Moroccan Sahara: at the UN, Omar Hilale deconstructs the 7 fundamental lies of the Algerian separatist agenda

“60 years ago, almost to the day and in this same building, in 1963, Morocco requested that the issue of what was then called the Spanish Sahara be included on the agenda of the Special Committee for Decolonization, to definitively recover its Saharan province“, immediately reminded Mr. Hilale.

He noted that this demand was reinforced by the first resolution C24 of October 1964, followed by that of the General Assembly, adopted in December 1965, which required Spain to take immediate measures to decolonize “Spanish Sahara” and the neighboring enclave. Ifnia, through negotiations with Morocco.

“Thanks to the negotiations recommended by these resolutions, Ifni reintegrated the homeland in 1969, while the decolonization of the Sahara was completed in 1975, with the unforgettable return of this territory to its mother Morocco, thanks to the historic Green March of November 6, 1975 and the Madrid Agreement of November 14 of the same years“, the ambassador indicated, noting that this agreement was deposited with the Secretary General, and then it was ratified by the General Assembly in its resolution 3458B of December 10, 1975.

Mr. Hilale noted that “The history of the UN Moroccan Sahara could have ended there. But that was without the misfortune of Algeria, which created, hosted, armed and financed the armed separatist group Polisario», arguing that in its international promotion of its proxy, this neighboring country highlighted what the Greek philosopher Socrates had described, 25 centuries earlier, as the fundamental myth of posture.

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The ambassador then referred to the seven fundamental lies of the Algerian separatist agenda in the Moroccan Sahara, as well as to the avalanche of falsifications of history and the flood of distortions of international law that the representative of Algeria repeated in his speech before the Commission.

Regarding the first lie according to which Algeria defends the right to self-determination, the diplomat emphasized that this principle is only a cover by which this country achieves its hegemonic goals.

“Algeria uses this principle exclusively for the Moroccan Sahara. This is the only question she has been asking for years, without daring to say a single word about the other questions that were considered by this Commission.“, he remarked.

He recalled that Algeria ignored this principle by submitting, through its former president, the late Abdelaziz Bouteflika, on November 2, 2001 in Houston, to the personal envoy of the then SG, James Baker, a proposal on the division of the territory of the Sahara, as written in the report of the Secretary General S/2002/178 of February 19, 2002, paragraph 2.

Moreover, former Algerian ambassador Abdellah Baali sent a more explicit letter to the President of the Security Council on July 22, 2002, in which he said that Algeria remains ready to examine a proposal on the possible division of the “Western Sahara” territory. “, Mr. Hilale recalled, adding that Morocco immediately and categorically rejected this position.

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He also pointed out that “Algeria covered up the principle of self-determination by declaring a puppet republic in Algeria. Which is contrary to the very principle of self-determination“.

“Algeria denies this principle to the people who claimed it long before the creation of the Algerian state in 1962. These are the brave people of Kabila“, said the ambassador.

Referring to another lie according to which Algeria seeks respect for international legality, the Moroccan diplomat noted that this country “constantly violates international legality and violates the Charter of the United Nations when it comes to the principles of respect for territorial integrity, non-recourse to violence and the primacy of peaceful settlement of disputes“.

“Algeria was interested in Security Council resolutions only until 2001, when the Secretary-General declared the settlement plan inapplicable and consequently the referendum obsolete“, he explained, recalling that since 2002, Algeria has been ignoring Security Council resolutions only for the reason that they recommend a political, permanent and mutually acceptable solution to resolve this dispute.

“The paradox is that some of these resolutions were adopted with the approval and input of Algeria, while it was in the Council between 2004 and 2005.“, he explained, noting that Algeria even goes so far as to officially reject certain resolutions of the Security Council, as was the case in 2021 and 2022 with resolutions 2602 and 2654.

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Mr. Hilale further considered that Algeria’s refusal to return to the round tables is a flagrant violation of Security Council resolutions, international law and UN legality, adding that Algeria violates international law by delegating its sovereignty over part of its territory, i.e. Tindouf camps, to the armed separatist group Polisario. “Which was condemned by the Human Rights Committee and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention“, he said.

Regarding the third lie repeated by Algerian diplomacy, which describes Algeria as a “mere observer” on the Sahara issue, the ambassador pointed out that, despite its denials, Algeria has been the main party in this regional dispute since its inception.

