Fernando Novo
President of the Hispano-Algerian Cultural Association “Miguel de Cervantes”
For all Spaniards, the day of the general elections is approaching. Rarely in Spain’s recent history have elections been so eagerly awaited. This is because Spaniards want to break the trend and the catastrophic management of a government that, in order to govern Spain, has as allies those who do not believe in the idea of nationhood and want nothing more than to break up Spain and destabilise it. Everything seems to indicate that, by popular decision and in a majority vote, the government will change and Spain will be able to take a new direction in its trajectory.
And since it is a matter of looking to the future, the new government that emerges from the polls must align its position on Western Sahara with international law and the inalienable right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination.
But Spain, in addition to complying with international law, must go further, because it has a moral, legal, historical and political responsibility towards the Saharawi people, since Spain continues to be the administering power of the Sahara and the Madrid agreements of 14 November 1975, which ceded two thirds of the territory to Morocco and one third to Mauritania, were illegal under international law; This was confirmed when, on 29 January 2002, the United Nations Legal Council ruled that the “Madrid Tripartite Agreements” were null and void.
MINURSO, the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, as its name suggests, was created on 29 April 1991 (Security Council Resolution 690) with the aim of carrying out the referendum, not to manage poverty or to pass the time. It was created to carry out this referendum.
Well, this United Nations Mission for the referendum in Western Sahara has not been fulfilling the objective for which it was created for 32 years. How long do countries expect to continue to maintain this failure? Can’t their officials be more useful elsewhere? Especially considering the huge salaries they receive for not doing their job, which is none other than the objective we mentioned earlier. If we were talking about a private company, the company would have gone bankrupt and its workers would have been out of work for years. In the meantime, governments continue to maintain this lie and pay for the inefficiencies of one of their Missions. The bad thing, you know, is that behind this great “game of deceit and falsehood” and with the complicity of the donor governments (which soothe their consciences or whatever) there are thousands of people who, for 47 years, have had no future. Why don’t we do an exercise in empathy and put ourselves in the place of someone who was born in the Sahara? Whether in the part illegally and violently occupied by the Moroccan government or fraternally welcomed by Algeria in the refugee camps of Tindouf …. What kind of life do you, kind reader, suppose you could have, what about your family, would you have the same opportunities in life? And the continuous violations of human rights if you were born in the Moroccan-occupied part of the country… would you be able to live in dignity? Well, these and other questions are the ones that the donor countries have not asked themselves… and especially France and the United States, which seem to be insensitive and contemptuous towards these people who have been suffering their own “desert crossing” for forty-seven years.
I mention this because of the member countries of the Security Council, Russia, Great Britain and China are in agreement. It is the governments of France and the United States that oppose this free and democratic vote by the Saharawis. Perhaps these so-called “champions of freedom” should change their positions and stop maintaining double standards and hypocrisy in international relations.
I do not quite understand this, as the government of Western Sahara is widely recognised, since on 22 February 1982 SADR joined the Organisation of African Union (OAU), which was later replaced by the African Union (founded on 26 May 2001, in Addis Ababa). This meant that the member states of the OAU recognised Western Sahara as an independent and sovereign African state. In November 1984, Morocco decided, in protest at this recognition, to leave the organisation.
The founding act of the African Union has as one of its objectives (article 3, b): “to defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of its member states”; and as principles, for example: Sovereign equality and interdependence of all member states of the Union (Article 4 a); Respect for the borders existing at the time of achieving independence (Article 4 b); Prohibition of the use of force or threat to use force between member states of the Union (Article 4 f); Non-interference by one member state in the internal affairs of another member state (Article 4 g).
After some time, the Kingdom of Morocco officially submitted an application for accession to the Constitutive Act of the African Union to “recover” its former membership on 22 September 2016, during a meeting held on the sidelines of the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. And finally, after thirty-three years of absence, Morocco joined the African Union on 31 January 2017, after having carried out an “awareness and sympathy” campaign (as is customary in its international relations) among its member countries to get them to approve its new membership.
