Two parties asked to facilitate voter identification process

UN Chronicle, Sept, 1995

The Security Council on 30 June stressed the need for Morocco and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro (POLISARIO) to refrain from any actions that hindered the implementation of the settlement plan for the referendum in Western Sahara, and asked the Secretary-General to persuade the two parties to resume their participation in the plan's implementation.

By resolution 1002 (1995), the Council also extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) until 30 September 1995, while expressing concern that implementation of the settlement plan had been further delayed.

The Council asked that it be kept informed of any significant delays in the pace of the identification process or other developments that would call into question the start of the transitional period- 15 November 1995.

The Council also endorsed the Sectetary-general's "benchmarks" contained in his 19 May report and recommendations of a six-member mission sent to the region from 3 to 9 June.

Resolution 995:

Mandate extension

The Council on 26 May, by resolution 995 (1995), had extended the mandate of MINURSO unfil 30 june and decided to send a mission to the region to accelerate implementation of the settlement plan.

Led by Legwaila Joseph Legwaila of Botswana, it also included Emilio J. Cardenas of Argentina, Herve Ladsous of France, Gerardo Martinez Blanco of Honduras, Salim Bin Mohammed Al-khussaiby of Oman, and Karl F. inderfurth of the United States.

On 21 june, the mission reported (S/1995/498) that the continued suspicion and lack of trust between the two parties had politicized technical problems that could have been resolved easily with goodwill.

The time required for the identification process and other aspects of the settlement plan had been underestimated. There was a real risk that the process would have to be extended beyond the scheduled dates.

The mission recommended that both parties abandon their insistence on reciprocity in the number and operation of identification centres, and refrain from blaming their lack of cooperation on the other side. Since moving identification teams and their equipment around the desert was impractical, additional teams should be mobilized in temporary fixed centres.

The mission also recommended that consultations take place on the exchange of prisoners of war and the release of political detainees.

On 19 May, the Secretary-General had reported (S/1995/404) that while the cease-fire had been observed since 6 September 1991, the widely differing positions and preoccupations of the parties had led to prolonged consultations in the search for compromises. While the complexity and sensitivity of the identification process had not been foreseen and it had taken ten months to process less than one third of the persons to be identified, many barriers that seemed insurmountable had been overcome.

Parties disagree

On 23 June, POLISARIO had announced the suspension of its participation in the identification operation and the recall of all Saharan observers until credibflity was restored to the peace process. That was because, it added, of the trial and conviction by a military court of eight Saharan civilians, who had participated in a "peaceful rally for Western Saharan independence". It also condemned Morocco's intenbon to have 100,000 Moroccan settlers participate in the voter identification operation.

POLISARIO called for: the immediate release of all political prisoners; an end to the campaign of repression against the Western Saharan people; and strict monitoring of the northern border to ensure that no foreigners were moved into the Territory.

Morocco on 26 lune stated that POLISARIO'S decision to suspend participation in the identification operation and the threats of resumed hostilities had "dashed all hopes" raised by the mission and the Council efforts. That "unilateral decision" confirmed that the other party was planning to withdraw from the process for settling the Saharan question.

Morocco also stated that POLISARIO, having concluded that the process would "clearly show that it accounted for only a small minority of the Saharan population", had decided to claim that the UN was incapable of ensuring the objectivity and neutrality of the operation.