Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Encyclopedia
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is a partially recognised state that claims sovereignty over the entire territory of Western Sahara
, a former Spanish
colony. SADR was proclaimed by the Polisario Front
on February 27, 1976, in Bir Lehlu, Western Sahara. The SADR government controls about 20-25% of the territory it claims. It calls the territories under its control the Liberated Territories or the Free Zone. Morocco
controls and administers the rest of the disputed territory and calls these lands its Southern Provinces
. The SADR government considers the Moroccan-held territory occupied territory, while Morocco considers the much smaller SADR held territory to be a buffer zone
.
evacuation of Spanish Sahara
, Spain, Morocco, and Mauritania
signed the Madrid Accords
on November 14, 1975, leading to both Morocco and Mauritania moving in to annex
the territory of Western Sahara. Neither state gained international recognition and war ensued with the independence
-seeking Polisario Front
, claiming to represent the Sahrawi people. The creation of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic was announced in Bir Lehlou
in Western Sahara on February 27, 1976, as the Polisario declared the need for a new entity to fill what they considered a political void left by the departing Spanish colonisers
. Bir Lehlou remained in Polisario-held territory under the 1991 cease-fire (see Settlement Plan
) and has remained the government in exile's symbolic capital of the exiled republic
, while Polisario continues to claim the Moroccan held city of El Aaiún
, as the capital of a would-be independent Western Sahara. Day-to-day business, however, is conducted in the Tindouf
refugee camp
s in Algeria
, which house most of the Sahrawi exile community.
, now Mohammed Abdelaziz, who appoints the Prime Minister of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
, now Abdelkader Taleb Oumar
. The SADR's government structure consists of a Council of Ministers (a cabinet led by the Prime Minister), a judicial branch (with judges appointed by the President) and the parliamentary Sahrawi National Council
(SNC, present speaker
is Kathri Aduh). Since its inception in 1976, the various constitutional revisions
has transformed the republic from an ad hoc managerial structure into something approaching an actual governing apparatus. From the late 1980s the parliament began to take steps to institute a division of powers and disentangle the republic's structures from those of the Polisario party, although without clear effect to date.
Its various ministries are responsible for a variety of services and functions. The judiciary
, complete with trial courts, appeals courts and a supreme court
, operates in the same areas. As a government-in-exile, many branches of government do not fully function, and has affected the constitutional roles of the institutions. Institutions parallel to government structures also have arisen within the Polisario Front
, which is fused with the SADR's governing apparatus, and with operational competences overlapping between these party and governmental institutions and offices.
The SNC
is presently weak in its legislative role, having been instituted as a mainly consultative and consensus-building institution, but it has strengthened its theoretical legislative and controlling powers during later constitutional revisions. Among other things, it has added a ban on the death penalty to the constitution, and brought down the government in 1999 through a vote of no-confidence.
s located in the Tindouf Province
of western Algeria
. It is headquartered in Camp Rabouni
, south of Tindouf
, although some official events have taken place on Western Saharan territory in the provisional capital of Bir Lehlou
, in Tifariti
and other towns in the Liberated Territories
. The government of the SADR administers both the Western Sahara territories under its control and the Sahrawi refugee camps on Algerian soil near Tindouf, but only claims sovereignty on the first ones. Several foreign aid agencies, including the UNHCR, and NGO's are continually active in the camps.
took a form similar to parliamentary constitutions of many Europe
an states, but with some paragraphs suspended until the achievement of "full independence
". Among key points, the head of state
is constitutionally the Secretary General of the Polisario Front during what is referred to as the "pre-independence phase," with provision in the constitution that on independence, Polisario is supposed to be dismantled or separated completely from the government structure. Provisions are detailed for a transitory phase beginning with independence, in which the present SADR is supposed to act as Western Sahara's government, ending with a constitutional reform and eventual establishment of a state along the lines specified in the constitution.
