The Role of European Institutions in the Defense of Human Rights in the Western Sahara

Abstract

The European Union’s position on the Western Sahara conflict has been characterized on the one hand by a more tepid position than in other international conflicts; and on the other, by what has been referred to as a «double standard policy» of the EU, with different implications and a different stance of the European Institutions on the peace negotiation and on the defence of human rights. It has been considered that this incoherence was maintained between the political attitude of the European Institutions which was influenced by the political pressures of some actors involved, such as France or Spain, and EU economic interests, basically related to the exploitation of the natural resources of the territory. However, it was supposed to be a clearer and more coherent statement of the EU on the defence of the human rights of Sahrawi population. Nevertheless, this paper argues that this «double standard policy» and political incoherence has been even translated to the defence of human rights. Thus, while the European institutions clearly defend civil and political rights in the Occupied Territories and condemn the precarious conditions of the Sahrawi Refugees, European economic interests overwhelm the defence of the Sahrawi people´s cultural, economic and social rights. This article will try to unveil this inconsistence in the defence of the rights of Sahrawi people through the analysis of documents such as: reports of the EU parliament, in situ missions, European Institutions´ reports on the situation of Human Rights, support to Sahrawi activists, and European Humanitarian Aid flows; comparing them to legal/illegal agreements signed by the EU with Morocco for the exploitation of natural resources and the stance of the EU towards local NGOs and human rights associations.

Published online: 29 July 2016