When Morocco applies for membership of the African Union, it is supposed to abide by each and every article and principle of the founding charter of the African Union. It is clear, then, that Morocco has not kept its word and has ignored the objectives and principles of this African organisation. The question is, for how long will the African Union continue to allow this attitude of contempt and disregard for its ideals by the Kingdom of Morocco, and are they insensitive to the unacceptable situation in Western Sahara and the Saharawi people and the continuous and serious breaches of respect for human rights, the plundering of the country’s wealth, etc., by the occupying power, which is Morocco?
That is why, as an administering power and as quickly as possible, Spain should encourage the countries of the Security Council and the United Nations in general to vote in favour of holding the Referendum of Self-Determination so that the Sahrawi people can freely decide their future.
Successive Spanish governments since 1975 have looked the other way without wanting to address the resolution of this unjust situation. It is time for a government elected by the Spanish people to do the right thing. The Spanish people will support it and will be grateful for it, as they feel that they are total friends of both the Saharawi people and the Algerian people, and that is why, I repeat, Spain must once again comply with international law and, in a sovereign, decisive, direct and uncomplicated manner, work for the holding of the aforementioned referendum on self-determination for the Saharawi people.
As for relations with our neighbouring country and historical friend, I can only say that Algeria has always proved to be a safe and reliable partner, a true friend to Spain. And that is why a new policy of rapprochement towards Algeria should be pursued without delay. These actions should begin immediately after the 23 July elections and be implemented as of September, at the start of the new academic and working year. Spain and its companies can no longer wait at a distance from a neighbouring and friendly country with which a future of joint collaboration in many fields can be foreseen. It would be desirable, therefore, that one of the first visits of the next Spanish Prime Minister should be to Algeria.
Those of us who have had the opportunity (and the good fortune, I would say) to work and live in Algeria for a few years and put our experience and knowledge at the service of the Algerian people know that the largest country in Africa is the one with the biggest heart, not only willing to help the Sahrawi people but also those who move there; that it is a friendly country to its friends and that it is a safe and reliable country in its relations. And if we remain in close contact with the country, we continue to certify it. That is why the Spanish government must work to ensure that companies (large and small) on both sides of the Mediterranean re-establish relations that are “on hold” and that they return to the path of cooperation, encounter and mutual development, allowing hundreds, thousands of Spaniards and Algerians to carry out their business in a climate of loyal trust and friendship.
Let us not forget that this situation of political and diplomatic coldness and the virtual freezing of economic cooperation relations has led Spanish companies with interests in Algeria to lose more than three billion euros due to the breakdown of relations, and whose bilateral trade has fallen by more than 90% according to the Association of Companies Affected by the Crisis with Algeria. And it has led many Algerian families to no longer be able to do business with our country or to not receive the parts or materials they need to develop their businesses or meet their objectives. But, above all, let us never forget that behind these figures there are people, there are families who need the normalisation of relations to be able to continue trading, exchanging and living. It is the future of a part of both societies and countries, it is the future of our children.
As I once said, returning to the level of trust that Algeria once enjoyed in Spain will be difficult and will take time and effort. And it will take time to reach the eighth High Level Meeting (HLM), but it is clearly a desirable objective because of the importance and significance it would have for our mutual relations. It will require commitments from Spain’s new government at the highest level and “real” assurances from Spain that it will not betray its neighbour or the agreements reached. It will require people who are fully committed to the relations between our two great countries and who, obviously, monitor relations, opportunities, etc. and who promote mutual collaboration in the many possible ways that exist.
But, above all, I continue to believe that both countries, Spain and Algeria, Algeria and Spain, have a very great potential for collaboration (and in many fields) ahead of us and we should take advantage of this new opportunity that will be presented to us from 23 July to carry out a sustainable and shared development of a future.
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