The broad guidelines laid down for an eventual Western Saharan state in the constitution include eventual multi-party democracy
with a market economy
. The constitution also defines Sahrawis as a Muslim
, Africa
n and Arab
people
, The Constitution also declares a commitment to the principles of human rights
and to the concept of a Greater Maghreb
, as a regional variant of Pan-Arabism
.
representative of Western Sahara by 58 states, mostly Africa
n and other governments in the developing world. Twenty-two states have withdrawn their former recognition, and twelve have "frozen" their diplomatic relations with the republic pending the outcome of the UN referendum
. Sahrawi embassies exist in fifteen states
. On the other hand, Moroccan territorial integrity, (i.e. Morocco including Western Sahara), is explicitly recognized by the Arab League
.
Although it has no recognition from the United Nations
, the republic has been a full member of the African Union
(AU, formerly the Organisation of African Unity, OAU) since 1984. Morocco withdrew from the OAU in protest and remains the only African nation not within the AU since South Africa
's admittance in 1994. The SADR is also a member of the Asian-African Strategic Partnership formed at the 2005 Asian-African Conference
, despite Moroccan objections to SADR participation.
In 2006, the SADR participated in a conference of the Permanent Conference of Political Parties of the Latin American and the Caribbean (COPPAL).
In 2010, the SADR ambassador to Nicaragua participated in the opening conference of the Central American Parliament
(PARLACEN).
On 27 February 2011, the 35th anniversary of the proclamation of SADR was held in Tifariti, Western Sahara. Delegations, including parliamentarians, ambassadors, NGOs and activists from many countries participated in this event.
The SADR is not a member of the Arab League
, nor of the Arab Maghreb Union
, both of which include Morocco as a full member. Having stated his support for the right of the State of Palestine
to be admitted as a UN member, H.E. President Robert Mugabe
of Zimbabwe
called upon "Similarly, the tormented people of he Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic" must not be forgotten. We call for immediate progress in the engagement for a solution to their long-running problem".
, created by James Baker
, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
's personal envoy to Western Sahara, the SADR would have been replaced with a five-year transitional Western Sahara Authority (WSA), a non-sovereign
autonomous region supervised by Morocco, to be followed by a referendum
on independence. However, as Morocco has declined to participate, the plan appears dead.
In April 2007 the government of Morocco suggested that a self-governing entity, through the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs
(CORCAS), should govern the territory with some degree of autonomy for Western Sahara. The project was presented to the United Nations Security Council in mid-April 2007. A stalemate over the Moroccan proposal led the UN in an April 2007 "Report of the UN Secretary-General" to ask the parties to enter into direct and unconditional negotiations to reach a mutually accepted political solution.
Islamic calendar
.
Other
Western Sahara
Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...
, a former Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
colony. SADR was proclaimed by the Polisario Front
Polisario Front
The POLISARIO, Polisario Front, or Frente Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro is a Sahrawi rebel national liberation movement working for the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco...
on February 27, 1976, in Bir Lehlu, Western Sahara. The SADR government controls about 20-25% of the territory it claims. It calls the territories under its control the Liberated Territories or the Free Zone. Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
controls and administers the rest of the disputed territory and calls these lands its Southern Provinces
Southern Provinces
The Southern Provinces or Moroccan Sahara are the terms used by Morocco for Western Sahara, in reference to the part of Western Sahara that lies to the west of the Moroccan Berm...
. The SADR government considers the Moroccan-held territory occupied territory, while Morocco considers the much smaller SADR held territory to be a buffer zone
Buffer zone
A buffer zone is generally a zonal area that lies between two or more other areas , but depending on the type of buffer zone, the reason for it may be to segregate regions or to conjoin them....
.
History
Following the SpanishSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
evacuation of Spanish Sahara
Spanish Sahara
Spanish Sahara was the name used for the modern territory of Western Sahara when it was ruled as a territory by Spain between 1884 and 1975...
, Spain, Morocco, and Mauritania
Mauritania
Mauritania is a country in the Maghreb and West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest...
signed the Madrid Accords
Madrid Accords
The Madrid Accords, also called Madrid Agreement or Madrid Pact, was a treaty between Spain, Morocco, and Mauritania to end the Spanish presence in the territory of Spanish Sahara, which was until the Madrid Accords' inception a Spanish province and former colony. It was signed in Madrid on...
on November 14, 1975, leading to both Morocco and Mauritania moving in to annex
Annexation
Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...
the territory of Western Sahara. Neither state gained international recognition and war ensued with the independence
Independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....
