U.S. Rep. Abercrombie out of touch on Human Rights in Africa

I imagine life is quite good for Congressman Neil Abercrombie these days. His approval ratings are high and his re-election to Congress this fall looks secure. So why does he support an illegal occupation in Africa? In late April of last year, Abercrombie signed a congressional letter in support of Morocco's Autonomy Plan for Western Sahara. Western Sahara is a territory that, according to the United Nations, is pending decolonization and is thus to be considered Africa's last colony. In 1975, Western Sahara was brutally invaded and subsequently occupied by Morocco, who claimed and incorporated the territory as their "southern province." Morocco's King Hassan II justified this brutal invasion in 1975 by saying, "One Kuwait in the Arab world is enough," meaning that he did not want an independent minerals-rich Western Sahara on his border. The Moroccan Autonomy Plan that Abercrombie supports is an attempt by Mohammed VI, the current Moroccan king, to solidify and formalize Moroccan rule over Western Sahara. Not one country has recognized the Moroccan annexation, whereas some 80 countries worldwide have recognized Western Sahara as an independent country. Furthermore, more than 100 U.N. resolutions support the Sahwari's (Western Sahara's native people) right to self-determination. How is it, I wonder, that Abercrombie has come to the conclusion that the Sahrawi would be best served by seeing their homeland incorporated into an invading and expansionist Arab kingdom? One would think Abercrombie already knew, from his time on the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, that Morocco is one of the worst human rights abusers in this part of the world. I am a relative newcomer to the Hawaiian Islands, but am I wrong to expect a Hawaiian congressman to be sensitive to the plight of indigenous people? Through his support of the Moroccan occupation, Abercrombie has also chosen to overlook and disregard international law and many rules and regulations, both American and international, governing the civic discourse of international relations. Abercrombie should take note of the words of Lord Acton, who said that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The Sahrawi freedom struggle is a war of national liberation, and history teaches us that nations are not willing to be ruled by other nations and that wars of national liberation almost always end successfully. Mikael Simble U.S. representative of the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara

Comments

Be the first to comment on this article!

Add comment


I am not posting spam. I understand posting spam or other comments that are unrelated to this article will cause my comment to be flagged for deletion and possibly cause my IP address to be permanently banned from this server.

Enter the characters in the image above:

log out