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Security Council Extends MINURSO Mandate in Western Sahara

Smoke from burning waste behind a Moroccan border crossing point between Morocco and Mauritania in Guerguerat located in Western Sahara, Nov. 24, 2020. (AFP)
Smoke from burning waste behind a Moroccan border crossing point between Morocco and Mauritania in Guerguerat located in Western Sahara, Nov. 24, 2020. (AFP)
    Washington, Rabat - Ali Barada and Asharq Al-Awsat
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Security Council Extends MINURSO Mandate in Western Sahara

Smoke from burning waste behind a Moroccan border crossing point between Morocco and Mauritania in Guerguerat located in Western Sahara, Nov. 24, 2020. (AFP)
Smoke from burning waste behind a Moroccan border crossing point between Morocco and Mauritania in Guerguerat located in Western Sahara, Nov. 24, 2020. (AFP)

The United Nations Security Council on Friday extended for one year the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum on Western Sahara (MINURSO), noting with deep concern the possible breakdown of the ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario Front.

The Security Council “decides to extend the mandate of MINURSO until 31 October 2022,” read the text of the resolution presented by the United States.

The resolution was adopted in a vote of 13 in favor to none against, with two abstentions from Russia and Tunisia. It called on parties to resume negotiations without preconditions and in good faith.

Speaking after the vote, the US welcomed the extension of MINURSO’ mandate.

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said her country’s priority is to work with all members of the Council to support the parties in finding lasting peace.

Complications related to the file of extending the mandate of MINURSO have increased due to the recent tension between Morocco and Algeria, which supports the Polisario Front, in addition to tension in the Guerguerat region on the border with Mauritania.

Staffan de Mistura was recently appointed as the new Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara, ending an over two year-long vacancy and renewing the prospects of reinvigorating peace talks initiated by his predecessor Horst Kohler.

Meanwhile, in a major breakthrough for Moroccan diplomacy, Colombia’s Foreign Minister Marta Lucia Ramirez announced on Thursday that instructions have been given to the new Colombian Ambassador in Rabat to extend the consular jurisdiction of the Embassy in the kingdom over all Moroccan territories, including the Sahara.

The Columbian minister had met in Rabat with her Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita, who informed her of the latest developments related to the autonomy initiative for the Sahara region, presented by Morocco in 2007.

Ramirez stressed “the serious efforts made by Morocco in the search for a pragmatic, realistic and lasting political solution to this dispute, within the framework of the political process conducted under the exclusive auspices of the UN.”

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HRW: Both Warring Parties in Sudan Acquired New Weapons

Women shout slogans as they take part in a demonstration on the opening day of Sudan ceasefire talks, in Geneva, on August 14, 2024. (AFP)
Women shout slogans as they take part in a demonstration on the opening day of Sudan ceasefire talks, in Geneva, on August 14, 2024. (AFP)
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HRW: Both Warring Parties in Sudan Acquired New Weapons

Women shout slogans as they take part in a demonstration on the opening day of Sudan ceasefire talks, in Geneva, on August 14, 2024. (AFP)
Women shout slogans as they take part in a demonstration on the opening day of Sudan ceasefire talks, in Geneva, on August 14, 2024. (AFP)

Both warring parties in Sudan, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), have newly acquired modern foreign-made weapons and military equipment, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released on Monday.

It called on the UN Security Council to renew and expand the arms embargo and its restrictions on the Darfur region to all of Sudan and hold violators to account.

HRW said it analyzed 49 photos and videos, most apparently filmed by fighters from both sides, posted on the social media platforms Facebook, Telegram, TikTok, and X, showing weapons used or captured in the conflict.

The apparently new equipment includes armed drones, drone jammers, anti-tank guided missiles, truck-mounted multi-barrel rocket launchers, and mortar munitions, and are produced by companies registered in China, Iran, Russia and Serbia.

Although HRW did not specify how the warring parties acquired the new equipment, it noted that the Sudan conflict is one of the world’s worst humanitarian and human rights crises.

“The warring parties are committing atrocities with impunity, and the newly acquired weapons and equipment are likely to be used in the commission of further crimes,” it said.

HRW warned that the SAF and the RSF may use such weapons and equipment to continue to commit war crimes and other serious human rights violations not just in Darfur, but across the country.

It said the UN Security Council is expected to decide on September 11 whether to renew the Sudan sanctions regime, which prohibits the transfer of military equipment to the Darfur region.

The organization noted that since April 2023, the new conflict has affected most of Sudan’s states, but Security Council members have yet to take steps to expand the arms embargo to the whole country.

HRW said its findings demonstrate both the inadequacy of the current Darfur-only embargo and the grave risks posed by the acquisition of new weapons by the warring parties.

“A countrywide arms embargo would contribute to addressing these issues by facilitating the monitoring of transfers to Darfur and preventing the legal acquisition of weapons for use in other parts of Sudan,” it stressed.

The NGO said that the Sudanese government has opposed an expansion of the arms embargo and in recent months has lobbied members of the Security Council to end the sanctions regime and remove the Darfur embargo altogether.

“The prevalence of atrocities by the warring parties creates a real risk that weapons or equipment acquired by the parties would most likely be used to perpetuate serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law, harming civilians,” HRW wrote in its report.

It therefore called on the Security Council to publicly condemn individual governments that are violating the existing arms embargo on Darfur and take urgently needed measures to sanction individuals and entities that are violating the embargo.