-seeking Polisario Front
Polisario Front
The POLISARIO, Polisario Front, or Frente Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro is a Sahrawi rebel national liberation movement working for the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco...
, claiming to represent the Sahrawi people. The creation of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic was announced in Bir Lehlou
Bir Lehlou
Bir Lehlou is a small town in north-eastern Western Sahara, near the Mauritanian border and east of the border wall, in POLISARIO-held territory. It has a dispensary and a school...
in Western Sahara on February 27, 1976, as the Polisario declared the need for a new entity to fill what they considered a political void left by the departing Spanish colonisers
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
. Bir Lehlou remained in Polisario-held territory under the 1991 cease-fire (see Settlement Plan
Settlement Plan
The Settlement Plan was an agreement between the Polisario Front and Morocco on the organization of a referendum, which would constitute an expression of self-determination for the people of Western Sahara, leading either to full independence, or integration with the kingdom of Morocco...
) and has remained the government in exile's symbolic capital of the exiled republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
, while Polisario continues to claim the Moroccan held city of El Aaiún
El Aaiún
El-Aaiún , is a city in Western Sahara founded by the Spanish in 1928. Administered by Morocco since 1976, El-Aaiún is the capital of what the Moroccan government call the region of Laâyoune-Boujdour-Sakia El Hamra, and POLISARIO call Occupied Territories...
, as the capital of a would-be independent Western Sahara. Day-to-day business, however, is conducted in the Tindouf
Tindouf Province
Tindouf, also written Tinduf, is the westernmost province of Algeria, having a population of 58,193 as of the 2008 census. Despite the barren landscape, Tindouf is a resource-rich province, with important quantities of iron ore located in the Gara Djebilet area close to the border with Mali...
refugee camp
Refugee camp
A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees. Hundreds of thousands of people may live in any one single camp. Usually they are built and run by a government, the United Nations, or international organizations, or NGOs.Refugee camps are generally set up in an impromptu...
s in Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, which house most of the Sahrawi exile community.
Government structure
The highest office of the republic is the President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic RepublicPresident of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
The President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is the head of state of the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic , an exile government based in the refugee camps of Tindouf, Algeria. From the declaration of independence on February 27, 1976 to October 16, 1982 SADR's Head of State...
, now Mohammed Abdelaziz, who appoints the Prime Minister of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Prime Minister of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
The Prime Minister of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is the head of government of the SADR, while the President is the head of state. The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic was proclaimed in the territory that made up the Spanish colony of Spanish Sahara on February 27, 1976...
, now Abdelkader Taleb Oumar
Abdelkader Taleb Oumar
Abdelkader Taleb Omar is the Prime Minister of the self-declared Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic , in the framework of the government-in-exile proclaimed by the Polisario Front...
. The SADR's government structure consists of a Council of Ministers (a cabinet led by the Prime Minister), a judicial branch (with judges appointed by the President) and the parliamentary Sahrawi National Council
Sahrawi National Council
The Sahrawi National Council or simply National Council is the legislature of the government in exile of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Its structure and competences are guided by the Constitution of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic...
(SNC, present speaker
Speaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...
is Kathri Aduh). Since its inception in 1976, the various constitutional revisions
Constitution of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
A constitution of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic was first promulgated in 1976, but it has been revised several times since then. The last major redrafting came in 1991, but this version was further changed by the Sahrawi National Council - the SADR's parliament in exile - in 1995 and...
has transformed the republic from an ad hoc managerial structure into something approaching an actual governing apparatus. From the late 1980s the parliament began to take steps to institute a division of powers and disentangle the republic's structures from those of the Polisario party, although without clear effect to date.
Its various ministries are responsible for a variety of services and functions. The judiciary
Judiciary
The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes...
, complete with trial courts, appeals courts and a supreme court
Supreme court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of many legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, instance court, judgment court, high court, or apex court...
