Muhammad Sidi Brahim Sidi Embarek Basir ( ar, محمد سيدي إبراهيم سيدي مبارك بصير; born 1942 or 1944 – disappeared June 18, 1970) was a
Sahrawi nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
leader, disappeared and presumedly executed by the
Spanish Legion
For centuries, Spain recruited foreign soldiers to its army, forming the Foreign Regiments () - such as the Regiment of Hibernia (formed in 1709 from Irishmen who fled their own country in the wake of the Flight of the Earls and the penal ...
in June 1970.
Biography
Muhammad Bassiri was born in a Sahrawi family in
Tan-Tan
Tan-Tan ( ar, طانطان, ber, ⵟⴰⵏⵟⴰⵏ) is a city in Tan-Tan Province in the region of Guelmim-Oued Noun in southwestern Morocco. It is a desert town with a population (2014 census) of 73,209. It is the largest city in the provinc ...
,
which was retroceded to Morocco after
Treaty of Angra de Cintra
The Treaty of Angra de Cintra, signed by Spain and Morocco on 1 April 1958, ended the Spanish protectorate in Morocco and helped end the Ifni War.
The Spanish foreign minister, Fernando María Castiella y Maíz, and his Moroccan counterpart, Ahmed ...
in 1958,
(nowadays Southern
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
, then part of the
Cap Juby in
Spanish protectorate in Morocco
The Spanish protectorate in Morocco ; es, Protectorado español de Marruecos, links=no, was established on 27 November 1912 by a treaty between France and Spain that converted the Spanish sphere of influence in Morocco into a formal protect ...
) The ''Tarfaya strip'', which included Bassiri's hometown, had been attributed to Morocco in a clause imposed by France in the
Franco-Spanish Treaty of 1912, despite the fact that Morocco had never had either sovereignty, territorial right or actual control over it, as ruled by the
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...
in 1975. Its cession to Morocco in 1958, which caused a clash between Sahrawi guerrillas and Moroccan troops in Tan-Tan, is interpreted by Sahrawi nationalists as an amputation of their historical territory.
In 1957 he left Tan-Tan for the newly independent Morocco to attend school in
Marrakesh
Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakes ...
, and proceeded to study the
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
&
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
and
Journalism
Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...
in
Damascus
)), is an adjective which means "spacious".
, motto =
, image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg
, image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg
, seal_type = Seal
, map_caption =
, ...
,
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, where he get in touch with the
Panarabism
Pan-Arabism ( ar, الوحدة العربية or ) is an ideology that espouses the unification of the countries of North Africa and Western Asia from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea, which is referred to as the Arab world. It is closely c ...
ideology. On returning to Morocco in 1966, he founded ''Al-Shihab'' (The Torch), a Sahrawi nationalist newspaper.
He also worked as a journalist in
Casablanca
Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...
.
In March 1968 he was allowed to enter to
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 ...
(he had tried to enter on December 1967, but he was detained and expelled), because of the closing of the newspaper by Moroccan authorities in late 1967, and settled in the city of
Smara as a Quranic teacher. It was there he started to organize the anti-colonial movement known as the ''movement of liberation'' (In Arabic:
Harakat Tahrir
The Movement for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Wadi el Dhahab, also referred to as the Liberation Movement ( ar, حركة تحرير Harakat Tahrir), Movement for the Liberation of the Sahara, Advanced Organization of the Sahara or si ...
) calling for end of Spanish occupation of the Sahara. Bassiri stressed non-violence (influenced by the peaceful struggle of Gandhi in the colonized
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
) and wanted to bring about change through democratic action, although the ruthless colonial rule imposed by
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...
's Spain forced the Harakat Tahrir to remain clandestine. Bassiri didn't want a precipitated independence, but to negotiate with the Spanish authorities
Disappearance
On early June 17, 1970 the organization appeared openly in a peaceful demonstration against the Spanish colonial rule, asking for autonomy (as a first step to independence) and self-determination in the Zemla neighborhood of
El-Aaiun, in parallel to an official Francoist demonstration. The Spanish governor-general of the colony,
General
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
José María Pérez de Lema y Tejero
José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ).
In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...
, went to Zemla to discuss with the organizers of the demonstration, but did not reach an agreement to make them leave the place and join the official demonstration. Tensions escalated between the growing mass of Sahrawi protesters and the Spanish
reservist soldiers, who were stoned-throwed after detaining 3 speakers of the protest, answered opening fire on the mass at 17:30 PM. Disturbance continued until 19:00 PM, when troops of the
Tercio
A ''tercio'' (; Spanish for " third") was a military unit of the Spanish Army during the reign of the Spanish Habsburgs in the early modern period. The tercios were renowned for the effectiveness of their battlefield formations, forming the el ...
"Juan de Austria" of the Spanish Legion brutally put down what remained of the protesters. The events were seen by the Spanish authorities as a defiance to the official demonstration organized by the General governor, made to show the world the supposed Sahrawi support to the Spanish regime and refusal to the UN involvement. These events have been dubbed the
Zemla Intifada by Sahrawis.
Bassiri, who had abandoned Zemla before violence erupted, was informed of the events. He was offered to escape to Mauritania by car, but he refused it. According to Salem Lebser, he replied: "Nobody could say I'm an adventurer who has led people to death and then disappeared..I already fled once Morocco, where I felt like a stranger. But I would not fled from my own land". Bassiri was tracked down that night, detained around 03:00 AM of June 18, and jailed at El Aaiun Territorial Police headquarters. On June 19, and after being allegedly tortured, he testified before the Spanish military authorities. A photograph of him registering before the "Habs Shargui" prison authorities is the last known trace of him. Later, he was allegedly moved to "Sidi Buya", the Spanish Legion headquarters in El Aaiun. According to testimonies given by three different persons to then
apostolic prefect
An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...
to
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 ...
Félix Erviti Barcelona
Félix Erviti Barcelona (29 July 1910 – 24 November 2000) was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest, in the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. He was ordained as priest on February 19, 1933.
Religious life
He was appointed by Pope Pius XII as the firs ...
, Bassiri was executed by a Spanish Legion patrol in the dunes surrounding
El Aaiun
Laâyoune ( , also , ) or El Aaiún ( , ; Hassaniya Arabic: , romanized: ; ber, ⵍⵄⵢⵓⵏ, Leɛyun; ar, label= Literary Arabic, العيون, al-ʿUyūn/el-ʿUyūn, lit=The Springs) is the largest city of the disputed territory of W ...
on the night of 29 July 1970,
although Spanish authorities of the time claimed that he had been expelled from the territory to Morocco on that date, moreover they also claimed later that Bassiri had entered Spanish Sahara illegally from
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
in September 1970.
Spanish colonial authorities even claimed in 1971 that Bassiri had died on the
Skhirat coup d'état against
Hassan II.
Present-day Sahrawi
nationalists such as the
Polisario Front honor him as the father of the modern Sahrawi independence struggle, as well as the first of the Sahrawi "
disappeared" and a national
martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
for the Liberty.
See also
*
List of people who disappeared
Lists of people who disappeared include those whose current whereabouts are unknown, or whose deaths are unsubstantiated. Many people who disappear are eventually declared dead ''in absentia''. Some of these people were possibly subjected to enfo ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bassiri, Muhammad
1940s births
1970 deaths
1970s missing person cases
Enforced disappearances in Morocco
Missing person cases in Morocco
Movement for the Liberation of Saguia el Hamra and Wadi el Dhahab politicians
People executed by Francoist Spain
People from Tan-Tan
Sahrawi activists
Sahrawi democracy activists
Sahrawi human rights activists
Sahrawi journalists
Sahrawi prisoners and detainees
Sahrawi rebels