Towards a Critique of the Concept of the Right to Self-Determination in Africa : A Conceptual Examination and the Cases of Western Sahara, Southern Sudan and Eritrea

This thesis examines the right to self-determination which is a norm used for numerous purposes by multiple actors in the field of international relations, with relatively little clarity or agreement on the actual and potential meaning of the right. In international practice, however, the main focus in applying the right has been in the context of decolonization as set by the United Nations in its early decades. Thus, in Africa the right to self-determination has traditionally implied that the colonial territories, and particularly the populations within these territories, were to constitute the people who were entitled to the right. That is, self-determination by decolonization provided a framework for the construction of independent nation-states in Africa whilst other dimensions of the right remained largely or totally neglected. With the objective of assessing the scope, content, developments and interpretations of the right to self-determination in Africa, particularly with regard to the relevance of the right today, the thesis proceeds on two fundamental hypotheses. The first is that Mervyn Frost s theory of settled norms, among which he lists the right to self-determination, assumes too much. Even if the right to self-determination is a human right belonging to all peoples stipulated, inter alia, in the first Article of the 1966 International Human Rights Covenants, it is a highly politicized and context-bound right instead of being settled and observed in a way that its denial would need special justification. Still, the suggested inconsistency or non-compliance with the norm of self-determination is not intended to prove the uselessness or inappropriateness of the norm, but, on the contrary, to invite and encourage debate on the potential use and coverage of the right to self-determination. The second hypothesis is that within the concept of self-determination there are two normative dimensions. One is to do with the idea and practice of statehood, the nation and collectivity that may decide to conduct itself as an independent state. The other one is to do with self-determination as a human right, as a normative condition, to be enjoyed by people and peoples within states that supersedes state authority. These external and internal dimensions need to be seen as complementary and co-terminous, not as mutually exclusive alternatives. The thesis proceeds on the assumption that the internal dimension of the right, with human rights and democracy at its core, has not been considered as important as the external. In turn, this unbalanced and selective interpretation has managed to put the true normative purpose of the right making the world better and bringing more just polity models into a somewhat peculiar light. The right to self-determination in the African context is assessed through case studies of Western Sahara, Southern Sudan and Eritrea. The study asks what these cases say about the right to self-determination in Africa and what their lessons learnt could contribute to the understanding and relevance of the right in today s Africa. The study demonstrates that even in the context of decolonization, the application of the right to self-determination has been far from the consistent approach supposedly followed by the international community: in many respects similar colonial histories have easily led to rather different destinies. While Eritrea secured internationally recognized right to self-determination in the form of retroactive independence in 1993, international recognition of distinct Western Sahara and Southern Sudan entities is contingent on complex and problematic conditions being satisfied. Overall, it is a considerable challenge for international legality to meet empirical political reality in a meaningful way, so that the universal values attached to the norm of self-determination are not overlooked or compromised but rather reinforced in the process of implementing the right. Consequently, this thesis seeks a more comprehensive understanding of the right to self-determination with particular reference to post-colonial Africa and with an emphasis on the internal, human rights and democracy dimensions of the norm. It is considered that the right to self-determination cannot be perceived only as an inter-state issue as it is also very much an intra-state issue, including the possibility of different sub-state arrangements exercised under the right, for example, in the form of autonomy. At the same time, the option of independent statehood achieved through secession remains a mode of exercising and part of the right to self-determination. But in whatever form or way applied, the right to self-determination, as a normative instrument, should constitute and work as a norm that comprehensively brings more added value in terms of the objectives of human rights and democracy. From a normative perspective, a peoples right should not be allowed to transform and convert itself into a right of states. Finally, in light of the case studies of Western Sahara, Southern Sudan and Eritrea, the thesis suggests that our understanding of the right to self-determination should now reach beyond the post-colonial context in Africa. It appears that both the questions and answers to the most pertinent issues of self-determination in the cases studied must be increasingly sought within the postcolonial African state rather than solely in colonial history. In this vein, the right to self-determination can be seen not only as a tool for creating states but also as a way to transform the state itself from within. Any such genuinely post-colonial approach may imply a judicious reconsideration, adaptation or up-dating of the right and our understanding of it in order to render it meaningful in Africa today.

