Madrid Accords
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The Madrid Accords,[a] formally the Declaration of Principles on Western Sahara, was a treaty between Spain, Morocco, and Mauritania setting out six principles which would end the Spanish presence in the territory of Spanish Sahara and arrange a temporary administration in the area pending a referendum.
The territory had been a
Background
The province's future had been in dispute for several years, with both Morocco and Mauritania demanding its full annexation to their territory and Spain attempting to introduce either a regime of internal autonomy or a
Motivations of the parties
The Madrid Accords followed on the heels of the
Rabat had been claiming the territory as historically Moroccan since its accession to independence in 1956. Immediately after Morocco's independence, the
Thompson and Adloff argue (e.g., pp. 132–134, 164–167) that the Green March, as well as increasingly heated rhetorical exchanges between Madrid and Rabat had convinced Spain that Morocco was willing to enter into war over the territory; a U.S. Central Intelligence Agency memorandum to Henry Kissinger had stated as much in early October 1975.[2] With Spanish leader Francisco Franco dying (he had entered into a coma and died on November 20), the government was anxious to avoid conflict and decided to split the territory in order to preserve maximum possible influence and economic benefit.[citation needed]
Content and importance
Thompson and Adloff write,
According to [the treaty's] publicised terms, Spain agreed to
Canary Islandcivilians. (p. 175)
The United States Library of Congress study of Mauritania (1990) states that,
In early 1975, both Morocco and Mauritania agreed to abide by
the southern third. The agreement also included the proviso that Spain would retain shares in the Bu Craa mining enterprise. Mauritania acquiesced to the agreements under the assumption, probably correct, that Morocco, with its superior military power, would otherwise have absorbed the entire territory.[6][7]
Results
The agreement was bitterly opposed by Algeria and the Polisario Front, which remained committed to independence.
The
Morocco and Mauritania split the territory between them in the
The clashes turned into a 17-year-long war, during which Mauritania was forced to retreat, abandoning all claims to the region, in 1979. As an effect of the conflict, a part of the territory's population became refugees. It was finally ended with a ceasefire in 1991.[11]
Today, the status of the territory, now called Western Sahara, remains in dispute.[12]
International status of the accords
The United Nations considers Western Sahara to remain a Non-Sovereign Territory, awaiting formal decolonization. It recognizes that Morocco presently administers much of it de facto, but neither the General Assembly nor any other UN body has ever recognized this as constituting sovereignty. In a 2002 letter of the General Secretary for Legal Affairs and Legal Counsel of the United Nations, Hans Corell, in which he gave an opinion on the legality of actions taken by Moroccan authorities in signing contracts for the exploration of mineral resources in Western Sahara, he stated:[13]
On 14 November 1975, a Declaration of Principles on Western Sahara was concluded in Madrid between Spain, Morocco and Mauritania ("the Madrid Agreement"), whereby the powers and responsibilities of Spain, as the administering Power of the Territory, were transferred to a temporary tripartite administration. The Madrid Agreement did not transfer sovereignty over the Territory, nor did it confer upon any of the signatories the status of an administering Power, a status which Spain alone could not have unilaterally transferred. The transfer of administrative authority over the Territory to Morocco and Mauritania in 1975 did not affect the international status of Western Sahara as a Non-Self-Governing Territory".[13]
On 26 February 1976, Spain informed the Secretary-General that as of that date it had terminated its presence in Western Sahara and relinquished its responsibilities over the Territory, thus leaving it in fact under the administration of both Morocco and Mauritania in their respective controlled areas. Following the withdrawal of Mauritania from the Territory in 1979, upon the conclusion of the Mauritano-Sahrawi agreement of 19 August 1979 (S/13503, annex I), Morocco has administered the Territory of Western Sahara alone. Morocco, however, is not listed as the administering Power of the Territory in the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories, and has, therefore, not transmitted information on the Territory in accordance with Article 73 e of the Charter of the United Nations".[13]
Morocco continues to claim Western Sahara as an integral part of its territory, by virtue of the Madrid Accords inter alia. The Polisario Front declared in 1976 an Algeria-based government-in-exile, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), which denies that the Madrid Accords held any validity and claims the entire area whereas actually controlling only small uninhabitable parts of it. The SADR is also unrecognized by the UN, but has been admitted as Western Sahara's representative to the African Union (AU) and its ruling party (the Polisario Front) is recognized by the UN at least as the "sole legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people". Mauritania has pulled out from the conflict entirely since 1979.
