UCDP

General information

Part of Conflict: Morocco: Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (Western Sahara)

Date of first stated goals of incompatibility: 1975-07-06
Comment on date of first stated goal of incompatibility: POLISARIO first announced its incompatibility vis-à-vis Morocco on 6 July 1975. Following the revelation of a secret agreement between Morocco and Mauritania to divide the territory of Western Sahara (then Spanish Sahara) between them, POLISARIO issued a statement arguing that “Faced with this threat, it is no longer a question of fighting against colonialism for independence; it is simply a question of the existence of our people. (…) We affirm that there will be no peace in the Sahara so long as the people have not been able to exercise their right to self-determination."

Date of first use of armed force: 1975-09-01
Comment on date of first use of armed force: The first reported clash between POLISARIO and Moroccan soldiers occurred on 1 September 1975. Up until this point, POLISARIO had mainly attacked the Spanish army, but on this date Spanish sources reported that POLISARIO had ambushed a group of Moroccan soldiers, killing 11. This shift on behalf of POLISARIO came after Spain had begun to seek a peaceful settlement through negotiation with POLISARIO, while Morocco rejected the Spanish plan for self-determination for Western Sahara.
First Battle Related Death: 1975-09-01
Comment on First Battle Related Death: The first reported clash between POLISARIO and Moroccan soldiers occurred on 1 September 1975. Up until this point, POLISARIO had mainly attacked the Spanish army, but on this date Spanish sources reported that POLISARIO had ambushed a group of Moroccan soldiers, killing 11. This shift on behalf of POLISARIO came after Spain had begun to seek a peaceful settlement through negotiation with POLISARIO, while Morocco rejected the Spanish plan for self-determination for Western Sahara.

Date when dyad reached 25 battle releated deaths: 1975-11-04
Comment on date when dyad reached 25 battle related deaths: By 4 November 1975, fighting between POLISARIO and Moroccan forces had caused more than 25 deaths. On this date, POLISARIO fighters and Moroccan soldiers clashed at Jdiria, killing 40.

Conflict issues

Conflict Goal Issues: POLISARIO (Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro: Frente popular de liberación de Saguia el Hamra y Rio de Oro) was a rebel group that sought independence for Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), also known as Western Sahara, territory then controlled by Mauritania and Morocco. The group was formed in 1973 by ethnic Saharawi, with the group claiming to be “the only legitimate representative of the Saharawi people”. POLISARIO was ideologically SADR nationalist but also had Islamic and socialist beliefs. The first stated conflict goal issue located by the project was for autonomy, expressed in the founding congress in 1973. The POLISARIO claimed their armed struggle to be “the means by which the Saharawi people can recover its total liberty and foil the manoeuvres of Spanish colonialism”. The somewhat vague notion of total liberty would gradually evolve into something more specific, with the POLISARIO declaring the following year that the Saharawi people sought independence for their land. Yet larger changes to their platform occurred in August 1976 and National General Program, after SADR had been proclaimed as a country in February the same year, with many more issues being added to the group’s list of goals. Generally, the group focused on independence, establishing a democracy, and establishing an Islamic state, as well as a host of other issues ranging from civil and religious rights to economic reforms that were comparatively smaller in scope. Based on the coded issues, independence was the POLISARIO’s main conflict goal issue as it was raised far more frequently than any other issue and is also one of the issues raised over the longest timespan by the group, being a core issue since very early on. It was, as the group explained in 1989, “Our unnegotiable objective […]”.

Conflict Dynamics Issues: The first coded conflict dynamics issue was raised 1974, a year before Spain relinquished its colonial control over the territory. The POLISARIO condemned failure of the Arab nations, especially those of the Maghreb and even more so Morocco in particular, to speak out against “the acts of colonialist Spain and its savage repression of the people”. Many more conflict dynamics issues were added in the years that followed. POLISARIO raised issues of collective targeting based upon ethnic identity, demanding the withdrawal of what was perceived as foreign military forces and for foreign forces to, in general, not interfere with the conflict, stating that “we are afraid that the conflict may be internationalized. Polisario’s policy was, is, and shall be an independent policy”. Despite this, the group did also simultaneously call on foreign or international support on several occasions, often in the context of recognition of national sovereignty or as providing security through peacekeeping or monitoring. Among the coded conflict dynamics issues, the POLISARIO appeared to focus primarily on decreasing foreign involvement through the withdrawal of foreign forces. They viewed Moroccan presence as an occupying force and saw the removal of troops as a necessary condition to enable a referendum to be held.

Conflict Resolution Issues: The earliest conflict resolution issue located by the project date back to 1978 with POLISARIO requesting that mediation should be handled by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), not by France or Saudi Arabia. POLISARIO representative Omar Hadrami stated on the issue “Neither France nor Saudi Arabia are African countries and neither can substitute for the African continent”. While it should be noted that there is a low overall number of coded issues for this category, the POLISARIO were generally consistent in pursuing negotiations but raised few other issues besides that. While briefly adopting a hard line, stating to Reuters in 1982 that “We are no longer asking Morocco to discuss anything”, the group did call for negotiations again only a few years later. Due to the low number of coded conflict resolution issues, no main issues could be located for this category.

Type of conflict issues: Conflict Goal Issues: Autonomy, Basic needs, Change economic system, Change judicial system, Civil rights, Confederation/union, CPS: Democracy, CPS: Islamic state, Economic reforms, Education system: culture, Foreign policy reform, Human rights, Independence, Protection of cultural heritage, Public services, Referendum, Reform judicial system, Restructure military forces, Revenues from natural resources, Rule of law

Conflict Dynamics Issues: Collective targeting: ethnic, DFI: Removal of foreign influence, DFI: Withdrawal of military intervention/foreign forces, DFI: Withdrawal of military support, IFI: International monitoring, IFI: Military intervention/foreign forces, IFI: Military support, IFI: Recognition, IFI: Use of foreign influence, Release of prisoners, Return of refugees/IDPs

Conflict Resolution Issues: Call for ceasefire, Call for negotiations, Opposition to negotiations, Structure of negotiations

Annual information

This section contains annual information systematically collected by the UCDP.