“She requested this status in an official letter from her former ambassador to the UN, the UN General Assembly, on November 19, 1975.“, when he indicated: “In addition to Spain as the administrative power, interested and interested parties in the Western Sahara affair are: Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania.»

Noting that Algeria is represented in front of Morocco, Mr. Hilale noted that this official document does not mention the Polisario, even though Algeria has already hosted it on its territory.

“Algeria has accustomed the United Nations to react to all proposals of the GS and his personal envoys. Algeria thus rejected the Framework Agreement proposed by former personal envoy James Baker in a press release of the Algerian Council of Ministers dated February 25, 2002.“, he recalled again.

Morocco’s Permanent Representative to the UN also indicated that Algeria is taking economic retaliatory measures against any country that supports Morocco’s autonomy initiative and is protesting in the capitals of all member states that support Morocco in the 4th Committee.

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“Resolution 2654, which definitively established the round tables as an exclusive framework for conducting the UN political process, recognizes Algeria as one of the four actors that will participate, in the same format as the first two round tables from Geneva“, continued the diplomat.

Regarding the fourth fundamental lie of the Algerian separatist agenda, which presents the Sahara as “occupied territory”, Hilale pointed out that Algeria ignores international law and Security Council resolutions.

“The concept of occupation is applied according to the Hague regulations from 1907 and IV. to the Geneva Convention of August 12, 1949, on the territory of a state that already existed during an international armed conflict.“, he reminded, noting that the Sahara has never been a country – and never will be.

“It has always been an integral part of Morocco for centuries, thanks to the legal ties of allegiance of the population to the Moroccan Sultan, recognized by the International Court of Justice, in its advisory opinion of October 16, 1975.“, the ambassador argued, adding that no report of the UN Secretary General, nor any resolution of the Security Council qualify Morocco as an “occupying power”.

Referring to the fifth Algerian lie according to which the referendum is a “solution” to this regional dispute, the ambassador reminded that this so-called referendum is dead and buried, despite Algeria’s futile attempts. “We do not raise the dead“, he emphasized to the members of the 4th Committee of the UN General Assembly.

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“In his report of February 23, 2000 (paragraph 32), the Secretary General of the UN concluded that the solution plan was inapplicable, and therefore the referendum was out of date.“, he indicated, noting that the Security Council never mentions a referendum in any of its 36 resolutions adopted over 22 years.

Likewise, the General Assembly did not refer to it for almost 20 years, the ambassador pointed out, specifying that the Algerian resolution that the Commission will adopt at the end of the debate, like all those that preceded it for almost two decades, will not mention the referendum.

Returning to the sixth lie of the foundational myth of the Algerian attitude regarding the Moroccan Sahara which describes Algeria as the host country of the “Sahrawi refugee” camps in Tindouf, Mr. Hilale confirmed that “Algeria is not the host country of the Tindouf refugee camps, but the jailer of the population trapped there“.

“Indeed, these camps are a lawless zone and the scene of serious and widespread violations of international law, committed by the armed separatist group Polisario, which has proven links to the Sahel terrorist network.“, he condemned, pointing out that Algeria politically exploits these camps, which it presents as a symbol of the existence of the so-called problem called “Western Sahara”.

In these camps, children are enrolled, recruited and forced to join Polisario militias as soldiers, the ambassador protested, condemning “war crime» according to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

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Regarding the seventh lie that Algeria “bears” the humanitarian burden of the Tindouf camps, Hilale noted that the humanitarian aid that this country provides to the Tindouf camps is infinitesimally minimal.

“It is the international community that provides most of the humanitarian and financial aid to these camps.“, he insisted, noting that Algeria is spending several billion dollars to arm the Polisario separatist group and provide it with diplomatic support around the world, especially through lobbying firms.

“Algeria turns a blind eye to the embezzlement of international humanitarian aid by those responsible for the Algerian Red Crescent and those from the armed separatist group Polisario“, the ambassador further indicated.

And to conclude, these systematic and large-scale diversions have been confirmed by the European Anti-Fraud Office, the UNHCR and very recently the WFP, in their January 2023 report entitled “Evaluation of WFP Algeria Interim Strategic Plan 2019-2022”.