Bir Lehlou (liberated territories), Oct 30, 2013 (SPS) - President of the Republic, Secretary General of the Frente Polisario Mr. Mohamed Abdelaziz has urged European Union Member States to refrain from signing and formalising the new EU Fisheries Protocol with Morocco because it does not explicitly exclude the territorial waters of Western Sahara, hilighting that such act would undermine UN efforts to find a peaceful and lasting solution to the conflict.
In a letter addressed today to the heads of state and government of the EU, ahead of the examination today, Wednesday, of the new Fisheries Protocol with Morocco proposed by the European Commission, the President of the Republic indicated that this move "may have considerable repercussions on the question of Western Sahara and the UN on-going efforts to bring about a speedy, just and lasting solution to this overdue decolonisation conflict."
The letter urged all EU Member States, the EU Commission and all EU relevant Institutions to refrain from signing and formalising the new EU Fisheries Protocol with Morocco because it does not explicitly exclude the territorial waters of Western Sahara, adding that this agreement "will also be contrary to the rights and interests of the Sahrawi people and to the relevant principles of international law applicable to Western Sahara as a Non-Self-Governing Territory."
It will further, said President Mohamed Abdelaziz, destabilise an already volatile situation in the region, thereby undermining the UN efforts to find a peaceful and lasting solution to the conflict, hilighting that it will give "a sign of legitimisation" to the Moroccan occupation of the Territory, thus contributing to prolonging the suffering of the Sahrawi people.
Given that Western Sahara is still considered by the UN as a Non-Self-Governing Territory pending decolonisation, the vague territorial specifications of the proposed protocol, which does not explicitly exclude from its geographical scope the territorial waters of the Non-Self-Governing Territory of Western Sahara, is a matter of great concern to us for a number of legal and political considerations.
Secretary General of the Polisario Front went on saying that signing an agreement with Morocco, which includes the territorial waters of Western Sahara, will therefore be "tantamount to rewarding the occupying power for its unabated violation of the basic human rights of the Sahrawi people, including their inalienable right to self-determination and to permanent sovereignty over their natural resources."
The letter asked the European Union to explicitly exclude Western Sahara from the geographical scope of the Protocol, just as other governments have done with respect to their trade agreements with Morocco.
It, in this respect, recalled that on 20 July 2004, the Trade Representative of the US Government stated in relation to the US-Morocco Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that “the United States and many other countries do not recognise Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara” and that “The FTA will cover trade and investment in the territory of Morocco as recognised internationally, and will not include Western Sahara”.
The letter concluded by saying that the parochial interests of some quarters "should not lead the European Union, as a supranational institution founded on the principles of democracy, freedom and respect for human and peoples' rights, to become involved in the stealing of the fisheries that belong to a people of a Non-Self-Governing Territory."
"The universality and indivisibility of human rights should be consistently upheld, particularly in a region where the European Union is working to promote democracy, rule of law and respect for human and peoples' rights," added the letter.
Copies of this letter addressed to Mr. José Manuel Durão Barroso, President of the European Commission, Ms. Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Mr. Gabriel Mato Adrover, Chair of the Committee on Fisheries of the European Parliament.
Following a complete text of the letter :
"Bir Lehlou, 29 October 2013
Excellencies Heads of State and Governments of the European Union,
I would like to address to you this letter to bring to your attention an urgent matter that may have considerable repercussions on the question of Western Sahara and the UN on-going efforts to bring about a speedy, just and lasting solution to this overdue decolonisation conflict.
It has come to our knowledge that the Ambassadors of the EU Member States will examine tomorrow the new EU-Morocco Fisheries Protocol proposed by the EU Commission to replace the second protocol to the Fisheries Partnership Agreement (FPA) between the European Community and the Kingdom of Morocco, which was vetoed by the European Parliament on 14 December 2011.
As we have underscored on numerous occasions, the vague territorial specifications of the proposed protocol, which does not explicitly exclude from its geographical scope the territorial waters of the Non-Self-Governing Territory of Western Sahara, is a matter of great concern to us for a number of legal and political considerations.
First, Western Sahara is still considered by the United Nations as a Non-Self-Governing Territory pending decolonisation. In accordance with the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice of 1975 and the legal opinion of the UN Under-Secretary for legal Affairs of 2002, Morocco does not exercise any sovereignty or administration over Western Sahara, and it is simply an occupying power of the Territory. As an occupying power, Morocco thus has no right whatsoever to enter into agreements with third parties concerning the resources of Western Sahara over which only the Sahrawi people have permanent sovereignty.
Second, Morocco continues to violate systematically human rights and international humanitarian law in the Sahrawi territories under its illegal occupation as documented by major international human rights organisations. Signing an agreement with Morocco, which includes the territorial waters of Western Sahara, will therefore be tantamount to rewarding the occupying power for its unabated violation of the basic human rights of the Sahrawi people, including their inalienable right to self-determination and to permanent sovereignty over their natural resources.
Third, in view of the legal status of Western Sahara and given the political, legal and ethical implications of the proposed EU-Morocco Fisheries Protocol, the European Union should explicitly exclude Western Sahara from the geographical scope of the Protocol, just as other governments have done with respect to their trade agreements with Morocco. On 20 July 2004, the Trade Representative of the US Government stated in relation to the US-Morocco Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that “the United States and many other countries do not recognise Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara” and that “The FTA will cover trade and investment in the territory of Morocco as recognised internationally, and will not include Western Sahara”.
Fourth, the new EU Fisheries Protocol with Morocco, which does not explicitly exclude the territorial waters of Western Sahara, clearly flies in the face of the clear and strong positions exhibited by some EU Member States. It also disregards the majority opinion expressed by the European Parliament and its legal service, which, in July 2009, established that EU-flagged vessels were in effect fishing in the waters adjacent to Western Sahara under the EU-Morocco FPA. It further recommended that the FPA should be suspended or be applied in such a way that EU-flagged vessels would be excluded from the exploitation of the waters of Western Sahara.
In view of the foregoing considerations, we urge all EU Member States, the EU Commission and all EU relevant Institutions to refrain from signing and formalising the new EU Fisheries Protocol with Morocco because it does not explicitly exclude the territorial waters of Western Sahara. The agreement will also be contrary to the rights and interests of the Sahrawi people and to the relevant principles of international law applicable to Western Sahara as a Non-Self-Governing Territory. It will further destabilise an already volatile situation in the region, thereby undermining the UN efforts to find a peaceful and lasting solution to the conflict. It will also give a sign of legitimisation to the Moroccan occupation of the Territory, thus contributing to prolonging the suffering of the Sahrawi people.
The parochial interests of some quarters should not lead the European Union, as a supranational institution founded on the principles of democracy, freedom and respect for human and peoples' rights, to become involved in the stealing of the fisheries that belong to a people of a Non-Self-Governing Territory. The universality and indivisibility of human rights should be consistently upheld, particularly in a region where the European Union is working to promote democracy, rule of law and respect for human and peoples' rights.
Please accept, Excellencies Heads of State and Governments of the European Union, the assurances of my highest consideration.
Mohamed Abdelaziz,
President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Secretary-General of the Frente POLISARIO." (SPS)
090/089