
may be highlighted in the course of the mission.

A View from MINURSO
--------------


10. (C) Polcouns touched base by phone on May 22 with UNSYG
Francesco Bastagli in Laayoune. Bastagli said he had met
with the delegation at the outset, so it was difficult to
know what their findings would be. DKPO, he said, helped the
delegation with logistics but was not a major substantive
player in the visit. He described the purpose of the visit
as fact-finding, but said the delegation was not in Laayoune
long enough to get more than a snapshot. "They did not see
much," he said, though he echoed Bourita that the delegation
had seen the people they wanted. It was difficult for them
to get a feel for Laayoune. There was a pro-Moroccan
demonstration outside of their hotel at one point, Bastagli
said. What was clear, he said, was the tightened security in
town. Police were checking documents and people in the
vicinity of the Parador Hotel, where the delegation was
staying.
******************************************
Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website;
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/rabat
******************************************

Riley