WESTERN SAHARA: DISSIDENTS SAY NO TO AUTONOMY, NO

C O N F I D E N T I A L RABAT 000238

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/MAG, DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/09/2011
TAGS: PGOV PBTS PHUM MO
SUBJECT: WESTERN SAHARA: DISSIDENTS SAY NO TO AUTONOMY, NO
TO GOM ABUSE

REF: A. 05 RABAT 2262

B. RABAT 181

C. 05 RABAT 2312

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


1. (C) Summary: Continuing our dialogue with Sahrawi civil
society, emboffs and NEA/MAG Desk Officer met with a group of
Sahrawi dissidents at the Laayoune home of prominent activist
Mohammed Dadach for an hour the evening of January 25. The
dissidents were members of the "Association for Sahrawi
Victims" (the name of the group has changed since our October
meeting, Ref A). The meeting took place several days after
the GOM forbade a Nordic delegation from meeting with
"Sahrawi separatists," thereby scuttling the Nordic visit
(septel),but the authorities made no attempt to obstruct our
meeting, nor we were surveilled to the Dadach house or asked
by the authorities to recap our activities in Laayoune. The
dissidents stressed that autonomy could not be a final
solution to the Sahara problem, but only an interim stop on
the way to a referendum which offered the possibility of
independence. The Sahrawi people would undoubtedly choose
independence if given the choice, they said. The group
sought to focus the discussion on GOM human rights abuses,
however, and displayed new case files and photographs
purporting to show police brutality against demonstrators.
As during other discussions, the Sahrawis presented their
arguments passionately and appealed to the USG, as the "only
people allowed to visit us," to help stop the abuse. End
Summary.

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New Abuses
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2. (C) The imprisonment and condition of Brahim Dahan, the
head of the Sahrawi association (reftel B),was one of the
topics initially discussed. Members of the group, which
gradually reached twelve as people drifted in and out of the
cramped room, said that they visit Dahan in Laayoune prison
approximately every two weeks; his wife sees him only on
Tuesdays and Thursdays. (Note: This arrangement is
different than the one discussed by the Laayoune prison
director (Ref B),who said visitors are allowed to see
inmates frequently and more times than the law allows. End
Note.) Overall he is fine; however, the charges against him
have not yet been well defined, according to activist Daha
Rahmouni. According to the group, Dahan is represented by
counsel; however, they are seeking international intervention
on his behalf.


3. (C) Ghalia Djimi, the secretary of the association, and
the most visible female member, presented new files of recent
atrocities allegedly committed by GOM security forces. On
January 14, she claimed there was a demonstration in front of
MINURSO headquarters. Djimi presented copies of eight files
of individuals whom the GOM security allegedly beat. The
files included photographs and medical certificates verifying
the bruises. The cases related to teen-aged girls, women and
men. (Note: The photographic documentation is clear: the
individuals all show severe bruising. It is not possible,
however, to say who was responsible for the beatings or when
and where they took place. End Note.)


4. (C) Polcouns asked what happened when female activist
Aminatou Haidar was released from the Laayoune prison.
According to press reports, Haidar was released on January
17, after serving a seven-month sentence for disturbing
public order and destroying property during demonstrations.
She returned to her home village of Lemleihess thirty
kilometers south of Laayoune where she was reportedly greeted
by well wishers, according to the group. A Moroccan press
report, written by an eye-witness, said that Haidar
proclaimed her allegiance to Polisario President Abdulaziz,
and well-wishers brandished Polisario flags and tore up
photographs of King Mohammed. The dissidents said the press
report was exaggerated and claimed GOM security intervened
quickly, characterizing the gathering as a demonstration, and
beat people. (Note: When asked for his version of events,
the Wali of Laayoune told us that a demonstration got

underway, threatened to become destructive, forcing police to
intervene. He stressed to us that no action had been taken
against Aminatou Haidar. End Note.)


5. (SBU) According to Djimi, GOM security officials randomly
target certain individuals when there is a demonstration or
gathering of people and beat them, even chasing them into
private homes if necessary. The same thing occurred during
Hamdi Lembarki's funeral (Ref C),according to Djimi. Djimi
did state, though, that the Polisario flag was used during
the funeral (some press reports claimed that Lembarki's body
was wrapped in the Polisario flag). The dissidents clearly
felt that displaying the Polisario flag should not be a
problem for the GOM, and scoffed at emboffs' suggestion that
security forces were clearly tolerating displays of the
Polisario flag, an act which seemed almost commonplace now.

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Views on Self-Determination
--------------


6. (C) The group considered the GOM autonomy plan to be
unveiled in April as a first step only and was more
interested in independence about which they did not
articulate any details. They said emphatically that
self-determination would lead to independence. At the same
time, however, the group stressed that the MINURSO mandate
should be expanded to include the ability to afford security
to the local population. (Note: The clear impression was
that the group believes MINURSO would protect demonstrators
if its mission were expanded. End Note.) Whereas other
nongovernmental (NGOs) representatives expressed a broad
vision of what constitutes a Sahrawi (septel),the dissidents
defined Sahrawis as only those born and raised in the
territory itself, people "who have been ignored for
thirty-one years." The dissidents again insisted they were
not members of the Polisario or working on behalf of the
Polisario.

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Equity and Reconciliation Commission: A Sham
--------------


7. (C) Even more vehemently than in our October meeting,
the dissidents reiterated their rejection of the Equity and
Reconciliation Commission (IER),which submitted its final
report to the King on December 1 (Ref A). For them, it is
not a question of compensation, but rather of the state
recognizing past abuses and admitting that these abuses
continue. The IER, according to this group, did nothing to
rectify the situation or address the human rights abuses
suffered by the Sahrawi people.


8. (C) In a twelve-page denunciation of the IER, the
Association for Sahrawi Victims lists the continuation of
forced disappearances, arbitrary detention, torture,
deportation and the committing of genocide against them as
continued GOM activities. From the perspective of the
association, the IER did not take seriously the number of
disappearances prior to the 1990s, and it certainly has not
done anything to assist anyone who has been abused since then.

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Comment
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9. (C) The dissidents were very agitated during this
meeting; they were passionate and angry and appeared to be
under stress. Their disdain for anything positive from the
GOM was clearly expressed, especially when they said how
ineffective the IER was. Accusing the GOM of committing
genocide against them is a more forceful statement than has
been made previously. Djimi discussed human rights, but uses
the term as a "buzz phrase" for independence, i.e., human
rights abuses exist because the Western Sahara is not
independent. In this meeting, Djimi was more strident,
purposeful and forceful. It was she who spoke for the group,
with the men mostly prompting her. Ibrahim Sabr spent some
time talking about the history of atrocities committed
against the Sahrawis. Both he and Mohammed Dadach, however,

seem to have taken on a more advisory, somewhat
"grandfatherly," role. Despite prompting, no one in the
group wished to elaborate on a vision of Sahrawi independence
or would consider any discussion of GOM proposals of an
autonomy plan.


10. (U) This cable was cleared by Y. Robert Ewing.





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