Pan Africanism month and Saharawi liberation movement’s 48th anniversary

The 25th of May of every year marks the Africa Freedom Day or Africa Liberation Day, and is the anniversary commemorating the date of the creation of the Organisation of the African Unity on the 25th of May 1963.

The coincidence is that this month also represents a historical commemoration for the people of the last colony in Africa, Western Sahara ( Saharawi Republic), and their liberation movement, the Front for the Liberation of Saguia el Hamra y Rio de Oro ( POLISARIO in its Spanish abbreviation). Polisario Front was created by Saharawi resistant groups on the 10th of May 1973, and was led by a small group of vanguard young people, mostly University students former freedom fighters who fought the Spanish colonialism, chaired by El Wali Mustapha Sayed, who was just in the first years of his twenties then. The movement immediately implemented its first Congress’ resolution of launching legitimate armed struggle exactly 10 days after the constitution of the Front. On the 20th of May, a group of seven ( 7) young freedom fighters executed the first military attack against a small Spanish military post in Khanga region.

A liberation movement and a Government

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Polisario Front re- organised the maintenance of building assemblies, furnishings and previously fixture dismantled operations. resistance movement that was harshly destroyed by the Spanish colonial power back in 1970. Carpentry installation, maintenance It should be and recalled repair here including, that the masonry, tiling, roofing and locksmith work, as well Saharawi as joinery political items resistance of wood against or

Spain started with many other resistant

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groups since 1884. The last before the creation of Polisario was Harakat Tahrir Asahara ( The movement for

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the Liberation of the Sahara), which was constituted in the mid- 1960s. But on June 17, 1970 the Spanish army of occupation raided a peaceful demonstration that was organised by that movement in the Capital of Western Sahara, El Aaiun city. Spain kidnapped the leader of the movement Mohamed Sidi Brahim Basiri, killed dozens of demonstrators, and arrested the members of this peaceful political resistance. The United Nations also recognised the Polisario Front as the main political force in the country after a UN Mission to the territory in 1975 confirmed that Polisario was the dominating political power in the colony. And again in 1979 the UN officially recognised the Polisario front as the legitimate representative of the people of Western Sahara and continues to consider it as such to date.

The Spanish treason

Instead of fulfilling its promises to the Saharawis and to the UN, Spain secretly agreed with Morocco and Mauritania to give away the Saharawi territory to a double military occupation by these two African nations.

The secret agreement is infamously known as the “Madrid tripartite Accord” signed by the three ( 3) countries in 14 October 1975. Spain cowardly withdrew from the territory leaving it to open attacks and invasion by the armies of Morocco from the north and Mauritania from the south.

Polisario Front, while still a young and hugely under equipped movement, had no other choice but to face this double invasion with less than few hundreds fighters, and at the same time do its best to rescue thousands of Saharawi civilians, who were the main targets of the Moroccan army with Napalm and White Phosphorus.

In fact, the Moroccan army committed atrocious crimes of war and crimes against humanity in the first years of the invasion and killed thousands Saharawis also eliminating hundreds of thousands livestock that constituted the main wealth of the people back then. The aim was to exterminate the people of Western Sahara or impoverish them as badly as possible to better control them and break their resistance.

The Saharawi miracle

But nothing and none can defeat a unified people. Quickly after the first chock of the invasion and massive human rights and humanitarian crimes committed against them, Saharawis were able to rise again, under the leadership of Polisario front.

All men joined the armed resistance, while women deployed all their skills and abilities to build and manage the refugee camps, which were established in the South- west of Algeria.

Polisario front declared the constitution of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic on the 27th of February 1976, exactly one day after the Spanish administration declared it is no more in charge of the territory. Women in the Saharawi society are the real backbone of their people. Since the start of the revolution, Saharawi women contributed in all fields of the struggle and continue to play a major role in the society and government.

Main Branches of the Polisario

Polisario Front is composed of many wings that contribute in the struggle. The main wings are the Women Union, Workers Union, Youth Union and the Students Union. To these main wings the country also rely on various other civil society actors, who cover a variety of fields such as human rights, natural resources, voluntary work and many other fields. Polisario front, which forms the government of the Saharawi Republic aims to build a democratic society that strives for social justice and empowerment of the people, and for that reason the Saharawi Republic is a very active founding member of the African Union, assuming its responsibility towards its continental organisation and fulfilling its duties towards it.

The struggle for freedom continues

It is a shame to say that despite all the sacrifices so far, huge parts of Western Sahara are still under brutal military occupation since 1975. The United Nations has failed badly to fulfil its promise to the Saharawi people and was unable to organise the long- promised referendum on selfdetermination to end this last case of unachieved decolonisation from Africa. This failure is caused by the Moroccan rejection of peaceful solutions to the conflict. Morocco wants to impose its illegal occupation in total violation of the UN Charter, international law and African Constitutive Act. Allowing Morocco to achieve this illegal aim will be disastrous not only to the African Union but also to the international law, international relations and multilateralism. This is why the struggle of the people of Western Sahara for freedom and liberation is not only the duty of Saharawis alone. The Saharawi resistance is fighting for the right of all peoples to freedom and self- determination and against the powers that want to impose colonial fait accompli and the rule of might and oppression over rights and peace.

Malainin Mohamed* is the Ambassador of Western Sahara to Botswana and SADC