Christopher Ross demands self-determination

Beguiling Morocco with his grandfatherly appearance

Delightful news out of Western Sahara, where things have been relatively lately. The new UN envoy on Western Sahara, US diplomat Christopher Ross, isn't taking up last envoy Peter Van Walsum's weak stance on self-determination.

After visiting Morocco, he went to the Polisario-controlled part of Western Sahara to read a speech to Mohammed Abdelaziz and some soldiers. He won't accept any solution that doesn't have self-determination:

Negotiations must tend to "a solution that includes the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination," Ross said in speech he read in Arabic to the Saharawi president-in-exile and an assembly of ministers and chiefs from the nomadic tribes that make up Western Sahara.

Sweet! If he keeps up he'll earn the envoy theme song.

Alternately, this could mean nothing. Some people think self-determination includes autonomy, and he hasn't mentioned a referendum. But at least he isn't endorsing autonomy like Van Walsum.

UPDATE: Reading a comment from blogger Van Kaas makes me think it's a good sign that Ross went to a Polisario-controlled part of Western Sahara instead of the refugee camps in Tindouf.

West Papua: Western Sahara in the Pacific

Justin Anthony Knapp comments here prolifically, in addition to frequently sending me great articles about Western Sahara. I asked Justin to write about another colonial issue close to his heart--West Papua.

An intractable dispute between a marginalized colonial possession and a regional power with an ideological agenda. A referendum that promises to be neither to be free or fair. United Nations intervention that only helps the aggressor. Political prisoners held in secret prisons for indefinite sentences. A Western world that has ignored the conflict or given low-level assistance to the aggressor. If this all sounds old hat to you, you may be familiar with West Papua.

Situated on the western half of the island of New Guinea (Papua New Guinea is the other half), West Papua has been in a struggle for self-determination even longer than the Sahrawis have. Under colonialism, Papua was divided between British, Dutch, and German spheres of influence, but like Spanish Sahara, the process of colonization was altogether light and did not destroy the indigenous culture – to this day, over 900 languages are spoken on the island.

As World War II ended, it became evident that Britain's empire could not hold and the Dutch were not interested in maintaining a presence half-way across the globe. The eastern half of the island achieved independence in phases from Australia and the United Kingdom through 1975. The western half of the island, however, was targeted by the nascent Republic of Indonesia, who threatened the Dutch with military action if Papua was not ceded to them.

In 1959, the Netherlands allowed for the first instruments of self-rule on the island: local elections and the creation of national symbols such as a flag. Indonesia, watching its chance for a new possession slip away, invaded in 1962.

By the end of that year, the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority became the first UN agency to administer a territory and was tasked with organizing a referendum to gauge the will of the Papuans. Unable and unwilling to force out the invading Indonesians, the "referendum" devolved into a tribal council of slightly more than 1,000 tribal elders who voted unanimously for integration with Indonesia.

An indigenous movement – the Organisasi Papua Merdeka (Free Papua Movement or OPM) waged an armed struggle against the Indonesian power, but disarmed in 2006. As a product of the democratization of Indonesia and the disastrous razing of Timor-Leste, Papua was granted autonomy in 2000.

OPM sympathizers claim that this autonomy really a sham (sound familiar?) and rather than self-rule, Indonesia is pursuing a policy of genocide through cultural destruction, religious suppression, and actual mass killings. A high-profile case in 2005-2006 of 43 Papuan refugees fleeing to Australia briefly brought the case national attention there and there are several Australians sympathetic to the OPM cause.

To learn more about the conflict in West Papua:

• See Peter D. King's West Papua and Indonesia Since Suharto: Independence, Autonomy or Chaos?. This 2004 book is the only mass-market English book available on the conflict. King, an Australian, has been studying Papua for over a quarter century.


• TAPOL's web page. "Tapol" is a Bahasa Indonesian word for "political prisoner;" the group focuses on human rights issues throughout Indonesia, with a special focus on Aceh, Papua, and Timor.


• Koteka.net. Few Papuan news sites are maintained, and Koteka is the best of them(the name comes from the penis-gourd worn in traditional Papuan garb.)

Anyone who can appreciate the plight of the Sahrawis can understand the anti-colonial struggle in West Papua as well. Papua Merdeka!

Flickr photo from user naturemandala used under a Creative Commons license

Dual SMGs, dual referendums

The Liberal International report has a proposal for settling Western Sahara I've never heard of: dual referendums. It was recommended by one of the members of the LI delegation. Here's how it would go:

61. A third method suggested by one of the Delegates is to hold a referendum in two stages:

i) The first referendum would be between integration into Morocco or autonomy. If integration was chosen, this would be the final solution.

ii) If autonomy was chosen, then there would be a second referendum on either autonomy or independence.

62. This is similar to Baker Plan I, which suggested granting autonomy to the Western Sahara with a referendum between autonomy or independence five years afterwards, however with an additional preliminary stage of a referendum which gives the option of integration into Morocco.

63. Morocco might prefer the dual referendum to Baker Plan I as the first referendum does not provide any option for independence.

To point 63, I say "duh". Can you imagine how fast Morocco would take a vote for autonomy in the first vote as proof Sahrawis love being in Morocco? There'd never be a second vote.

Hans Van Baalen's Liberal International report on Western Sahara

The Sahrawis turned me into a lobster!

From April 3rd to 7th 2006, members of the Liberal International toured Western Sahara and Tindouf to come up with a report for the International's European parties. Led by Hans van Baalen, a Dutch MP and shadow minister (spooky!), the commission concluded that autonomy for Western Sahara is a great idea. This is interesting because it seems like a majority of liberal parties in Europe don't like the occupation.

While Morocco saw the report, it's not clear if SADR ever did (they didn't get back to me). Anyone up for possibly secret reports? I have a copy, so leave a comment or send me an email if you want it. I'm trying to upload it on document sites but having a terrible time of it--once Scribd and its clones start liking the PDF, it'll be up here. Until then, a taste:

The LI Delegation believes that autonomy for the Western Sahara, as offered by the monarch, should be seen as a positive step and should be seen on its own merits. Autonomy could be both an interim solution and also an end state.

Sahrawi in spirit

My two new Western Sahara-related posts mean I can link you to things that aren't really related to Western Sahara, but would be if they could.

• My good friend (maybe more?) Alex from Houston has started a birth control blog, Broken Rubbers. Alex rocks and so does birth control, so you'll be wise to keep up with her exploits.
  
• I wrote the cover story for the Georgetown Voice last week about Ray Tanter and Iran. He's a professor at Georgetown who's hot for the Mujahiden-e-Khalq, an Iranian group the State Department calls terrorists. Yvonne Ridley, who hosted a show about Western Sahara on Iranian TV, makes an appearance. Anyway, I'm proud of the article and if terrorism or the Middle East is your bag you should check it out.
  

Oh yeah, apparently something happened in Kosovo and Anna Theofilopoulou rolled out another solid article. Alle at Western Sahara Info has the deets.

US supports autonomy, Woodrow Wilson "surprised"

In a blatant dismissal of international law and United Nations precedent, the United States came out last Wednesday in favor of Morocco's autonomy proposal. Most people expected the United States preferred Morocco over SADR in negotiations, but it's surprising the US would be so bold about it.

The official stance was delivered by Jackie Sanders, the US's alternate representative to the UN, pictured here with Western Sahara fan John Bolton. Why didn't John talk some sense into her? Anyway, here's what she said:

"We believe a promising and realistic way forward on the Western Sahara is meaningful autonomy. Morocco’s initiative could provide a realistic framework to begin negotiations on a plan that would provide for real autonomy contingent on the approval of the local populations. We hope both sides will engage realistically."

Check out this inspired bit of obfuscation from Ambassador Sanders, when a reporter questioned her during the same stakeout:

Reporter: But the U.S. voted yes on resolution 1754, which acknowledges both proposals, so I am wondering why there is a back step right now based on this statement that you just said?

Ambassador Sanders: I would not call it a “back step,” I would call it forward movement. We want to see forward movement with the parties and I think we are seeing that.

Maybe I'm not versed enough in diplomacy to understand, but I think supporting self-determination aces an imposed political solution any day. This strikes me as another maneuver to force Polisario into negotiating terms of autonomy, and not whether to accept autonomy at all. To help that more, Sanders refused to treat Polisario's plan equally.

For those who think the United States will have a lot to say about any non-violent resolution to the conflict, there is a bit of good news. People with connections to politics tell me Democrats are more disposed to supporting the Sahrawi side of things, and the mood in the U.S. is leaning towards a Dem victory in 2008. Universal health care and a referendum? 2009 will see an embarrassment of riches.

Alle at Western Sahara Info has more on Sanders's statement, and Canada's annexation of the U.S.

Tell the Secretary General to defend self-determination

Do online petitions do anything? Maybe not. If any online petition related to the Western Sahara ever helps the Sahrawi people, though, it'll be this one, an appeal to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to defend self-determination in face of the autonomy plan presentation in April.

The petition has been getting a lot of publicity online, running at the top of ARSO's front page and on several blogs. The petition calls for an immediate referendum on self-determination, as well as protection for Sahrawis in the occupied territory.

There is also a more detailed argument against autonomy. The petition points out that autonomy is expressly against all the previous agreements that supported a referendum.

This petition has already received a lot of signatures. The usual countries are well-represented (Spain, Morocco, Western Sahara, and Algeria), as are Norway, the United States, and France. Still, the petition has been signed by people as diverse as Angolans and Singaporeans.