SA slates UN

April 25 2012 at 09:08am 
By Joe Lauria

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supplied

Baso Sangqu

South Africa on Tuesday night criticised a UN peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara for ignoring human rights violations in the Moroccan-controlled territory after Pretoria voted in the Security Council to extend the mission for another year.

SA's UN Ambassador Baso Sangqu blasted the council on Tuesday night for taking “bold steps” over the past 18 months to protect human rights in North Africa and the Middle East, but not in Africa's last colony.

“We have to ensure that the rights of the people of Western Sahara are not ignored and are equally defended with the same zeal and commitment,” Sangqu told the council in a clear reference to Security Council authorisation last year of military action to protect civilians in Libya.

Once again the Security Council failed to include a human rights monitoring group in the UN mission, known as MINURSO, Sangqu said.

“It is an anomaly that MINURSO is one of the few UN (peacekeeping missions) that does not have a human rights mandate,” Sangqu said. “This double standard creates an impression that the Security Council does not givepriority to the human rights of the people of Western Sahara.”

Sangqu warned that if this continued, Security Council credibility would “erode.”

“We see no reason, why the people of Western Sahara should be treated any differently,” he said.

Morocco annexed Western Sahara after Spanish colonial control ended in 1975. The Polisario Front launched a guerilla war against Morocco until 1991, when the UN brokered a ceasefire. It was supposed to lead to a referendum on independence that has never been held.

The Polisaro has alleged continued human rights abuses against the local population by Moroccan authorities. But the UN has failed to investigate those charges under pressure from Morocco and France, its former colonial power, Western diplomats say.

“The selective approach to human rights by this council calls into question the motivation of those who have conveniently looked the other way while human rights abuses are committed in the territory of Western Sahara,” Sangqu said.

He also took issue with what he said was political interference in Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's latest written report on the territory.

“I wish to raise my delegation's concern at the manner in which the report of the Secretary-General was prepared and finalized,” he told the council.

“Due consideration should be given to Article 100 of the Charter of the United Nations in the preparation of these reports,” he said.

Article 100 says that the UN Secretary-General “may not seek or receive instructions from any government” or organisatio outside the UN system.

The Polisario Front accused France and Morocco of pressuring Ban to remove criticism of Rabat in the report. France has denied the allegation. Morocco has made no comment.

“Morocco has made it a standard practice to interfere in the reports of the Secretary General,”

Ahmed Boukhari, a Frente Polisario representative, told reporters at the UN.

“This time it was very serious because the changes were made after the Secretary-General signed the report.”A Western diplomat backed up this view.

"It's certainly disappointing that the text that was

circulated by the secretariat ... came out in a different version, after lobbying by several member states," he said.

"I don't think that's good for the credibility of the secretariat."

"But it's still a hard-hitting report,” the Western diplomat said.

It is unclear what was removed from the report that angered South Africa.

The final version of Ban's report to the Security Council says numerous, "factors have undermined the mission's ability to monitor and report consistently on the situation" in Western Sahara.

These include “indications that the confidentiality of the communications between MINURSO headquarters and New York has, at least on one occasion, been compromised."

The UN's compound in Laayoune, Sahara's central city under Moroccan domination, is bedecked with 21 Moroccan flags and UN cars are forced to use Moroccan diplomatic tags, undermining the mission's neutrality, the report says.

When travelling to Polisario areas UN officials must stop to change the tags to UN plates, which the UN uses everywhere else in the world, the report says.

This "create an appearance that raises doubts about the neutrality of the mission," the report says. “In parallel, the Moroccan police presence outside the compound discourages visitors from approaching MINURSO in an independent capacity."

UN officials' contacts with outsiders is “controlled and monitored,” the report says.

“We are concerned at the restrictions placed on MINURSO,” said Sangqu, “particularly those measures that threaten to compromise its neutrality. We call on all parties to ensure that MINURSO is able to operate under generally accepted peacekeeping principles, norms and practices.”

Despite these reservations, South Africa still supported MINURSO because it believes it can still help bring about independence for the territory.

The UN mission must maintain stability, attempt to hold the independence referendum and inform the council of conditions in the territory, Sangqu said.

“South Africa will continue to support efforts to achieve a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara,” Sangqu said. - Independent Foreign Service