Sumar increases the pressure on the Government regarding Western Sahara

Eduardo González The Plurinational Parliamentary Group Sumar in Congress has presented two parliamentary initiatives to pressure the Government regarding the situation in Western Sahara, the main point of international friction between the two components of the coalition government since President Pedro Sánchez's decision to endorse the autonomy plan proposed by Rabat. Both initiatives are related to the situation of political prisoners and the use of Israeli-made weapons during Moroccan attacks against civilian targets. On the one hand, the group led by Vice President Yolanda Díaz presented a non-binding resolution on May 6th urging the Government to "denounce, through the appropriate channels, the situation of Sahrawi political prisoners in Moroccan prisons." The text, co-authored by Sahrawi-origin MP Teslem Andala Ubbi (better known as Tesh Sidi), calls on the government to demand the “immediate release” of the detainee or, at the very least, to demand “a fair trial and humane conditions during his detention, in accordance with International Law, guaranteeing, among other things, fundamental rights, an end to solitary confinement, and proper healthcare.” According to the motion, “for five decades, international bodies, United Nations mechanisms, and human rights organizations have documented a continuous pattern of systematic repression by the Kingdom of Morocco against the Sahrawi civilian population, particularly against those who peacefully defend the right to self-determination.” “Far from being isolated incidents, the evidence points to the existence of structural practices that could constitute serious human rights violations,” continues the minority party in the coalition government. Specifically, Sahrawi political prisoners are “distributed across several Moroccan prisons (Kenitra, Tiflet, Ait Melloul, Tan-Tan, Marrakech, etc.), which hinders communication with their families and exacerbates their psychological and social suffering.” Prison authorities continue to impose “isolation in individual cells” on some prisoners, and inmates “face increasing restrictions on family visits, whose requests are often rejected or subjected to arbitrary conditions.” Furthermore, Sumar reports that telephone communications “are very limited, intercepted, and sometimes cut off without justification.” Prison authorities apply a “systematic policy of harassment through the confiscation of personal belongings, such as books and clothing,” and, regarding their health, there have been cases of “systematic medical neglect” and “serious deterioration of physical and mental health” due to “the conditions in which they are held.” Moroccan attacks with Israeli weapons Furthermore, Sumar submitted a written parliamentary question to the Government on May 11th, asserting that, “since November 13, 2020, when Morocco broke the ceasefire signed with the Polisario Front in 1991 and declared a state of war,” the authorities in Rabat have committed “numerous atrocities both in the occupied territories through the murder of civilians and the use of Israeli-made drones against non-combatant populations.” Despite this, Sumar laments that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has limited itself to publicly condemning, via social media, “the recent impact of three projectiles on the outskirts of the city of Esmara, located in the north of Western Sahara, without fatalities, an attack claimed by the Sahrawi People's Liberation Army.” “It must be remembered that the action condemned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in its statement does not conflict with the norms of international humanitarian law, following the ‘ceasefire.’ In other words, it was an attack against a military installation within the context of an armed conflict, respecting the principles of proportionality, precaution, and distinction, without any impact on the civilian population,” warns Enrique Santiago, spokesperson for IU, who, along with other members of the Sumar coalition, drafted the parliamentary question. “In contrast, the vast majority of Moroccan attacks have not been condemned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which reveals a painful and damaging bias for the well-being and future of the Sahrawi population and the only legitimate representative of their interests, the Polisario Front,” denounces Díaz's party. This fact, they warn, is “even more serious when one remembers that Spain, in the eyes of international law, remains the administering power of Western Sahara.” Therefore, Sumar asks, “how many times has the Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Morocco’s attacks against civilians?” and “How many times has the Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Morocco’s attacks using Israeli-made drones?” It also asks the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to comment on “the military cooperation between Morocco and Israel, a country against which it maintains an arms embargo and which it frequently condemns,” and asks the Department headed by José Manuel Albares “what justifies the different stance it takes on similar events, such as attacks on civilians, regarding Israel compared to its stance regarding Morocco.”

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