Western Sahara, Mauritania, & Senegal, 1861 (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the historic paper map entitled: Carte du voyage exécuté dans le Sahara occidental, d'après les instructions du colonel ... Faidherbe..., par le capitaine ... Vincent, dressée par Vuillemin ; gravée chez Erhard. It was published by Société de Géographie in 1861. Scale [ca. 1:4,000,000]. Covers portions of Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, and Guinea. Map in French.The image inside the map neatline is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to the Africa Lambert Conformal Conic projected coordinate system. All map collar and inset information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, index maps, legends, or other information associated with the principal map. This map shows features such as drainage, cities and other human settlements, roads, shoreline features, and more. Relief shown by hachures and spot heights. Includes notes.This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps from the Harvard Map Collection. These maps typically portray both natural and manmade features. The selection represents a range of originators, ground condition dates, scales, and map purposes.

(Tab. XIII.1) TOC content, carbonate content, carbonate mineralogy, percentage of total carbonate, aragonite, low magnesium calcium, and high magnesium calcium, and grain-size contents from samples from the Golfe d'Arguin and from the Western Sahara

Modern carbonate sedimentation takes place on the northern Mauritanian shelf (20°N), where typical tropical components (e.g. hermatypic reefs, calcareous green algae) are absent. Such deposits are reminiscent of extratropical sediment in the geological record. The tropical open shelf of Mauritania is influenced by large siliciclastic dust input and upwelling, highly fertilizing the ocean, as well as strongly limiting the light penetration. In this context, temperature does not appear to be the steering factor of carbonate production. This thesis describes the depositional system of the Golfe d'Arguin off Mauritania and focuses on environmental conditions that control the depositional pattern, in particular carbonate production. The description of this modern analogue provides a tool for paleoenvironmental interpretation of ancient counterparts. The Golfe d'Arguin is a broad shallow shelf comprising extensive shoals (<10 m water depth; i.e. the Banc d'Arguin) on the inner shelf where waters warm up. The sediments collected in water depths between 4 and 600 m are characterized by mixed carbonate and siliciclastic (dust) deposits. They vary from clean coarse-grained, almost pure carbonate loose sediments to siliciclastic-dominated fine-grained sediments. The carbonate content and sediment grain size show a north-south decreasing pattern through the Golfe d'Arguin and are controlled by the hydraulic regime influenced by wind-driven surface currents, swell, and tidal currents. The carbonate grain association is heterozoan. Components include abundant molluscs, foraminifers, and worm tubes, as well as barnacles and echinoderms, elements that are also abundant in extratropical sediments. The spatial distribution of the sedimentary facies of the Golfe d'Arguin does not display a depth zonation but rather a mosaic (i.e. patchy distribution). The depth and climatic signatures of the different sedimentary facies are determined by taxonomic and ecological investigations of the carbonate-secreting biota (molluscs and foraminifers). While certain planktonic foraminifers and molluscs represent upwelling elements, other components (e.g. mollusc and benthic foraminifer taxa) demonstrate the tropical origin of the sediment. The nutrient-rich (and thus also low light-penetration) conditions are reflected in the fact that symbiotic and photosynthetic carbonate-producing organisms (e.g. hermatypic corals) are absent. The Mauritanian deposits represent an environment that is rare in the modern world but might have been more common in the geological past when global temperatures were higher. Taxonomic and ecological studies allow for distinguishing carbonate sediments formed under either tropical high-nutrient or extratropical conditions, thus improving paleoclimate reconstruction.

U.S. policy and the conflict in the western Sahara : hearings before the Subcommittees on Africa and on International Organizations of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety-sixth Congress, first session, July 23, and 24, 1979.

Includes bibliographical references.

Chorological analysis and morphological variations of Saurians of the genus uromastyx (Reptilia, Agamidae) in western Sahara: Description of two new taxa.

[ES]Se describe una nueva especie del género Uromastyx sobre la base de dos especímenes procedentes del Adrar Sutuf (Sahara Occidental). Los individuos del nuevo taxón difieren fuertemente de Uromastyx acanthinura por el gran tamaño que llegan a alcanzar los adultos, su siempre mayor número de escamas, la disposición diferente de los tubérculos en los muslos, y por su diseño y coloración. Sus características generales se asemejan a las de Uromastyx aegyptia, un hecho que sugiere la posible existencia de lagartos del complejo U. aegyptia en poblaciones relícticas a lo largo del desierto del Sahara.

