UPDATE ON CONDITIONS IN WESTERN SAHARA

C O N F I D E N T I A L RABAT 000940

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/MAG

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/31/2017
TAGS: MO PBTS PHUM PREL
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON CONDITIONS IN WESTERN SAHARA

REF: A. RABAT 573


B. RABAT 572

Classified by A/Polcouns Ian McCary for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).


1. (C) Summary and Comment: While recent weeks have seen many
demonstrations of Sahrawis in Moroccan universities, unrest
inside the territory remains limited. At least nine Sahrawi
students have recently received jail terms for their role in
demonstrations. In Sahara, Layoune reportedly remains quiet,
with only isolated demonstrations, mostly by youth of high
school age and below. The Wali (Governor) of the territory
acknowledged to us that a number of people were detained by
police but he maintained they were shortly afterwards
identified and released. He contended that there have been
no recent arrests for demonstrations. Local human rights
contacts are making detailed allegations that at least some
of those detained were beaten. On the week of May 20, a TDY
Embassy officer witnessed a separatist demonstration of about
200, mainly youths, in the Saharan town of Smara. These
demonstrations, which may have been in response to calls from
the POLISARIO to mark their anniversary, appear to have been
more restrained than those held in the same time frame in
2005-2006. The events illustrate that many Sahrawis remain
pro-independence and see the POLISARIO as their
representative. However, the absence of widespread response
suggests that residents of the territory are at least looking
at the prospect of negotiations to resolve the conflict. End
summary and comment.


2. (SBU) In recent days there have been convictions of
Sahrawi students for disrupting public order. On May 30, two
separatist activists were sentenced in a court in Layounne to
five years in prison and two others received a year and a
half. Meanwhile, five Sahrawi students detained in Agadir,
southern Morocco, during politically-charged campus violence
in early May were sentenced on May 30 to two months
imprisonment.


3. (C) Rabat Army Attache, in Sahara to visit MINURSO during
the week of May 20, chanced upon a demonstration of about 200
persons - mostly youths, just outside a small bidonville at
the outskirts of town. There was some rock throwing. The
number of police on the spot was limited, but ARMATT left the
area before any denouement. The demonstrators may not have
been Sahara natives, but may have been Sahrawi immigrants
from Southern Morocco, who make up a substantial portion of
Smara's population (reftels).


4. (C) In a late May telephone conversation, the Wali
(Governor) of Layounne, the senior GOM official in the
territory, assured Polcouns that there had been no arrests
recently, although some persons had been briefly "detained
and identified, then released." The limited demonstrations
were carried out solely by young students, he observed. His
technical staff questioned whether a recently released
videoclip purporting to show demonstrators being violently
dispersed by police during a May 20 demonstration, may not
actually be footage from 2006. In any case this was being
stimulated, publicized and magnified by the POLISARIO, the
Wali maintained. Polcouns responded that the POLISARIO may
have called for some action by its supporters, but stressed
the necessity for security forces to exercise the utmost
restraint, in order to enhance prospects for an agreed
settlement.


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RILEY