Moroccan Elections in Western Sahara Cannot Replace Self-Determination
Elections Conducted by the Moroccan Authorities in Western Sahara Cannot Substitute for the Sahrawi People’s Right to Self-Determination
Adala UK reaffirms its longstanding position that Western Sahara is a Non-Self-Governing Territory under Moroccan occupation and that its final status remains unresolved under international law.
The organisation considers that the conduct of Moroccan legislative, regional, municipal and other elections within the occupied territory cannot, in itself, constitute an exercise of the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination, nor can electoral participation serve as a substitute for a genuine and freely expressed determination of the territory’s political future.
The holding of elections by an occupying power does not confer sovereignty upon that power. Nor can the establishment of political or administrative institutions, however longstanding, alter the distinct legal status of Western Sahara or determine the territory’s final status.
Electoral processes cannot, in themselves, resolve a question of decolonisation, nor can participation in institutions established by an occupying power be equated with the exercise of self-determination.
1. The Distinct Status of Western Sahara
Adala UK maintains that Western Sahara possesses a legal status distinct from that of the Kingdom of Morocco and remains recognised by the United Nations as a Non-Self-Governing Territory.
The question of Western Sahara therefore remains intrinsically linked to the unfinished process of decolonisation and to the right of the Sahrawi people to determine their political status freely.
The exercise of administrative or governmental authority by Morocco within the territory does not, by itself, alter that status.
Nor does the establishment of Moroccan governmental, judicial or electoral institutions within Western Sahara confer sovereign title upon Morocco.
Adala UK is concerned that the continued integration of the territory into Morocco’s political and administrative structures may contribute to the normalisation of the occupation and obscure the distinction, recognised in international law, between Western Sahara and the Kingdom of Morocco.
2. Moroccan Elections Are Not a Substitute for Self-Determination
The right to self-determination cannot properly be reduced to participation in elections conducted within a political and constitutional framework established by the occupying authority.
Self-determination requires that the people concerned be able to determine their political status and future freely and without the outcome being predetermined by an external authority.
In this regard, Adala UK considers it essential to distinguish between:
participation in Moroccan political institutions;
and
the exercise of the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination.
These are not equivalent.
Participation in Moroccan elections cannot reasonably be characterised as a referendum upon the sovereignty of Western Sahara. Nor should the outcome or level of participation in such elections be interpreted as collective consent by the Sahrawi people to Moroccan sovereignty over the territory.
3. Electoral Processes Must Not Be Used to Normalise Occupation
Adala UK is concerned that electoral processes may be presented as evidence that an existing situation of occupation has acquired democratic or popular legitimacy.
Where an occupying authority establishes its political institutions within an occupied territory, organises elections under its own legal and administrative framework, and subsequently relies upon electoral participation to support claims concerning sovereignty, there is a serious risk that the electoral process will serve to consolidate the status quo rather than facilitate the genuine exercise of self-determination.
Such an approach should not be accepted as a substitute for the decolonisation process.
The passage of time, the establishment of institutions, or the repeated conduct of elections cannot, in themselves, determine the final legal status of a Non-Self-Governing Territory.
4. Individual Participation Does Not Amount to Collective Consent
Adala UK fully recognises that individuals living in Western Sahara necessarily interact with the institutions exercising effective administrative control over their daily lives.
Such interaction, however, must not be misconstrued as collective consent to the political or territorial status imposed by the occupying authority.
The participation of individuals in Moroccan elections cannot properly be regarded as a collective renunciation of the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination.
Nor should individual electoral choices be used to infer that the Sahrawi people, as a whole, have accepted Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.
There is an important distinction between the exercise of individual civil and political rights within an existing administrative system and the collective right of a people to determine its political status.
5. Elections Must Be Considered in Their Wider Human Rights Context
Any assessment of electoral processes in Western Sahara must take account of the broader political and human rights environment in which they take place.
Adala UK has consistently raised concerns regarding restrictions affecting Sahrawi human rights defenders, activists, journalists and independent observers, as well as restrictions upon independent access to the territory.
The organisation has also documented concerns relating to the treatment of Sahrawi political prisoners and human rights defenders and to restrictions affecting independent monitoring and reporting.
In such circumstances, the mere conduct of an electoral process cannot, without more, establish that the political will of the Sahrawi people has been expressed freely and genuinely.
A credible democratic process requires an environment in which freedom of expression, freedom of association and peaceful assembly, freedom of the press, access to independent information and meaningful independent observation are respected.
6. Electoral Results Must Not Be Presented as Evidence of Sovereignty
Adala UK rejects the proposition that the results of Moroccan elections conducted in Western Sahara may properly be invoked as evidence of Moroccan sovereignty over the territory.
An election is not a referendum on sovereignty.
A vote for a political party or candidate within an electoral system administered by Morocco cannot properly be characterised as a vote upon the international legal status of Western Sahara.
Similarly, electoral turnout, regardless of its level, cannot substitute for a process through which the Sahrawi people are able freely to determine their political future.
The international community should therefore maintain a clear distinction between effective control as a matter of factand sovereignty as a matter of international law.
7. Moroccan Institutions Cannot Determine the Territory’s Final Status
The establishment of municipal councils, regional authorities, courts, administrative bodies, electoral institutions and other Moroccan state structures within Western Sahara does not resolve the fundamental question concerning the territory’s status.
The relevant issue is not simply whether institutions operate within the territory.
The central question is whether the people of Western Sahara have been afforded a genuine opportunity to determine their political future in accordance with the principle of self-determination.
For Adala UK, the answer cannot be supplied by institutions established and administered by the occupying power itself.