, operates in the same areas. As a government-in-exile, many branches of government do not fully function, and has affected the constitutional roles of the institutions. Institutions parallel to government structures also have arisen within the Polisario Front
Polisario Front
The POLISARIO, Polisario Front, or Frente Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro is a Sahrawi rebel national liberation movement working for the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco...
, which is fused with the SADR's governing apparatus, and with operational competences overlapping between these party and governmental institutions and offices.
The SNC
Sahrawi National Council
The Sahrawi National Council or simply National Council is the legislature of the government in exile of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Its structure and competences are guided by the Constitution of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic...
is presently weak in its legislative role, having been instituted as a mainly consultative and consensus-building institution, but it has strengthened its theoretical legislative and controlling powers during later constitutional revisions. Among other things, it has added a ban on the death penalty to the constitution, and brought down the government in 1999 through a vote of no-confidence.
Area of authority
The SADR acts as a government administration in the Sahrawi refugee campRefugee camp
A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees. Hundreds of thousands of people may live in any one single camp. Usually they are built and run by a government, the United Nations, or international organizations, or NGOs.Refugee camps are generally set up in an impromptu...
s located in the Tindouf Province
Tindouf Province
Tindouf, also written Tinduf, is the westernmost province of Algeria, having a population of 58,193 as of the 2008 census. Despite the barren landscape, Tindouf is a resource-rich province, with important quantities of iron ore located in the Gara Djebilet area close to the border with Mali...
of western Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
. It is headquartered in Camp Rabouni
Refugee camps in Tindouf Province, Algeria
The Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria, are a collection of refugee camps, set up in the Tindouf Province, Algeria in 1975-76 for Sahrawi refugees fleeing from Moroccan forces, who advanced through Western Sahara during the Western Sahara War...
, south of Tindouf
Tindouf
Tindouf is the main town in Tindouf Province, Algeria, close to the Mauritanian and Moroccan borders. The region is considered of strategic significance, and it houses Algerian military bases. Since 1975, it also contains several Sahrawi refugee camps operated by the Polisario Front a guerrilla...
, although some official events have taken place on Western Saharan territory in the provisional capital of Bir Lehlou
Bir Lehlou
Bir Lehlou is a small town in north-eastern Western Sahara, near the Mauritanian border and east of the border wall, in POLISARIO-held territory. It has a dispensary and a school...
, in Tifariti
Tifariti
Tifariti is an oasis town located in POLISARIO-controlled Western Sahara, east of the Moroccan Berm, and 15 km. north the Mauritanian border. It is part of what POLISARIO call the Liberated Territories and Morocco call the Buffer Zone. It has a hospital, a school, a mosque and a museum...
and other towns in the Liberated Territories
Free Zone (region)
The Free Zone or Liberated Territories is a term used by the Polisario Front to describe the part of Western Sahara that lies to the east of the Moroccan Berm and west and north of the borders with Algeria and Mauritania, respectively...
. The government of the SADR administers both the Western Sahara territories under its control and the Sahrawi refugee camps on Algerian soil near Tindouf, but only claims sovereignty on the first ones. Several foreign aid agencies, including the UNHCR, and NGO's are continually active in the camps.
Constitution and characteristics
A new 1999 Constitution of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic RepublicConstitution of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
A constitution of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic was first promulgated in 1976, but it has been revised several times since then. The last major redrafting came in 1991, but this version was further changed by the Sahrawi National Council - the SADR's parliament in exile - in 1995 and...
took a form similar to parliamentary constitutions of many Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an states, but with some paragraphs suspended until the achievement of "full independence
Independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....
". Among key points, the head of state
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
is constitutionally the Secretary General of the Polisario Front during what is referred to as the "pre-independence phase," with provision in the constitution that on independence, Polisario is supposed to be dismantled or separated completely from the government structure. Provisions are detailed for a transitory phase beginning with independence, in which the present SADR is supposed to act as Western Sahara's government, ending with a constitutional reform and eventual establishment of a state along the lines specified in the constitution.
The broad guidelines laid down for an eventual Western Saharan state in the constitution include eventual multi-party democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
with a market economy
Market economy
A market economy is an economy in which the prices of goods and services are determined in a free price system. This is often contrasted with a state-directed or planned economy. Market economies can range from hypothetically pure laissez-faire variants to an assortment of real-world mixed...
. The constitution also defines Sahrawis as a Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
, Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n and Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
people
People
People is a plurality of human beings or other beings possessing enough qualities constituting personhood. It has two usages:* as the plural of person or a group of people People is a plurality of human beings or other beings possessing enough qualities constituting personhood. It has two usages:*...
, The Constitution also declares a commitment to the principles of human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
and to the concept of a Greater Maghreb
Arab Maghreb Union
The Arab Maghreb Union is a trade agreement aiming for economic and some sort of future political unity in North Africa between the countries Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania...
, as a regional variant of Pan-Arabism
Pan-Arabism
Pan-Arabism is an ideology espousing the unification--or, sometimes, close cooperation and solidarity against perceived enemies of the Arabs--of the countries of the Arab world, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea. It is closely connected to Arab nationalism, which asserts that the Arabs...
.
International recognition and membership
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is currently recognised as a sovereignSovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
representative of Western Sahara by 58 states, mostly Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n and other governments in the developing world. Twenty-two states have withdrawn their former recognition, and twelve have "frozen" their diplomatic relations with the republic pending the outcome of the UN referendum
Baker Plan
The Baker Plan is a United Nations initiative to grant self-determination to Western Sahara...
. Sahrawi embassies exist in fifteen states
Foreign relations of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is the government in exile claiming sovereignty of the former Spanish colony of Western Sahara. The Polisario Front, the national liberation movement that administers the SADR, currently controls the area that it calls the Liberated territories, a strip of...
. On the other hand, Moroccan territorial integrity, (i.e. Morocco including Western Sahara), is explicitly recognized by the Arab League
Arab League
The Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia . It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a...
.
Although it has no recognition from the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, the republic has been a full member of the African Union
African Union
The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...
(AU, formerly the Organisation of African Unity, OAU) since 1984. Morocco withdrew from the OAU in protest and remains the only African nation not within the AU since South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
's admittance in 1994. The SADR is also a member of the Asian-African Strategic Partnership formed at the 2005 Asian-African Conference
Asian-African Conference
The first large-scale Asian–African or Afro–Asian Conference—also known as the Bandung Conference—was a meeting of Asian and African states, most of which were newly independent, which took place on April 18–24, 1955 in Bandung, Indonesia...
, despite Moroccan objections to SADR participation.
In 2006, the SADR participated in a conference of the Permanent Conference of Political Parties of the Latin American and the Caribbean (COPPAL).
In 2010, the SADR ambassador to Nicaragua participated in the opening conference of the Central American Parliament
Central American Parliament
The Central American Parliament , also known as PARLACEN is a political institution devoted to the integration of the Central American countries. Its headquarters are in Guatemala City....
(PARLACEN).
On 27 February 2011, the 35th anniversary of the proclamation of SADR was held in Tifariti, Western Sahara. Delegations, including parliamentarians, ambassadors, NGOs and activists from many countries participated in this event.
The SADR is not a member of the Arab League
Arab League
The Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia . It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a...
, nor of the Arab Maghreb Union
Arab Maghreb Union
The Arab Maghreb Union is a trade agreement aiming for economic and some sort of future political unity in North Africa between the countries Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania...
, both of which include Morocco as a full member. Having stated his support for the right of the State of Palestine
State of Palestine
Palestine , officially declared as the State of Palestine , is a state that was proclaimed in exile in Algiers on 15 November 1988, when the Palestine Liberation Organization's National Council adopted the unilateral Palestinian Declaration of Independence...
to be admitted as a UN member, H.E. President Robert Mugabe
Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the President of Zimbabwe. As one of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power in 1980...
of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
called upon "Similarly, the tormented people of he Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic" must not be forgotten. We call for immediate progress in the engagement for a solution to their long-running problem".
Proposed Western Sahara Authority
In the most recent peace plan, the UN-endorsed Baker PlanBaker Plan
The Baker Plan is a United Nations initiative to grant self-determination to Western Sahara...
, created by James Baker
James Baker
James Addison Baker, III is an American attorney, politician and political advisor.Baker served as the Chief of Staff in President Ronald Reagan's first administration and in the final year of the administration of President George H. W. Bush...
, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...
's personal envoy to Western Sahara, the SADR would have been replaced with a five-year transitional Western Sahara Authority (WSA), a non-sovereign
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
autonomous region supervised by Morocco, to be followed by a referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
on independence. However, as Morocco has declined to participate, the plan appears dead.
In April 2007 the government of Morocco suggested that a self-governing entity, through the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs
Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs
The Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs or Corcas, from the French abbreviation of Conseil royal consultatif pour les affaires sahariennes, is an advisory committee to the Moroccan government on the Western Sahara. It was originally devised by King Hassan II in the 1970s , but allowed to...
(CORCAS), should govern the territory with some degree of autonomy for Western Sahara. The project was presented to the United Nations Security Council in mid-April 2007. A stalemate over the Moroccan proposal led the UN in an April 2007 "Report of the UN Secretary-General" to ask the parties to enter into direct and unconditional negotiations to reach a mutually accepted political solution.
National holidays
| Date | Name | Original event / Notes |
|---|---|---|
| February 27 | Independence Day Independence Day An Independence Day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's assumption of independent statehood, usually after ceasing to be a colony or part of another nation or state, and more rarely after the end of a military occupation... |
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| May 10 | Foundation of the Polisario Front Polisario Front The POLISARIO, Polisario Front, or Frente Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro is a Sahrawi rebel national liberation movement working for the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco... |
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| May 20 | May 20 Revolution | |
| June 5 | Day of the Disappeared Forced disappearance In international human rights law, a forced disappearance occurs when a person is secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or political organization or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the... |
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| June 9 | Day of the Martyr Martyr A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:... s |
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| June 17 | Zemla Intifada Zemla Intifada The Zemla Intifada is the name used by the Algerian-backed Polisario movement to refer to disturbances of June 17, 1970, which culminated in a massacre by Spanish forces in the Zemla district of El-Aaiun, Western Sahara .Leaders of the hitherto secret organization Harakat Tahrir, among them its... |
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| October 12 | Day of National Unity National Unity National Unity Governments are coalition governments made up of all or most parties in a parliament. They are usually formed in times of war or severe political crisis.National Unity is the name of political parties in various countries -... |
Islamic dates
Dates kept according to the lunarLunar calendar
A lunar calendar is a calendar that is based on cycles of the lunar phase. A common purely lunar calendar is the Islamic calendar or Hijri calendar. A feature of the Islamic calendar is that a year is always 12 months, so the months are not linked with the seasons and drift each solar year by 11 to...
Islamic calendar
Islamic calendar
The Hijri calendar , also known as the Muslim calendar or Islamic calendar , is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to date events in many Muslim countries , and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate Islamic...
.
| Date | Name | Observance |
|---|---|---|
| Dhul Hijja 10 | Eid al-Adha | |
| Shawwal Shawwal Shawwāl is the tenth month of the lunar Islamic calendar. Shawwāl means to ‘lift or carry’; so named because she-camels normally would be carrying a fetus at this time of year.-Fasting during Shawwāl:... 1 |
Eid al-Fitr |
See also
- Foreign relations of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic#States recognising the SADR
- Moroccan WallMoroccan WallThe Berm of Western Sahara is an approximately 2,700 km-long defensive structure, mostly a sand wall , running through Western Sahara and the southeastern portion of Morocco...
- List of cities in Western Sahara
- Elections in Western SaharaElections in Western SaharaElections in the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic gives information on election and election results in the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic claims the Western Sahara, a territory largely administered by Morocco since Spain abandoned it in 1975...
- Politics of Western SaharaPolitics of Western SaharaThe politics of Western Sahara take place in a framework of an area claimed by both the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and the Kingdom of Morocco, which controls the majority of the territory....
- Polisario FrontPolisario FrontThe POLISARIO, Polisario Front, or Frente Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro is a Sahrawi rebel national liberation movement working for the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco...
- Legal status of Western Sahara
External links
Official SADR pages Sahara Press Service (SPS) RASD TV SADR National Radio SADR Oil & Gas 2005 Sahara salud Economic development ministry of the SADROther