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Western Sahara + 1 more

Situation concerning Western Sahara - Report of the Secretary-General (S/2023/729) [EN/AR/RU/ZH]

Attachments

I. Introduction

1. The present report is submitted pursuant to Security Council resolution 2654 (2022), by which the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) until 31 October 2023 and requested me to submit a report on the situation in Western Sahara before the end of the mandate period. The report covers developments that occurred since the issuance of my previous report of 3 October 2022 (S/2022/733) and describes the situation on the ground, the status of political negotiations on Western Sahara, the implementation of resolution 2654 (2022) and the existing challenges to the Mission’s operations and steps taken to address them.

II. Recent developments

2. The situation in Western Sahara continued to be characterized by tensions and low-intensity hostilities between Morocco and the Frente Popular para la Liberación de Saguía el-Hamra y Rio de Oro (Frente POLISARIO). The prevailing situation has led to significant challenges for the operations of MINURSO, in particular its logistics and resupply efforts.

A. Operational developments

3. Most firing incidents across the berm reported to MINURSO by the parties continued to be concentrated in the north of the Territory, near Mahbas. MINURSO was often not able to independently confirm the number and location of the reported firing incidents and their impact remained the subject of divergent claims by the parties.

4. At the request of the Royal Moroccan Army and with their escort, since November 2022 MINURSO has visited sites adjacent to the berm where such incidents were alleged to have taken place, and in several cases observed traces of exploded mortar ammunition. Owing to security concerns, these visits often took place several days after the alleged event, making reaching conclusive findings challenging.

5. In December, media reports alleged that the Royal Moroccan Army was concentrating vehicles and forces near their base in Bir Anzarane (approximately 150 km from the MINURSO team site in Oum Dreyga and 75 km from the berm). A MINURSO ground patrol to the location on 12 December did not detect any sign of troop or vehicle concentration but observed a new 3.2-km-long airstrip. Analysis of satellite imagery confirmed that the airstrip had been constructed after the resumption of hostilities in 2020. MINURSO also observed buildings that appeared to be aircraft hangars and a physically hardened perimeter, including guard towers and external walls, through the satellite imagery. On 22 December, MINURSO dispatched a liaison visit to the subsector of the Royal Moroccan Army concerned to raise the issue and was informed that the airstrip was a civilian facility constructed by a civilian company, not serving military purposes. During his first liaison visit to the Southern Command of the Royal Moroccan Army in Agadir, Morocco, on 18 and 19 July 2023, the newly appointed MINURSO Force Commander inquired about the airstrip and broader reports of military construction in the area. In a letter to the MINURSO Force Commander, on 2 August, Lieutenant General Mohammed Berrid, the newly appointed Inspector General and Commander of the Southern Zone of the Royal Moroccan Army, indicated that construction of the “new airfield” began in April 2021 as part of the “development projects” initiated by the Government of Morocco.

6. MINURSO continued to receive reports of strikes conducted by Royal Moroccan Army unmanned aerial vehicles east of the berm.

7. On 1 November 2022, MINURSO received information through Frente POLISARIO and local media that an aerial strike had taken place in an area known for the presence of artisanal gold miners in Mijek, reportedly resulting in the death of six civilians. On 3 November, a MINURSO investigation team visited the site, where it observed the charred remains of five individuals and one destroyed vehicle. The Mission was informed by local Frente POLISARIO interlocutors that a sixth individual injured in the strike had died at the hospital in Zouerate, Mauritania. According to local reports, four other persons had been injured in the strike. MINURSO also determined that two other strikes had taken place in a nearby area, where MINURSO observed destroyed vehicles, one of which had a Mauritanian registration plate, but no fatalities were reported by local Frente POLISARIO interlocutors.

8. On 13 January 2023, a MINURSO investigation team visited the site of an alleged aerial strike that occurred on 12 January in Tifariti, in which one civilian was allegedly killed. The team observed the remains of one individual and one destroyed vehicle.

9. On 29 January, MINURSO received information through Frente POLISARIO and social media that an aerial strike had taken place on 24 January in Bir Lahlou, allegedly resulting in the death of three individuals of Mauritanian nationality. On 1 February, a MINURSO investigation team visited the site and observed the remains of three individuals alongside one destroyed vehicle. One Mauritanian mining permit identity card was found at the scene. Previously, on 27 December 2022, the President of Mauritania, Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, had urged Mauritanian gold miners “to respect the rules aimed at saving lives and not to expose themselves to danger”.

10. On 1 September 2023, reports alleged that a Royal Moroccan Army drone strike at Bir Lahlou resulted in four casualties, including a Frente POLISARIO regional military commander. On 2 September, Frente POLISARIO issued a statement announcing a period of three days of mourning in relation to the casualties.

11. In letters addressed to me on 14 October 2022 (S/2022/797, annex) and thereafter on 17 July 2023, the Secretary-General of Frente POLISARIO accused Morocco of “using all types of weapons, including unmanned aerial vehicles, to callously kill, not only dozens of Sahrawi civilians, but also civilians of neighbouring countries in transit” through the Territory.

12. In a letter to me on 30 June 2023, the Permanent Representative of Morocco to the United Nations in New York accused Frente POLISARIO of putting into practice its “new modus operandi […] notably the use of unmarked vehicles, [and] the hiring of fighters disguised as civilians”, to “deceive RMA units and tarnish their image in the event of casualties”.

13. Restrictions by Frente POLISARIO on freedom of movement continued to prevent MINURSO from maintaining a safe and reliable logistics, maintenance and resupply chain to its team sites east of the berm. In a letter to my Special Representative for Western Sahara on 26 January, Frente POLISARIO conveyed its assessment that there were “multiple risks associated with the ongoing war for the security and safety of MINURSO personnel” which “provide reasonable grounds for believing that conducting ground convoys remains highly risky and therefore inadvisable under the current circumstances”.

14. On 17 March 2023, as the fuel reserves of the team sites east of the berm became critical, my Special Representative wrote to the parties to notify them of the Mission’s intention to deploy a ground convoy from Smara to Mehaires on 22 March, as a last resort to resupply its team sites and maintain MINURSO operations east of the berm.
The same day, the Royal Moroccan Army responded in support of the convoy. On 20 March, the Frente POLISARIO Coordinator with MINURSO wrote to my Special Representative underlining that “taking any unilateral action in complete disregard for the multiple risks associated with the ongoing war in the Territory would pose a serious threat to the security and safety of MINURSO personnel”.

15. The convoy departed on 22 March. As it approached Mehaires, some 20 Frente POLISARIO armed elements blocked the track and stopped the convoy, insisting that it could not proceed and had to return to Smara. After discussions with the leader of the group, the convoy spent the night in the desert and returned to Smara the next day, without delivering its cargo to the MINURSO team site at Mehaires.

16. Following high-level engagement by my Personal Envoy, my Special Representative and Security Council members, the Secretary-General of Frente POLISARIO wrote to me on 29 March to inform that, as a “gesture of goodwill to help overcome some of the logistic challenges” that MINURSO was facing, Frente POLISARIO was “willing to provide safe passage, on an exceptional and provisional basis, to the Mission to conduct a logistical ground convoy to resupply its team sites” east of the berm.

17. Between April and June, MINURSO subsequently conducted five separate resupply ground convoy movements to its team sites east of the berm at Agwanit, Mehaires, Mijek and Tifariti to deliver urgently needed fuel and other maintenance supplies and engineering equipment. On 13 September, an additional convoy was able to proceed following further diplomatic engagement with Frente POLISARIO.