The UN force in Western Sahara (MINURSO) was described as being unable to fully exercise its peacekeeping, monitoring, and reporting functions due to Morocco's obstructions. Ban urged the Security Council to help reassert the mission's mandate and neutrality.
Tags : #United_Nations #Morocco #espionage #MINURSO #Western_Sahara #Frente_Polisario #Ban_Ki_moon
A Reuters article from 2012 details a report by then-UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon regarding the operational challenges and surveillance faced by the MINURSO mission in Western Sahara. Ban Ki-moon indicated that the confidentiality of communications between MINURSO headquarters and New York had been « compromised, » suggesting that Morocco may have been spying on the mission.
The UN force was described as being unable to fully exercise its peacekeeping, monitoring, and reporting functions. Ban urged the Security Council to help reassert the mission’s mandate and neutrality.
While civilian staff had some freedom, access to the local population was controlled by Moroccan authorities. The report noted a « chilling effect » on interactions with residents (though this language was reportedly « watered down » in final drafts due to political pressure).
The report followed a failed round of UN-mediated talks between Morocco, the Polisario Front, Algeria, and Mauritania.
Ban requested the renewal of the mission’s mandate and an increase in the number of military observers to better monitor the 1991 ceasefire.
Diplomats alleged that the report’s language was softened following pressure from Morocco and its ally, France. The Polisario Front characterized these revisions as a « fatal coup to UN credibility. »
The article highlights the ongoing battle within the Security Council over whether to expand MINURSO’s mandate to include human rights monitoring—a move supported by the Polisario and South Africa but opposed by Morocco and France.
In the same wake, The Guardian published a post under the title of « Leaked cables: Morocco lobbied UN to turn blind eye to Western Sahara in ‘House of Cards’ operation ».
According to the English journal, a leaked UN report has exposed a sophisticated campaign by the Moroccan government to compromise United Nations communications and stall human rights monitoring in Western Sahara. The analysis, conducted by the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), describes « unethical tactics » aimed at ensuring the organization turned a blind eye to the situation in the occupied territory.
The UN report concludes that Morocco intercepted internal UN correspondence from Geneva, New York, and Laayoune, compromising the confidentiality of the world body. Cables suggest Morocco made targeted donations to the UN human rights office (OHCHR)—including a $250,000 payment in 2011—with the specific intent of making officials « more attentive » to Moroccan concerns and softening reports on the region.
Morocco successfully lobbied to prevent the UN peacekeeping mission (MINURSO) from receiving a mandate to monitor human rights abuses, making it one of the few missions worldwide without such authority. Evidence shows a concerted effort to block high-level visits to Western Sahara, specifically targeting then-High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.
The report suggests Morocco lacks a genuine desire to negotiate a resolution, instead focusing on neutralizing UN oversight. Morocco’ Officials have dismissed the leaked documents as « falsified » and « malicious, » attributing the leak to an attempt to destabilize the country. Amnesty International has criticized the UN’s presence as ineffective if it remains « idle » while witnessing violations without a mandate to report them.
Meeting between MINURSI Chief and saharawi minister of defense
Letter sent on 10/04/2011 by the Head of MINURSO, Hany Abdelaziz, to all MINURSO branches informing them of the appointment of Hervé Ladsous as Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, replacing Alain Le Roy.
A request made by Japanese journalists, invited by the Polisario, to produce a report on MINURSO in Tifariti, in the liberated territories of Western Sahara. The document was scanned and sent by a certain Ottman BADRI on 12/12/2011 to Mohammed Sitri.
Letter sent on 10/25/2011 by Omar Manis (from the MINURSO office in Tindouf) to Hany Abdelaziz regarding a MINURSO meeting with the Spanish Consul in Oran and the Italian Consul in Algiers concerning the kidnapping of two Spanish nationals and one Italian national, and the security of movement for MINURSO members.
Reports on internal situation in the sahrawi refugees camps of Tindouf
A confidential cable sent on 10/03/2011 by Hany Abdelaziz regarding the events in Dakhla to his headquarters in New York.
