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The Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs ( ar, المجلس الملكي الاستشاري للشؤون الصحراوية; french: Conseil royal consultatif pour les affaires sahariennes) is an advisory committee to the
Moroccan government on
Western Sahara
Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the ...
. It was created under
Mohammed VI Muhammad VI may refer to:
* Muhammad Imaaduddeen VI (1868–1932), sultan of the Maldives from 1893 to 1902
* Mehmed VI (1861–1926), sultan of Ottoman Empire, from 1918 to 1922
* Mohammed VI of Morocco
Mohammed VI ( ar, محمد الساد ...
in early 2006,
after a new autonomy plan proposed by Morocco to replace the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
'
Baker Plan
The Baker Plan (formally, Peace Plan for Self-Determination of the People of Western Sahara) is a United Nations initiative to grant self-determination to Western Sahara. It was intended to replace the Settlement Plan of 1991, which was further ...
. The
Polisario Front
The Polisario Front, Frente Polisario, Frelisario or simply Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of (Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro), (in ar, rtl=yes, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير الس ...
opposes Morocco's autonomy plan, demanding for a referendum and independence.
Mission
The CORCAS is a consultative body for proposals related to what Morocco calls their
Southern Provinces
The Southern Provinces ( ar, الأقاليم الجنوبية, Al-Aqalim al-Janubiyah, french: Provinces du Sud) or Moroccan Sahara ( ar, الصحراء المغربية, Assahra al-Maghribiya, french: Sahara marocain) are the terms used by th ...
, CORCAS also defends Morocco's claim over Western Sahara in local media and abroad. The CORCAS fully condemns the refugee camps of
Tindouf
Tindouf (Berber: Tinduf, ar, تندوف) is the main town, and a commune in Tindouf Province, Algeria, close to the Mauritanian, Western Saharan and Moroccan borders. The commune has population of around 160,000 but the census and population ...
and the Polisario Front, citing human rights concerns.
Composition
There are 141 members of CORCAS, mostly Moroccan Sahrawi politicians and tribal leaders. The members were appointed by the King of Morocco and support Morocco's claim on Western Sahara.
Khalili Erguibi
Khalili Ben Mohamed El Bechir Erguibi (or Rguibi) (1925–2017) was a Moroccan Captain, member of the Southern Liberation Army and a member of CORCAS. He is the father of Mohamed Abdelaziz, the 3rd Secretary General of the Polisario Front.
Bi ...
, the father of the late Polisario Front leader and SADR president,
Mohamed Abdelaziz Mohamed Abdelaziz can refer to a number of people:
* Mohamed Abdelaziz (Sahrawi politician) (1946–2016), President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (1976–2016)
*Mohamed Abdelaziz (Libyan politician)
Mohamed Abdelaziz is a Libyan polit ...
was a member of CORCAS until his death in 2017.
The president of CORCAS,
Khalihenna Ould-Errachid, founded the
Partido de Unión Nacional Saharaui (PUNS) in 1974, the party supported the Spanish colonization of
Spanish Sahara
Spanish Sahara ( es, Sahara Español; ar, الصحراء الإسبانية, As-Sahrā'a Al-Isbānīyah), officially the Spanish Possessions in the Sahara from 1884 to 1958 then Province of the Sahara between 1958 and 1976, was the name used f ...
. After the departure of the Spanish in 1975 and the disbanding of the PUNS, Ould-Errachid pledged allegiance to the king of Morocco at the time,
Hassan II Hassan, Hasan, Hassane, Haasana, Hassaan, Asan, Hassun, Hasun, Hassen, Hasson or Hasani may refer to:
People
* Hassan (given name), Arabic given name and a list of people with that given name
*Hassan (surname), Arabic, Jewish, Irish, and Scotti ...
and helped organize the
Green March
The Green March was a strategic mass demonstration in November 1975, coordinated by the Moroccan government, to force Spain to hand over the disputed, autonomous semi-metropolitan province of Spanish Sahara to Morocco. At that time, the Span ...
, he is an active defender of Morocco's claim over Western Sahara.
International activities
Members of CORCAS are regularly featured in the Moroccan press. The president of CORCAS, Khalihenna Ould-Errachid, regularly attends meetings in international forums, such as the United Nations, where Western Sahara is discussed. Most notably, Ould-Errachid has met with the
President of the People's Republic of China,
Hu Jintao.
Criticism
In 2008, a transcript from a 2005
Equity and Reconciliation Commission
The Equity and Reconciliation Commission ( ar, هيئة الإنصاف والمصالحة; - IER) is a Moroccan human rights and truth commission created on January 7, 2004, when King Mohammed VI signed a '' Dahir'' (royal decree). The commiss ...
meeting regarding the
Western Sahara War
The Western Sahara War ( ar, حرب الصحراء الغربية, french: Guerre du Sahara occidental, es, Guerra del Sahara Occidental) was an armed struggle between the Sahrawi indigenous Polisario Front and Morocco from 1975 to 1991 (an ...
was leaked to Al-Jarida al-Oula, during the meeting, Ould-Errachid declared that "there are some people
.. about three or four Army officers who have committed what can be called war crimes against prisoners outside the scope of the war" and that "many civilians were thrown from helicopters or buried alive".
In an interview with the independent Moroccan weekly magazine ''
Le Journal Hebdomadaire
''Le Journal Hebdomadaire'' (French for ''The Weekly Journal''; often shortened to ''Le Journal Hebdo'') was a French-language, Moroccan weekly magazine, published between 1997 and 2010.Sylvain MouillardAu Maroc, le «Journal hebdomadaire» je ...
'', the ex-chairman of CORCAS' Human Rights Commission and head of the Association of Sahrawi Victims of Repression in the Tindouf Camps,
El Houcine Baïda
EL, El or el may refer to:
Religion
* El (deity), a Semitic word for "God"
People
* EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer
* El DeBarge, music artist
* El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American p ...
, criticized the lack of tackling human rights issues, and about the manner which Ould-Errachid runs the Council. In his opinion, the country's actions in the Western Sahara were alienating Sahrawis, and thus could push more youth towards what he defined as separatism. He further claimed that most of the organization's members had no knowledge of the government's autonomy plan - that they were supposedly responsible for drafting - and that president Ould-Errachid runs the council's affairs despotically, like "a new
Franco
Franco may refer to:
Name
* Franco (name)
* Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975
* Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître"
Prefix
* Franco, a prefix used when ref ...
".
See also
*
History of Morocco
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
*
History of Western Sahara
The history of Western Sahara can be traced back to the times of Carthaginian explorer Hanno the Navigator in the 5th century BC. Though few historical records are left from that period, Western Sahara's modern history has its roots linked to som ...
*
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (; SADR; also romanized with Saharawi; ar, الجمهورية العربية الصحراوية الديمقراطية ' es, República Árabe Saharaui Democrática), also known as Western Sahara, is a ...
(SADR)
*
Sahrawi National Council
The Sahrawi National Council (SNC) or Sahrawi Parliament is the legislature of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Its structure and competences are guided by the Constitution of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). The present speaker ...
(SNC)
Notes
External links
Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS)– Official site in
Video of CORCAS President Khalihenna Ould Errachid, introducing the mission of the council
{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal Advisory Council For Saharan Affairs
Politics of Morocco
Politics of Western Sahara
Political organizations based in Western Sahara