Commemoration of the Saharawi Republic’s 30th anniversary in liberated territories of Western Sahara. Picture by Jaysen Naidoo. Flickr. Some rights reserved (CC BY-SA 2.0). In order to better understand the negotiations between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Frente Polisario (Popular Front for the Liberation of the Saguia el Hamra and the Rio de Oro), it is paramount to bear in mind the principals of international law.
Since the ceasefire of 1991 and the implementation of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), the negotiations between the two conflicting parties to reach an agreement that respects Western Saharan people’s self-determination have almost become a waste of time.
Since 1991, the settlement agreement has just been an instrument of war by other means, where no one cedes their original positions, namely, the independence for Polisario and the autonomy for Morocco. Worse, this situation of stagnation of ‘no war, no peace’ encourages the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to adopt a new way of negotiation by introducing Special Envoys in order to find a solution that respects the initial plan for peace.
