Stefan Simanowitz reports on how Aminatou Haidar’s hunger strike exposed Morocco’s continued oppression of Sahrawis
Just weeks after one human rights activist cheated death by hunger strike, seven others appeared before a military tribunal facing the death penalty.
On December 19 last year, a 32-day standoff that had been playing out on the island of Lanzarote between the Moroccan government and hunger-striking Nobel Peace Prize nominee Aminatou Haidar reached its dramatic denouement. A day that had begun with Haidar’s hospitalisation ended with the 42-year-old mother of two being flown home to her family without having made any concessions to the Moroccans.
Her homecoming was, in her own words, “a victory for international law, for human rights, for international justice”. It was also highly significant in that this was the first time in the 34-year history of the conflict that the international community had effectively intervened in Western Sahara to persuade Morocco to adhere to its obligations under international law.
By capturing both the popular imagination and the attention of the media, Haidar’s hunger strike gained massive public support and succeeded in propelling the issue of Western Sahara onto the political agenda. Yet despite these achievements – or perhaps because of them – Morocco seems intent on continuing with its violent suppression of Sahrawis who call for self-determination.
Last week, seven of the country’s most prominent human rights defenders were brought before a prosecutor in a military court in Rabat accused of treason. If they are found guilty, they could face the death penalty.
Aminatou Haidar’s hunger strike, staged in protest at her deportation for refusing to acknowledge Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, precipitated intense political and diplomatic activity in Spain, the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and the African Union. Her deportation was condemned by governments, civil society groups and human rights organisations around the world and resulted in the direct intervention of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the UN. The Moroccans, who had stated that Haidar would only be allowed home if she recognised Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara and apologised to King Mohammed VI, were forced into a very public climb down that no amount of carefully-worded diplomatic statements could disguise.
On her return to Laayoune, the capital of Western Sahara, Haidar rubbed salt into the wound: “I will never apologise to the king”, she told waiting journalists. “I am waiting for him to apologise to the Sahrawi people for their suffering and their torture”.
Since her return, the situation in Laayoune has remained tense. A number of Haidar’s supporters have been beaten and arrested. Reuters reported that Haidar, who has herself previously endured more than four years of imprisonment and torture, has been placed under virtual house arrest and that journalists are banned from visiting her.
Although Haidar’s new media profile might afford her a degree of respite from state harassment, other opponents of Moroccan occupation do not have the same protection. This is show by the treason charges levelled against the seven prominent human rights activists. They were arrested in October after returning from a visit to the refugee camps in the Algerian desert where 165,000 Sahrawis have been forced to live for more than three decades.
Human rights groups have expressed particular concern over the physical and mental condition of one of the seven, Degja Lashgar, who has been held in solitary confinement since for three months.
Over the years, numerous bodies, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, have raised concerns about violations of human rights in Western Sahara. These have been brazenly ignored by the Moroccans.
Last November, King Mohammed VI gave a speech in which he branded as ”traitors” anyone who questioned Moroccan sovereignty over its “Saharan provinces”. Now he has announced a new committee to draw up an “autonomy plan” for Western Sahara. Rather than signalling a new more open approach to the dispute, it seems the decision to allow Haidar to return home has made Morocco even more determined to prevent the long-awaited referendum on self-determination in the territory.
However, the Haidar debacle shows that Morocco will shift its position if subjected to sufficient international political pressure. There are signs that the international community is taking the situation in Western Sahara more seriously. At the end of 2009, the UN identified the conflict in Western Sahara as one of the “urgent issues” to resolve in 2010.
Since 1975, the UN has passed more than 100 resolutions reaffirming Western Sahara’s inalienable right to self-determination. Although it is unlikely that the UN will implement any enforcement measures, such as sanctions, there are still significant steps it can take.
In April, the mandate for the UN mission in Western Sahara (MINURSO) is up for renewal. There are hopes that this mandate will be extended to include a human rights monitoring role. At present, MINURSO is the only UN peacekeeping mission without such a function.
There are indications that Barack Obama’s administration would like to find a solution to the conflict in Western Sahara that conforms to international law and, as shown by the key role played by the Spanish and French governments in resolving the hunger strike, Morocco’s ties with the European Union are crucial.
The EU has strong links with Morocco through its European Neighbourhood Policy. It recently agreed to grant Morocco “advanced status” relations, reducing trade restrictions and increasing political and economic co-operation. However, the condition of advanced status requires a demonstrable commitment to human rights.
Throughout that her hunger strike, Aminatou Haidar stressed that it was not about the right of one individual to return to her home but about the collective right of all Sahrawis to live freely in their own land. Although she is back with her family, the situation for the Saharawis living under occupation in Western Sahara or as refugees in the desert has not changed. For a few brief weeks, Aminatou Haidar forced the world’s gaze on to one of its longest-running and least-remembered conflicts. We must not look away now.
Stefan Simanowitz is a journalist and broadcaster. He is chair of the Free Western Sahara Network and recently spent time with Aminatou Haidar in Lanzarote
