From: Christic Institute <christic@igc.apc.org>
Subject: Sabotage of W. Sahara Peace Plan
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: daemon@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: ?
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 1992 03:35:46 GMT

/* Written  6:32 pm  Sep 11, 1992 by peacenet in cdp:pn.alerts */
/* ---------- "Sabotage of W. Sahara Peace Plan" ---------- */
From: <peacenet>
Subject: Sabotage of W. Sahara Peace Plan

From crosenberg Wed Sep  9 14:08:04 1992
From: Charlie Rosenberg <crosenberg>
/* Written  2:06 pm  Sep  9, 1992 by crosenberg in cdp:mideast.nafric */
/* ---------- "Sabotage of W. Sahara Peace Plan" ---------- */
From: Ellen Wolpert <ewolpert>

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ON ANNIVERSARY OF CEASEFIRE, UN IGNORES MOROCCAN 
ATTEMPT TO SABOTAGE WESTERN SAHARA PEACE PLAN 

    September 6 marked the first anniversary of the deployment of the UN 
Mission for a Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) to monitor a cease-fire 
between Morocco and the POLISARIO Front and to begin implementing the UN 
Peace Plan for Western Sahara. The UN Plan is designed to end a 17 years of war
between Morocco and the POLISARIO Front for control over the former Spanish 
colony of Western Sahara. The UN Plan was originally slated to culminate in a 
referendum based on the Spanish Census of 1974. If implemented, the UN 
referendum would finally end seventeen years of exile for the 165,000 Sahrawi 
refugees and allow the Sahrawis to decide whether Western Sahara becomes 
independent or is integrated into Morocco. 
    From the very beginning MINURSO has been unable to carry out its mission 
because of Moroccan obstacles. Besides the numerous cease-fire violations, the 
Moroccan government has transferred thousands of new settlers into the 
territory, claiming that they are Sahrawis eligible to vote. This is a blatant 
violation of the terms of the Peace Plan, which endows the UN with the sole 
authority to determine who can vote and repatriating them into Western Sahara.
    Now, Morocco's inclusion of Western Sahara in the constitutional 
referendum of Friday, September 4, is the latest in a series of attempts to 
undermine viability of the UN Plan. 
    However, in New York both the UN Secretary General and the Security 
Council have failed to issue any statements or demands on Moroccan compliance 
with the terms of the Peace Plan. Secretary General Boutrous Ghali, in his 
official report of last month, did not take any position on Morocco's inclusion 
of Western Sahara in the referendum or in the elections of October 16. 
This silence is in sharp contrast to the recent forceful actions by the 
Security Council to protect UN operations in Yugoslavia and Somalia. 
    Meanwhile, the US Senate's Subcommittee on Africa will hold hearings on
September 16 to evaluate US contributions to UN Peacekeeping operations in 
Africa, including Western Sahara. Among the witnesses testifying will be 
Colonel Zapantas, the former head of the American contingent to MINURSO. 
Colonel Zapantas, in a previous Senate investigation on MINURSO, went on record 
to state that the UN Plan for Western Sahara was in serious trouble because of 
Moroccan non-compliance and the US Government's pro-Moroccan policy.
        The Senate hearings coincide with a speaking tour of the US by a 
representative from the Sahrawi refugee camps, Zahra Ramdane. Mrs. Ramdane 
fled after the Moroccan invasion in 1976 and ever since has been separated from
her family and lived in the refugee camps in southwest Algeria. She will be 
speaking about the prospects for resolving the Western Sahara conflict and her
experiences as a refugee. The cities she will be travelling to, include 
Raleigh-Durham (NC), Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Amherst, and 
Washington, D.C. 

For further information, please contact: 

Western Sahara Awareness Project, Inc.
179 College Ave
Somerville, MA O2144
Tel: (617) 625 8921
Fax: (617) 628 1332


Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive