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United States Policy on the Western Sahara Dispute: Overview and Recommendations
A FROZEN CONFLICT For almost fifty years, the Kingdom of Morocco (Morocco) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saqiat al Hamra and Rio de Oro (Polisario) have contested control of the roughly 266,000 square kilometer territory of Western Sahara. The respective parties of the conflict justifiably argue that it must be considered in the context of its deep historical and cultural roots, which stretch back centuries. While a full history is beyond this report’s scope, the territory’s phase of colonization serves as the starting point of this analysis.
Colonial and Pre-War Period The Berlin conference of 1884-1885 granted Spain control of two Northwest African regions, Saguía el Hamra and Río de Oro, that together comprised the “Spanish Sahara”3 and roughly included the territory today known as Western Sahara. After the Second World War, Spain consolidated these holdings into the “independent entity of Spanish West Africa.”4 This inaugurated a phase of tension between the region’s colonizing powers of France and Spain and local populations, punctuated by—among other events—Moroccan independence in 1957; the Ifni War of 1957-58; the “Sand War” between Morocco and Algeria in 1963; and eventually, escalating tensions aimed at forcing Spanish withdrawal. In 1974, in response to significant pressure from groups in and around the Spanish Sahara (including Morocco and the Polisario) and international actors, Spain announced that it would relinquish control of the territory and issued a report “in favor of Sahrawi self-determination.”5 Absent a comprehensive plan to facilitate such self-determination, however, the situation deteriorated. Shortly after Spain’s announcement, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that, while there were legal ties between the territory and both Morocco and Mauritania, these
ties were “insufficient to justify decolonization of the territory by any means other than a popular referendum.”6
Green March and Open Warfare Both the Polisario and Moroccans heralded the ICJ ruling as vindication of their claims to the territory. Moroccan King Hassan II, however, seized on the moment to call for a “Green March,” where 350,000 Moroccans traversed the Kingdom’s southern border in an attempt to claim the territory for Morocco. The Green March constituted “one of the most controversial and divisive events in the region’s history,” becoming key to subsequent Moroccan efforts to cement and justify their control of the territory.7 Conversely, the March galvanized the Polisario, spurring its “own efforts to recruit guerilla combatants to fight against the occupation.”8 Shortly after the Green March began, representatives from Morocco, Mauritania, and Spain agreed to the Madrid Accords, which divided the territory between Morocco and Mauritania.9 In Western Sahara, open hostilities erupted as Morocco, Mauritania, and the Polisario each attempted to gain control over the territory. Mauritania abandoned the fight and Morocco occupied the southern area awarded to Mauritania. The open warfare period lasted sixteen years, until UN intervention in 1991. The active conflict took place in a cold war paradigm, with Morocco “unequivocally anchored in the Western camp” and Algeria “perceived as an ally of the former Soviet Union.”10 In this context, the United States provided Morocco with support including “large-scale economic and military aid, military advisors and logistical assistance.”11 The warfare period resulted in significant displacement of civilians, particularly Sahrawis, “a reported majority” of whom fled to refugee camps in Algeria and Mauritania after Morocco dropped napalm and phosphate bombs on the original camps.12 Both sides were reported to have used arbitrary detention, torture, and
