US embassy cable - 05RABAT1129

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 RABAT 001129 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/MAG AND DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/31/2015 
TAGS: KPKO, MO, PBTS, PHUM, PREL 
SUBJECT: WESTERN SAHARA: UPDATE ON DEMONSTRATIONS 
 
REF: RABAT 1118 
 
Classified By: Acting Pol/C Cindy Kierscht for reasons 1.4 (b), (d). 
 
1. (C) Summary: Spanish FM Moratinos reached out to both 
Moroccans and Algerians in an attempt to restore "calm" to 
the situation in the Western Sahara, holding separate 
bilateral meetings with GOM and GOA officials in Luxembourg 
May 30, and indicated his government's intention to stay 
engaged in the issue.  Assessing the situation, Moroccan 
officials, including the Wali of Laayoune, are pointing to 
the seeming organization behind the demonstrations as an 
indication that they were politically motivated.  Thus far, 
thirty-three people have been arrested according to the 
Moroccans. While the demonstrations have subsided in 
Laayoune, the situation remains tense according to Sahrawi 
contacts.  In the meantime, pro-Sahrawi demonstrations took 
place on university campuses in three Moroccan cities, 
including Rabat, as well as in Spain.  Emboffs plan to visit 
Laayoune within the next week to get a better sense of the 
issue.  In the meantime, the Ambassador will have the 
opportunity to ascertain the GOM perspective in his upcoming 
meetings with Moroccan officials during the visit of Codel 
Smith. End summary. 
 
Moratinos Calling for "Calm" 
---------------------------- 
2. (SBU) Spanish FM Moratinos met separately with Moroccan FM 
Benaissa and former Algerian FM Belkhadem in Luxembourg May 
30 on the margins of the EuroMed meeting to discuss the 
recent escalation of tension in the Western Sahara, according 
to Italian press agency AKI. Spanish daily El Mundo reported 
that Moratinos had decided to seize the opportunity of having 
both officials present in Luxembourg to hold separate 
bilateral meetings to "calm the escalating tensions" in the 
Western Sahara.  Moratinos reportedly promised that Spain 
would deploy diplomatic initatives to resolve the conflict 
within the context of the United Nations.  He also pledged 
that his government will be increasingly involved in this 
issue to contribute to a solution.  His separate meetings 
with Benaissa and Belkhadem follow his statements during a 
joint press conference held on the eve of his departure to 
Luxembourg with the Portuguese FM in which he reaffirmed that 
his government would continue to deploy a series of contacts 
and mediation efforts so that the diplomatic negotiations in 
the UN would lead to a final resolution of the conflict. 
 
The Wali of Laayoune Speaks Out 
------------------------------- 
3. (SBU) Wali of Laayoune Mohamed Rharrabi held a press 
conference in Laayoune May 29 to review the status of the 
situation, and announced that 33 youths (including two women) 
will be tried for criminal conspiracy, disturbing public 
order and damage to public property during the 
demonstrations.  According to French daily Le Matin, the Wali 
described the events "as the result of an attempt of a small 
minority who made use of the atmosphere of democracy and 
freedom established in Morocco as the vehicle for a hostile 
and separatist discourse against the Kingdom."  The Wali 
further postulated that "this minority exploited the transfer 
of a convict, sentenced to 12 years for drug trafficking from 
a jail in Laayoune to a central prison in Ait Mellou 
(southern Morocco) to organize sit-ins on public roads, which 
local authorities handled with flexibility and perfect 
mastery." 
 
4. (SBU) The Wali confirmed May 31 to A/DCM much of what he 
described in the press conference, including his belief that 
the demonstrations were instigated by a group of people 
well-known to the GOM because they are "troublemakers."  This 
group, who "lives in a certain area of Laayoune," he said, 
exploited the administrative procedure of transferring a 
known drug-dealer to another prison, and used it as a pretext 
to stir up trouble.  New MFA SYG, Omar Hilali, told Poloff 
May 30 that he considered that the demonstrations were "too 
well-coordinated" to be spontaneous, but that the GOM should 
not overreact and "sink to their level."  According to 
Rharrabi, these troubles were deliberately provoked to harm 
the lives of security forces.  Rharrabi asserted, however, 
that local police held back until the situation turned 
violent.  The demonstrators then attacked police with molotov 
cocktails, stones and butagaz, injuring some 22 policemen, 
according to Rharrabi. 
5. (SBU) Rharrabi also told A/DCM that the GOM had initially 
invited news organizations to Laayoune during the 
demonstrations to promote transparency.  However, Spanish and 
Italian TV crews had acted "provocatively," trying to go 
places where they were not allowed.  (NB: MINURSO confirmed 
to A/DCM that Moroccan handlers escorted crews the entire 
time.)  According to Rharrabi, the media crews had their own 
agenda in wanting to see some action.  However, Rharrabi 
said, the news crews have now all departed, things have 
calmed down, the instigators who have been arrested will be 
tried according to regular procedures, and people are going 
back to business.  The Wali told A/DCM that he hopes the 
incident is now "closed." 
 
Pro-Polisario Views 
------------------- 
6. (SBU) President of the Association for the Victims of the 
Violations of Human Rights Committed by the Moroccan State 
Brahim Dahan confirmed that there are no ongoing protests in 
Laayoune as of May 31, but said that the situation remains 
tense.  Dahan told POLFSN that a plane full of gendarmes 
landed May 31 in Laayoune, adding to the already numerous 
trucks and buses that have arrived within the past few days 
full of security officials.  In contrast with the Wali's 
tally of 33 arrests, the Polisario currently account for 40 
people who they say have been arrested for various crimes 
related to the demonstrations.  According to a Polisario 
website, sixteen of these forty were referred on May 28 to 
the Laayoune Appeals Court.  These 16 are still being 
detained.  The other 24 were referred to the Court of First 
Instance, which released ten of the accused on their own 
recognizance.  As of May 29, according to the website, 
Laayoune was still under a "de facto state of siege," with 
police patrolling all night.  According to press reports, the 
police continue to search for other suspects for burning the 
Moroccan flag and for brandishing Polisario flags. 
 
Demonstrations Extend Beyond Laayoune 
------------------------------------- 
7. (SBU) In Rabat, a dozen people were injured May 27 when 
Moroccan police dispersed a demonstration by student 
supporters of Western Saharan independence, according to 
Reuters.  Witnesses reported that approximately 100 police 
raided a local university campus to break up a protest held 
in solidarity with the Laayoune demonstrations. 
Approximately 80 students participated in the protest, 
chanting anti-Moroccan slogans before pelting policemen 
stationed in front of the campus with stones. According to 
Rahmouni Daha, a Sahrawi Human Rights NGO member, six 
students were arrested and later released the same day. Daha 
reported that one student had raised a Polisario flag while 
others shouted anti-Moroccan slogans.  Pro-independence 
demonstrations also occurred at university campuses in 
Marrakech and Agadir, where the highest concentrations of 
Sahrawi students study, on May 29-30.  Dahan reported that 
the situation is still tense at these two campuses which are 
now surrounded by police. 
 
8. (SBU) According to press reports, pro-Sahrawi protestors 
also staged demonstrations in front of Moroccan consulates in 
the Spanish cities of Seville, Algeciras and Almeria last 
week to urge an end to the alleged "violent repression" in 
the Western Sahara. 
 
Comment 
------- 
9. (C) Pictures of the demonstrations provided by Sahrawi 
contacts to Emboffs showed helmeted police and gendarmes 
carrying riot sticks and protective shields, but no other 
weaponry.  Other photos depicted hundreds of young men and 
women peacefully protesting.  Yet other photos indicated 
Sahrawis who have clearly been beaten and showed a few 
ransacked apartments.  Emboffs plan to visit Laayoune within 
the next week to try to get a more accurate sense of what 
occurred and of what the implications the demonstrations and 
the Moroccan reaction to them will have for the future of the 
Sahara question.  The Ambassador will also have the 
opportunity to learn more about the Moroccan perspective in 
his upcoming meetings with Moroccan officials, including 
possibly the King and the Foreign Minister, during Codel 
Smith's visit.  In the meantime, we will follow up with our 
Spanish colleagues to try to decipher what is behind 
Moratinos' newly energetic initiative.  End comment. 
RILEY