Green March
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- This article is about the historical event. For the aerobatic team see: Marche Verte.
The Green March was a strategic mass demonstration in November 1975, coordinated by the Moroccan government, to force Spain to hand over the disputed province of Spanish Sahara (now Western Sahara) to Morocco.
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[edit] The Green March
In preparation for the march, Moroccan Army forces crossed the border to engage the Sahrawi nationalist group the Polisario Front on October 31[1][this source's credibility needs verifying] as preparations were underway for the march—a well-publicized event of enormous proportions. On November 6, 1975, approximately 350,000 unarmed Moroccans[2] converged on the city of Tarfaya in southern Morocco and waited for a signal from King Hassan II to cross into Western Sahara. They brandished Moroccan flags, banners calling for the "return of the Moroccan Sahara," photographs of the King and the Qur'an; the color green for the march's name was intended as a symbol of Islam. As the marchers reached the border Spanish troops were ordered not to fire to avoid bloodshed.
[edit] Background
Morocco, to the north of the Spanish Sahara, had long claimed that the territory was historically an integral part of Morocco, and should not be independent. Mauritania to the south argued similarly that the territory was in fact Mauritanian. Since 1973, a Sahrawi guerrilla war led by the Polisario had challenged Spanish control with increasing success, and in October 1975 Spain had quietly begun negotiations for a handover of power with leaders of the rebel movement.[3][this source's credibility needs verifying]
Morocco intended to vindicate its claims by demanding a verdict from the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The ICJ stated that there were historical legal ties of allegiance between Sahrawi tribes and the Sultan of Morocco, as well as ties including some rights relating to the land between Mauritania and these same tribes. However, the ICJ stated also that there was no ties of territorial sovereignty between the territory and Morocco or Mauritania at the time of Spanish colonization, and that these contacts were not extensive enough to support either country's demand for annexation of the Spanish Sahara. Instead, the court argued, the indigenous population (the Sahrawis) were the owners of the land, and thus possessed the right of self-determination. This meant that regardless of which political solution was found to the question of sovereignty (integration with Spain, Morocco, Mauritania, division or independence), it had to be explicitly approved by the people of the territory. Complicating matters, a UN visiting mission had concluded on October 15, the day before the ICJ verdict was released, that Sahrawi support for independence was "overwhelming".
However, the reference to previous Moroccan-Sahrawi ties of allegiance was presented by Hassan II as a vindication of his position, with no public mention of the court's further ruling on self-determination until his proposal for a referendum before the Organisation of African Unity in 1982. Within hours of the ICJ verdict's release, he announced the organizing of a "green march" to Spanish Sahara, to "reunite it with the Motherland".
[edit] The Moroccan argument for sovereignty
According to Morocco, the exercise of sovereignty by the Moroccan state was characterized by official pledges of allegiance to the sultan. The Moroccan government was of the opinion that this allegiance existed during several centuries before the Spanish coccupation and that it was a legal and political tie.[1]
The government of Morocco had during the centuries before the Spanish occupation maintained its authority over the southern provinces. The sultan Hassan I, for example, had carried out two expeditions in 1886 in order to put an end to foreign incursions in this territory and to officially invest several caids and cadis. They also mentioned the levy of taxes as a further instance of the exercise of sovereignty. [2]
The exercise of this sovereignty had appeared, according to the Moroccan government, also at other levels, such as the appointment of local officials (governors and military officers), and the definition of the missions which were assigned to them. [3]
The sovereignty over the Western Sahara was shown by the Moroccan government in several treaties between Morocco and other states. The analyses of these diplomatic conventions demonstrated that the foreign powers had permanently resorted to the Sultan to protect the activities of their nationals in the Western Sahara. For this purpose, treaties were signed respectively with Spain in 1861, the Unites States of America in 1786 and 1836 and with Great Britain in 1856 [4] [4].
[edit] The Madrid Accords
As a result, Spain agreed to enter direct bilateral negotiations with Morocco, bringing in also Mauritania, who had made similar demands. This resulted in the November 14 Madrid Accords, a treaty [5] which divided Spanish Sahara between Mauritania and Morocco. Spain received a 35% concession in the phosphate mines of Bou Craa, and offshore fishing rights [5]. Both nations then formally annexed the parts they had been allotted in the Accords. Morocco claimed the northern part, i.e. Saguia el-Hamra and minor parts of Río de Oro, while Mauritania proceeded to occupy the southern third of the country under the name Tiris al-Gharbiyya. The Polisario, with Algerian backing, refused the Madrid Accords, and demanded that the ICJ's opinion on Sahrawi self-determination be respected; and so began a long, still unsettled war. Currently, there is a UN-brokered cease-fire.
[edit] References
- ^ ICJ, Reports 1975, p. 83. For more details, Cf. pp. 83-102. Cf. also individual opinion of Judge M. FORSTER. Idem p. 103 and Annex n° 7.
- ^ ICJ, Western Sahara Pleadings, Arguments, Documents, Volume 111, Written Statements and Documents, pp. 205 to 497.
- ^ - Nomination Dahirs, dating back to the reign of His Majesty Moulay Abdelaziz Bel Hassan, (Two Dahirs in 1886 and two in 1899), of His Majesty Abdelhafid Bel Hassan (1907 and 1909). - Dahirs of His Majesty El Hassan Ben Mohammed (1877 and 1886) of His Majesty Abdelaziz Ben El H~Hassan (1901)
- ^ The treaties are the following: - Trading Treaty between Morocco and Spain in Madrid in November 20, 1861. - Treaty with the USA in June 23 to 28,1786. - Treaty of peace and friendship between the USA and Morocco, signed in Meknes in September 16,1856. - Anglo-maroccan Accords, December 9,1856.
- ^ Trilateral Agreement concluded between the Spanish, Moroccan and Mauritanian Governments, the text of which has been transmitted to the Secretary General of the UN in November 18, 1975. (Resolution 3458 (XXX) B. 10/12/1975).
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
