UNITED
NATIONS, April
22 -- The
politics of
this year's
renewal of the
Western Sahara
UN mission
MINURSO is
complicated by
an unexpected
factor: Rwanda's
understandable
mistrust of
Human Rights
Watch and
what
it has come to
stand for.
Rwanda
is not only
this month's
Security
Council
president, but
is also the
African Union
member on the
Security
Council which
would be
expected
to advocate
for the
position of
the Frente
POLISARIO.
In
recent years
this advocacy
was done by
Uganda then
South Africa,
while
Francophone
African
members like
Gabon and now
Togo do not
take
that line.
But
Rwanda, which
openly
questioned the
credibility of
Human Rights
Watch
during its
campaign for
the Security
Council last
year, with
foreign
minister
Louise
Mushikiwabo memorably
saying HRW
holds
fundraising
dinners and
uses exotic
African names
but has
neither
knowledge nor
respect,
is adverse to
HRW and its
positions.
So
who, really,
did Human
Rights Watch
serve with its
open letter
urging
the Council
“to extend the
mandate to
incorporate
human rights
monitoring in
Western
Sahara.”
In
fact, this
served
Morocco. Now
the natural
advocate for
AU positions
is against
“non state
actor” HRW's
call to extend
the mandate.
Ever
Afro-centric,
Rwanda wants
there to be
the promised
referendum
in Western
Sahara. But to
impose
outside,
HRW-style
human rights
“B.S.” on
another
African
country, at
HRW's request?
They say no.
So
Morocco, in a
sense, is
lucky. Their
position is
that the
African
Union letter
is “really
just Zuma,
that is, South
Africa.” They
point out that
the AU under
Jean Ping
never wrote
such a letter.
But
wasn't that...
just Ping, and
the
Francophonie?
Morocco
will
come off the
Council at the
end of 2013,
which should
increase
the odds of a
human rights
mandate being
added to
MINURSO. But
Morocco points
out that
Nigeria would
probably be
coming on, and
“doesn't share
the view of
South Africa”
on Western
Sahara.
On
HRW, it's
worth noting
that their
Ken Roth has
repeatedly
refused to
provide even a
summary of the
issues he
raised to Ban
Ki-moon (one
assumes HRW
shares this
with donors,
at least big
donors). HRW
won't even
send out its
statements
even-handedly.
Meanwhile,
we
have added the
full text of
POLISARIO's
letter to
Rwandan
Ambassador
Gasana, as
Security
Council
President, to
our
story from
earlier today,
here.
There
is more and
more talk
about the US
gambit to
finally
include human
rights in
MINURSO's
mission: who
was behind it
and how it
will play out.
Watch this
site.
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