Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this timely hearing on the Western Sahara and the final implementation of the Settlement Plan. It is absolutely vital at this time that all parties to the Settlement Plan, signed under the United Nations Special Envoy, Former Secretary of State, James A. Baker, III uphold the agreements and their full implementation.

As many people in this room know, the territory known as Western Sahara has been the focus of a 25 year conflict between the Polisario (the political arm of the Sahrawi people) and Morocco. A former colony of Spain, the Sahrawi people were promised a referendum on the future of their country. Unfortunately, Spain withdrew from its colony without holding the referendum. Both Morocco and Mauritania invaded the land. The Sahrawi’s defeated the Mauritanians. However, despite an International Court of Justice ruling in 1975 that Morocco had no claim to the territory, Morocco continued to assert that Western Sahara is part of its country. Tribal links do not establish sovereignty over a nation - this idea was used by Saddam Hussein to justify his invasion and attempted takeover of Kuwait! The decision of the International Court of Justice, issued on October 16, 1975, states the following, “ The Court’s conclusion is that the materials and information presented to it do not establish any tie of territorial sovereignty between the territory of Western Sahara and the Kingdom of Morocco or the Mauritanian entity. Thus the Court has not found legal ties of such a nature as might affect the application of General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) in the decolonization of Western Sahara, and in particular, of the principle of the self-determination through the free and genuine expression of the will of the peoples of the territory.”

Unfortunately, there have been officials from the current U.S. Administration and the French governments who appear to be proactively contemplating abandoning the negotiated, signed settlement plans under the pretext that there allegedly is no mechanism to enforce the result of the referendum. The May 30, 2000 meeting of the United Nations Security Council revealed that these two governments are willing to completely disregard the negotiated Settlement Plan and the right of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination.

Mr. Chairman, after traveling to the refugee camps in the Sahara Desert, talking with the people, reading the facts of the conflict, and continuing to monitor the situation, I am appalled by reports that officials in our government would be advocating the abandonment of the negotiated Settlement Plan. Our nation was birthed and established on the right to self-determination. It is utterly bewildering that Americans would actually believe that another group of people does not have the right to vote for their future - it is arrogant and unjust for U.S. government officials to blatantly flout international norms, ignore solid facts, and effectively trample the rights of the Sahrawi people. The fact that our Administration is willing to disregard the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination when the American Revolution was based upon that very right is shameful. We have supported the right of the people of East Timor to determine their future. The people of Western Sahara deserve no less. Why is this happening? I look forward to hearing the testimony from the State Department in hopes that these concerns that I and numerous Members of Congress hold will be answered and State Department positions clarified.

The continued delay of the implementation of the Settlement Plan and the referendum seems to be simply a stalling tactic. It is vital that neither the United States nor any other nation or international body pre-judge the results of the referendum - a referendum to which both Morocco and the Polisario have agreed and which the United States taxpayers and others have invested over $530 million. The failure of the United Nations to hold this referendum regarding the Western Sahara would lead to instability and insecurity in North Africa and the blame would fall squarely on the shoulders of the United Nations, the Administration of the United States, and the French government.

For over 25 years, the Sahrawi people have had one request - to exercise their right, under the United Nations, to self-determination. Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states that “All peoples have the right to self-determination.” Again, it is tragic that there is a possibility that agreements that uphold one of the basic rights of a people, the UN Settlement Plan and the Houston Agreement, signed by both parties, are on the verge of collapse simply because the United Nations would not uphold their commitment. After spending approximately $500 million on peacekeeping and the Settlement Plan over 10 years and $30 million on humanitarian aid in the same time period (approximately $4.3 million per month on military peacekeeping versus only $3 million per year spent on humanitarian aid to the Sahrawi refugees), it is difficult to believe that the United Nations, and the United States, are willing to give up on the permanently stalled agreements. The very foundation of the United Nations would be called into question, particularly since the definition of MINURSO, the U.N. implementing body in the region, is the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara.

It would be a tragic undermining of our own nation’s foundations as well as international human rights norms if the United States encouraged or was part of a movement to undermine the fundamental human right of self-determination and carefully negotiated agreements regarding Western Sahara. Stability and security in North Africa are crucial to the strategic interest of the United States and the international community. Should the referendum and the carefully negotiated Settlement Plan be blatantly ignored, it is highly probable that hostilities would resume. Enough innocent lives have been lost and damaged. It is time for the United Nations to hold the referendum and uphold the results.

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