The continued operation of Moroccan institutions within Western Sahara should therefore not be treated as evidence that the territory’s final status has been settled.
8. The Normalisation of Occupation
The normalisation of an occupation need not take place through formal recognition alone.
It may also occur incrementally through the routine incorporation of an occupied territory into the political, administrative, economic and institutional structures of the occupying State.
This may include:
- the conduct of Moroccan elections within Western Sahara;
- the representation of Sahrawi cities solely as Moroccan cities without reference to the territory’s distinct legal status;
- the incorporation of the territory into Moroccan political and administrative structures;
- the implementation of economic projects under Moroccan authority;
- the treatment of Moroccan governmental institutions as though their authority over the territory were undisputed; and
- the presentation of the occupation as an irreversible or settled political reality.
Adala UK considers that such practices risk obscuring the territory’s separate status and contributing to the normalisation of Moroccan control.
The same considerations apply to electoral activity.
9. Democracy Cannot Be Reduced to the Existence of Elections
Adala UK emphasises that democracy cannot be assessed solely by reference to whether elections take place.
A genuinely democratic process requires, amongst other things, that people are able freely to participate in determining the political framework within which they are to live.
An electoral process cannot, by itself, constitute an act of self-determination where the underlying political and sovereign framework has already been determined by an occupying authority.
For this reason, Moroccan elections conducted in Western Sahara should not be presented as a substitute for the Sahrawi people’s right to determine the territory’s political future.
Self-determination necessarily requires a genuine choice.
10. Adala UK Calls Upon the International Community
Adala UK calls upon governments, parliaments, international organisations and other relevant institutions to:
- Refrain from treating Moroccan elections conducted in Western Sahara as a settlement of the territory’s final status.
- Reject the use of electoral results as evidence that the Sahrawi people have consented to Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.
- Maintain the legal and political distinction between the Kingdom of Morocco and the territory of Western Sahara.
- Respect the Sahrawi people’s inalienable right to self-determination.
- Avoid policies or actions which may contribute to the normalisation or entrenchment of the Moroccan occupation.
- Facilitate meaningful access to the territory for journalists, independent observers and human rights organisations.
- Ensure the protection of Sahrawi human rights defenders against reprisals, arbitrary detention, prosecution and other forms of intimidation arising from their peaceful activities.
- Ensure that political, economic and commercial activities do not prejudice or undermine the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination.
- Expect companies and international institutions undertaking activities in Western Sahara to conduct appropriate legal and human rights due diligence.
- Support a political process which places the rights and freely expressed wishes of the Sahrawi people at its centre.
11. A Message to Political Parties and Candidates
Adala UK calls upon political parties and candidates participating in Moroccan elections within Western Sahara to recognise that participation in Moroccan political institutions should not be presented as evidence of Moroccan sovereignty over the territory.
Electoral participation should not be represented as a substitute for the Sahrawi people’s right to determine their political future.
Political disagreement concerning Western Sahara must not be used to justify restrictions upon freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, political association or legitimate human rights advocacy.
12. A Message to the International Community
Adala UK states clearly that:
Elections must not become a mechanism for normalising occupation.
The electoral process must not be used to obscure the fact that Western Sahara remains a Non-Self-Governing Territory.
Nor should Moroccan political institutions operating within the territory be treated as a substitute for a process through which the Sahrawi people may freely determine their political future.
The international community should maintain the distinction between de facto administrative control and sovereignty under international law.
The existence of Moroccan authority in Western Sahara, irrespective of the duration of that authority, does not transform occupation into lawful sovereignty.
Likewise, the existence of Moroccan institutions within the territory does not, in itself, establish that those institutions represent the freely expressed political will of the Sahrawi people.
The holding of Moroccan elections within Western Sahara does not transform those elections into an exercise of self-determination.
Adala UK’s Position
Adala UK therefore reaffirms that:
Western Sahara is a Non-Self-Governing Territory under Moroccan occupation. The conduct of Moroccan elections within the territory does not confer sovereignty upon Morocco, alter the territory’s distinct legal status, or extinguish the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination.
Adala UK further maintains that:
Moroccan elections conducted within Western Sahara cannot serve as a substitute for self-determination, nor should their results be invoked to legitimise the occupation or entrench the incorporation of the territory into Morocco.
The organisation further emphasises that:
The participation of individuals in Moroccan political institutions does not constitute a collective renunciation by the Sahrawi people of their right to self-determination.
The international community should therefore distinguish clearly between the administration of a territory as a matter of fact and the determination of its political status as a matter of international law.
Conclusion
After decades of occupation, the passage of time must not become a substitute for legality.
The continued operation of administrative institutions, political structures and electoral mechanisms within Western Sahara must not be allowed to transform an unresolved process of decolonisation into an accepted political fait accompli.
Nor should elections become a mechanism through which occupation is gradually recast as sovereignty.
Western Sahara does not become Moroccan territory merely because Moroccan institutions operate within it.
Its legal status is not determined by electoral campaigns conducted under Moroccan authority.
Nor can the future of Western Sahara be settled through electoral processes whose political and constitutional framework has already been determined by the occupying power.
The political future of Western Sahara must be determined through the free and genuine exercise of the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination.
Adala UK therefore calls upon the international community to reject the use of Moroccan elections as a means of normalising or entrenching the occupation, and to place the rights of the Sahrawi people and the principle of self-determination at the centre of all consideration of the territory’s future.
Western Sahara is not Morocco.
Occupation cannot be transformed into sovereignty through elections.
And the ballot box cannot extinguish a people’s right to self-determination.
Adala UK