By Carlotta Gall, NY Times, April 10, 2015
TUNIS–A Spanish judge has ruled that 11 Moroccan former officials should stand trial on charges of genocide in connection with killings and torture in the former Spanish protectorate of Western Sahara from 1976 to 1991.
Judge Pablo Ruz ruled Thursday that there was evidence of crimes that amounted to genocide against the Sahrawi people during the period when the territory was annexed and controlled by Morocco. He specifically called for seven of the former Moroccan military and political officials to be arrested and extradited to Spain.
The decision, in the tradition of previous rulings that cross international boundaries, is rooted in Spain’s universal justice law, which has allowed Spain’s high court to hear cases of human rights violations committed anywhere in the world. Legal reforms introduced in 2013 after protests from China reduced the scope of the law, but Judge Ruz ruled that charges of genocide could still be brought in this case because many of the victims were considered Spanish citizens from the period when Western Sahara was a Spanish protectorate.
Morocco invaded and forcibly annexed Western Sahara in 1976 and fought a long war against a pro-independence movement, the Polisario Front, forcing several hundred thousand Sahrawis to flee into exile.
Since 1991 the United Nations has tried repeatedly to resolve the conflict through a referendum on the territory’s status and through bilateral talks, but the efforts have been unsuccessful. Sahrawi activists have organized a campaign for self-determination around human rights, while Morocco has insisted on its sovereignty over the land.
The Spanish ruling cited evidence of a campaign of bombings, killings, disappearances and torture from the period of the war, saying it amounted to “a generalized and systematic assault against the Sahrawi civil population by the Moroccan military and police.”
Judge Ruz, who is scheduled to step down from his post soon, was ruling on an investigation initiated by a noted judge, Baltasar Garzón, after human rights groups claimed that 500 Sahrawis had disappeared since 1975.
The ruling is likely to upset Morocco, which has tried in recent years to improve its image on human rights. It has been accused of torturing detainees in its prisons in the past, and running a black site used by the C.I.A. for terrorism suspects after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
TUNIS–A Spanish judge has ruled that 11 Moroccan former officials should stand trial on charges of genocide in connection with killings and torture in the former Spanish protectorate of Western Sahara from 1976 to 1991.
Judge Pablo Ruz ruled Thursday that there was evidence of crimes that amounted to genocide against the Sahrawi people during the period when the territory was annexed and controlled by Morocco. He specifically called for seven of the former Moroccan military and political officials to be arrested and extradited to Spain.
The decision, in the tradition of previous rulings that cross international boundaries, is rooted in Spain’s universal justice law, which has allowed Spain’s high court to hear cases of human rights violations committed anywhere in the world. Legal reforms introduced in 2013 after protests from China reduced the scope of the law, but Judge Ruz ruled that charges of genocide could still be brought in this case because many of the victims were considered Spanish citizens from the period when Western Sahara was a Spanish protectorate.
Morocco invaded and forcibly annexed Western Sahara in 1976 and fought a long war against a pro-independence movement, the Polisario Front, forcing several hundred thousand Sahrawis to flee into exile.
Since 1991 the United Nations has tried repeatedly to resolve the conflict through a referendum on the territory’s status and through bilateral talks, but the efforts have been unsuccessful. Sahrawi activists have organized a campaign for self-determination around human rights, while Morocco has insisted on its sovereignty over the land.
The Spanish ruling cited evidence of a campaign of bombings, killings, disappearances and torture from the period of the war, saying it amounted to “a generalized and systematic assault against the Sahrawi civil population by the Moroccan military and police.”
Judge Ruz, who is scheduled to step down from his post soon, was ruling on an investigation initiated by a noted judge, Baltasar Garzón, after human rights groups claimed that 500 Sahrawis had disappeared since 1975.
The ruling is likely to upset Morocco, which has tried in recent years to improve its image on human rights. It has been accused of torturing detainees in its prisons in the past, and running a black site used by the C.I.A. for terrorism suspects after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