Morocco broke the treaty to spark the
Text of the Madrid Accords
The following is the published text of the Madrid Accords:[15]
On November 14, 1975, the delegations lawfully representing the Governments of Spain, Morocco and Mauritania, meeting in Madrid, stated that they had agreed in order on the following principles:
- Spain confirms its resolve, repeatedly stated in the United Nations, to decolonize the Territory of Western Sahara by terminating the responsibilities and powers which it possesses over that Territory as administering Power.
- In conformity with the aforementioned determination and in accordance with the negotiations advocated by the United Nations with the affected parties, Spain will proceed forthwith to institute a temporary administration in the Territory, in which Morocco and Mauritania will participate in collaboration with the
Djemaaand to which will be transferred all the responsibilities and powers referred to in the preceding paragraph. It is accordingly agreed that two Deputy Governors nominated by Morocco and Mauritania shall be appointed to assist the Governor-General of the Territory in the performance of his functions. The termination of the Spanish presence in the Territory will be completed by February 28, 1976 at the latest.- The views of the Saharan population, expressed through the Djemaa, will be respected.
- The three countries will inform the Secretary General of the United Nations of the terms set down in this instrument as a result of the negotiations entered into in accordance with Article 33 of the Charter of the United Nations.
- The three countries involved declare that they arrived at the foregoing conclusions in the highest spirit of understanding and brotherhood, with due respect for the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and as the best possible contribution to the maintenance of international peace and security.
- This instrument shall enter into force on the date of publication in the Boletin Oficial del Estado of the 'Sahara Decolonization Act' authorising the Spanish Government to assume the commitments conditionally set forth in this instrument."
This declaration was signed by the president of the government Carlos Arias Navarro, for Spain; the Prime Minister, Ahmed Osman, for Morocco; and the Foreign Minister, Hamdi Ould Mouknass, for Mauritania.
Notes
- ^ Also called Madrid Agreement or Madrid Pact
See also
References
- ^ Ley 40/1975, de 19 de noviembre, sobre descolonización del Sahara. Archived 2021-01-16 at the Wayback Machine – B.O.E. 20-11-1975
- ^ Mundy, Jacob, How the US and Morocco seized Western Sahara Archived 2017-08-26 at the Wayback Machine. Le Monde diplomatique, January 2006.
- ^ Library of Congress Country Studies. Mauritania. Background to Mauritanian Policy. The Moroccan Factor Archived 2012-12-12 at archive.today. June 1988.
- ^ Thompson & Adloff, pp. 55–57, 145–147
- ^ International Court of Justice .WESTERN SAHARA. Advisory Opinion of 16 October 1975
- ^ Library of Congress Country Studies. Mauritania Internal Factors Archived 2012-12-13 at archive.today June 1988.
- ^ Library of Congress Country Studies. Mauritania. Madrid Agreements. Archived 2021-01-13 at the Wayback Machine June 1988.
- Telquel (in French). 27 June 2011. Archived from the originalon 30 June 2015. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
- ^ عمر الفاسي-الرباط (2006-03-15). جمعية لاسترداد ممتلكات المغاربة المطرودين من الجزائر (in Arabic). Aljazeera.net. Archived from the original on 2014-03-22. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
- ^ Thompson & Adloff, pp. 151, 176.
- ^ JSTOR 41858127.
- ^ "International law allows the recognition of Western Sahara". Stockholm Centre for International Law and Justice. 7 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
- ^ a b c Letter dated 29 January 2002 from the Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, the Legal Counsel, addressed to the President of the Security Council Archived 3 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine – webpage of Hans Corell.
- ^ Keating, Joshua (November 15, 2020). "The Peace Deals of the '90s Are Breaking Down". Slate. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
- ^ Declaration of Principles on Western Sahara by Spain, Morocco and Mauritania (also known as Madrid Agreement or Madrid Accords)
Further reading
- Douglas E. Ashford, Johns Hopkins University, The Irredentist Appeal in Morocco and Mauritania, The Western Political Quarterly, Vol. 15, No. 5, 1962–12, pp. 641–651
- Tony Hodges (1983), Western Sahara: The Roots of a Desert War, Lawrence Hill Books (ISBN 0-88208-152-7)
- Anthony G. Pazzanita (2006), Historical Dictionary of Western Sahara, Scarecrow Press
- Zekeria Ould Ahmed Salem, "Mauritania: A Saharan Frontier State", Journal of North Africa Studies, Vol. 10, No. 3–4, Sep–Dec. 2005, pp. 491–506.
- Pennell, C. R. (2000), Morocco since 1830. A History, New York University Press (ISBN 0-8147-6676-5)
- Thompson, Virginia; Adloff, Richard (1980), The Western Saharans. Background to Conflict, Barnes & Noble Books (ISBN 0-389-20148-0)
- Mundy, Jacob, "How the US and Morocco seized Western Sahara", January 2006.