En torno a algunas escenas pictóricas de caza del repertorio artístico del SE del Sahara Occidental

[ES] Se describen 4 escenas artísticas con significación cinegética conservadas en otros tantos abrigos situados al SE del Sahara Occidental. Se han reconocido directamente sobre el terreno en el marco del proyecto de investigación sistemática que, desde 2005, llevamos a cabo en la región saharaui del Tiris. Configuran un conjunto de representaciones pictóricas en las que uno o varios individuos se muestran en actitud de cazar uno o varios animales. Tras la valoración analítica del gesto temático, se propone una ordenación cronoestilística para la serie.

A propósito de una posible escena ritual de caza en el abrigo de Legteitira 5 (Agüenit, Sahara Occidental)

[ES] La presencia de unos personajes humanos con grandes cabezas pintadas en uno de los paneles artísticos del abrigo de Legteitira 5 genera diversas impresiones sobre su significado. A lo extraño de la composición, hay que añadir que se trata, por el momento, de un caso único en el repertorio iconográfico del Occidente del Sahara. La hipótesis de una posible relación con cabezas enmascaradas, en el contexto simbólico de una escena ritual cinegética, pudiera acaso retenerse como argumento explicativo.

El conflicto Sahara Occidental - Marruecos como obstáculo para el proceso de integración de la Unión del Magreb Árabe, UMA

Constituida en 1989, la Unión de Magreb Árabe (UMA) es la asociación económica y política que reúne a los cinco Estados del Magreb. No obstante, la organización no funciona desde 1995 debido a varios factores, siendo el principal el problema del territorio de Sahara Occidental, una zona con valiosos recursos naturales (petróleo, fosfato, gas y fuentes de pesca), que fue controlada por Marruecos luego de que España abandonara el Sahara. En la actualidad, el conflicto entre Marruecos y quienes reivindican la independencia de Sahara Occidental ha causado un profundo daño a la UMA, distanciando a los Estados que deben enfrentar nuevos retos de seguridad ante el terrorismo y la escasez de agua y alimentos. Las tentativas internacionales para llegar a un acuerdo no han surtido efecto, y la UMA se debilita con los nuevos escenarios internacionales en los que se proyectan de manera separada los Estados del Magreb.

Análisis de las implicaciones políticas para Marruecos frente al reconocimiento de Sahara Occidental como estado por parte de la Unión Africana, 2002 - 2008

En 1974, España como potencia administradora del Sahara Occidental, decide retirarse de este territorio bajo la resolución 1514 de Naciones Unidas, dejando como administrador a Marruecos con el fin de que llevara a cabo el derecho de autodeterminación a través de un referendo. Actualmente y después de treinta años, este referendo no se ha llevado a cabo siendo Sahara Occidental la última colonia en África. Durante este tiempo, Marruecos ocupó militarmente gran parte del Sahara Occidental reclamándolo como parte de su territorio, hecho que no es aceptado por la población saharaui ni por el Frente Polisario (movimiento independentista del Sahara Occidental), quienes reclaman la independencia total del territorio. De esta manera, la constitución de la República Árabe Saharaui Democrática como Estado en 1976 logró el reconocimiento de varios Estados y organizaciones internacionales como la Unión Africana, hecho que hizo que Marruecos sea el único país africano que no pertenezca a esta organización. Así mismo, su ausencia dentro de la organización trajo para Marruecos implicaciones políticas en tres importantes temas: la Nueva Alianza para el Desarrollo – NEPAD, el Sistema Africano de Derechos Humanos y de los Pueblos y la participación de la Unión del Magreb Árabe como Comunidad Económica Regional CER.

Incidencia del frente Polisario en la búsqueda del reconocimiento internacional del Sahara Occidental

Esta monografía revisa algunos de los sucesos más significativos que han incidido en el movimiento de reivindicación del Frente Polisario, en la búsqueda del reconocimiento internacional del Sahara Occidental. Para ello, la investigación se ocupa de describir y analizar los hechos que han permitido la evolución de la estructura de oportunidades política, en medio la cual se ha llevado el accionar del Frente Polisario, a través de los diferentes repertorios de acción colectiva que han facilitado la internacionalización de la causa saharaui. Para tal fin, se usan los postulados teórico-conceptuales tomados de los estudios sobre movimientos sociales. La investigación concluye con una serie de reflexiones que permiten tener un mayor acercamiento a la situación del Sahara Occidental y a los factores que han permitido generar mayor solidaridad en torno a la lucha saharaui.