UN plan for Western Sahara is launched: military observers stationed at 10 posts

UN Chronicle, Dec, 1991

The UN settlement plan for Western Sahara was launched on 6 September, with a formal cease-fire between the forces of Morocco and the Frente Popular para la Liberacion de Saguia el-Hamray y de Rio de Oro (POLISARIO) and the stationing of UN military observers at 10 observation posts.

Through extensive patrols by land and air, the military observers were to ensure observance of the cease-fire and the cessation of military activities, and ultimately monitor confinement of Moroccan and POLISARIO troops at designated locations.

By mid-September, the Security Council had endorsed the stationing of some 200 military observers and the staff necessary for command and control functions, logistical support, communications, air transport and medical support.

The dispatch of the team is the first stage of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, known by its French acronym MINURSO. The Mission was formally established by the Council on 29 April to ovesee implementation of the UN settlement plan, which details how a referendum on the future of Western Sahara should be organized. The people of the Territory are to choose between integration with Morocco and independence.

On 5 September, the day before the cease-fire, Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar reiterated the vital importance of parties abiding by their commitments and halting completely all their military operations, including troop movements and reinforcements, as well as acts of violence or intimidation that might compromise the plan's implementation.

The month before the cease-fire was marked by some worrisome developments. The Secretary-General expressed concern over reports of renewed military action in Western Sahara.

Mr. Perez de Cuellar on 9 August appealed to all concerned to refrain from any action which would endanger the implementation of the UN plan or jeopardize the existing truce.

On 13 August, the OAU joined in the appeal, expressing hope that the referendum would be held as planned.

The Secretary-General on 27 August, after meeting in Geneva with a POLISARIO representative, expressed confidence that the situation would "calm down".

Proposal approved

The Security Council on 9 July approved a proposal from the Secretary-General that MINURSO's military component be composed of units from 36 countries.

The 36 countries are: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Congo, Czechoslovakia, Egypt, Findland, France, Ghana, Greece, Guinea, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Malaysia, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Singapore, Switzerland, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, the USSR, the United Kingdom, the United States and Venezuela.

A central element of the settlement plan is the identification and registration of all Western Saharans eligible to vote in the referendum. This work has been entrusted to an Identification Commission. On 25 July 1991, it was announced that the Commission had completed the first step of its work, revising the 1974 Western Saharan census list, a copy of which had been given to the two parties in October 1990. As revised, the new list contains 70,204 names.

The revised list will be published in the Territory and in places outside where numbers of Western Saharans are known to be living, along with instructions on how individual Western Saharans can apply in writing, before a specified date, for inclusion in the list on the grounds that they were omitted from the 1974 census. After review of the applications by the Commission, a consolidated list of the names of persons who have been judged eligible to vote will be published.

The Commission will have also to identify and issue registration cards to persons whose names are on the consolidated list, and provide for appeals against non-inclusion of names in this list. A final voters list authorized by the Secretary-General will be published and the repatriation programme could begin. Upon the completion of this programme, the referendum campaign will start.

On 31 July, in a recorded message, Johannes J. Manz, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara, told hundreds of staff members gathered at Headquarters for a briefing on MINURSO that the Mission would need "strength, imagination and flexibility" from the staff, who would have to be "completely impartial". MINURSO's main concern, he stated, was the people of Western Sahara and their right to self-determination.