MARTIN BERISTAIN, Carlos; GONZALEZ HIDALGO, Eloísa
Hegoa, Bilbao, 2012
978-84-89916-72-2
Summary in PDF:
https://publicaciones.hegoa.ehu.eus/pdfs/368?locale=es
This summary of the report “The Oasis of Memory” has the difficult purpose of condensing a document of more than 1,000 pages, published in two volumes, which contains an analysis of human rights violations in Western Sahara since 1975 based on in-depth interviews and testimonies from 261 victims. It also analyzes their individual, family, and impact on women; the forms of resistance of the victims; and, finally, their demands for truth, justice, and reparation as well as the responses of the Moroccan State.
As noted by Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Nobel Peace Prize laureate: “In the research work synthesized in the report ‘The Oasis of Memory,’ Dr. Carlos M. Beristain attempts to recover the Historical Memory and the human rights situation in Western Sahara, developing an approach that follows the methodology of the Truth Commissions in which he has participated and with the psychosocial approach he gave to REMHI in Guatemala, emphasizing the importance of collecting direct information and the experience of victims.” The value of memory is the transformation of life. This report is dedicated to the Sahrawi victims and survivors, who made it possible with their courage and generosity.
The report referenced by this summary is divided into two volumes. The first volume includes an analysis of human rights violations, through individual and collective cases, in different historical periods. From the exodus and bombing of the civilian population in Um Dreiga or looting, to enforced disappearances, the practice of torture, arbitrary detentions, and excessive use of force against the population in demonstrations, especially since the 2005 Intifada or at the Gdeim Izik camp. It also details the modus operandi of the violence that has been practiced against the Sahrawi civilian population over all these years and the mechanisms that have made it possible.
The second volume addresses the impact that human rights violations have had on the victims, from an individual and family point of view, including a perspective on girls and boys, as well as the impact on women and sexual violence. It also analyzes forms of resistance against that violence, and addresses the victims’ own demands for truth, justice, and reparation in relation to international standards, comparative international experience, and the responses given so far by the Moroccan State. Finally, it includes a quantitative psychosocial study, the legal framework, and a summary of the interviewed cases.
Both volumes of the report “The Oasis of Memory: Volume I and II” are available on the Hegoa website in Spanish (http://www.hegoa.ehu.es). View the two volumes in PDF:
https://publicaciones.hegoa.ehu.eus/publications/281
Index
Volume I
- Prologue
- Presentation
- Abbreviations
- Research Methodology
Researching Human Rights Violations and the Experience of Victims in Western Sahara
Number and Type of Testimonies
Human Rights Violations
Selection, Access to Victims, and Interviews
Research Period
Representativeness, Typology of Violations
Case Studies
Review of Secondary Sources
Testimonies and Primary Sources
Training of Interviewer Teams
Support from Local Organizations
Aspects Considered in the Research - Introduction
A Transition and Peace Process for Western Sahara
The Mandate to Verify the Human Rights Situation
No Equity or Reconciliation
Making the Population in the Camps Invisible
Territory and Natural Resources
Understanding Prior History
Intensity and Depth of Violence
Lack of Break with the Past: Continuity of Perpetrators
No Transition Without Change
Without a Peace Process: Neither Top-Down nor Bottom-Up
A Gender Dimension
The Multiple Faces of Victims
The Experience of Different Groups of the Sahrawi Population
Role of Human Rights and Victim Organizations - Chapter 1. Chronology
- Chapter 2. The Impact of Terror
The Use of Fear in Human Rights Violations - Chapter 3. Bombings Against the Civilian Population
Indiscriminate Attack Against the Civilian Population
The Case of the Um Dreiga Bombing
Bombing in Guelta, Amgala and Tifariti - Chapter 4. Looting and Forced Displacement in the Desert
- Chapter 5. The Lemsayed Graves
The Scenario of an Extermination - Chapter 6. Forced Disappearances in Western Sahara
- Chapter 7. Torture as a Systematic Practice.
From Forced Disappearances to Arbitrary Detentions, 1975/93 - Chapter 8. The “Only” Prisoner of War
- Chapter 9. The Group of 26. From Temporary Disappearances to Arbitrary Detentions
- Chapter 10. Prisoners of War
- Chapter 11. The Case of the 87
- Chapter 12. Military Trials Against Civilians
- Chapter 13. Torture in Arbitrary Detentions
- Chapter 14. The 2005 Intifada
- Chapter 15. The Expulsion of Sahrawi Identity
The Case of Aminatou Haidar - Chapter 16. Gdeim Izik
From Hope to Repression - Chapter 17. Modus Operandi
The Forms of Violence Against the Sahrawi Civilian Population
Volume II
- Chapter 1. The Consequences of Human Rights Violations
Psychosocial Consequences
Psychosocial Impact of Human Rights Violations
Without the Right to Identity
Transgenerational Impacts and Repeated Trauma
The Grief of Forced Disappearance
Social Reintegration
Impacts on Health - Chapter 2. Family Consequences
A People Divided in Two
Poverty and Marginalization: Consequences on Development - Chapter 3. Impact of Human Rights Violations on Women
Human Rights Violations Against Women
Women as Mothers and Sisters
Consequences on Women’s Health, Maternity and Sexual and Reproductive Health - Chapter 4. Sexual Violence as a Form of Torture
- Chapter 5. Persecuted Childhoods
Growing Up in a Context of Terror
Disappeared Detained Children
Arbitrary Detentions and Tortures
The New Generations in Western Sahara - Chapter 6. Facing Human Rights Violations
Adaptation, Resistance, Transformation
Reason as the Basis of Resistance
Resistance in Clandestine Detention Centers
Facing Exile in the Camps
Human Rights Defense
Collective Memory - Chapter 7. Demands for Truth, Justice and Reparation in the Case of Western Sahara
Needs and Demands for Reparation
Right to Reparation and International Standards
Comprehensiveness, Hierarchy and Participation
The Moroccan State’s Responses to Human Rights Violations in Western Sahara: The Denial of Truth
The Arbitration Committee and the IER
The Struggle for Truth
IER Report and Listing Published on the Internet
Explanations on the Cause and Circumstances of Death from the CCDH on the Sahrawi Cases
Exhumations and the Right to Mourn
Recognition of Harm: Responsibility and Respect for Dignity
The Need for Justice
Disqualification of Those Responsible for Human Rights Violations
Restitution of Losses, Territory and Right to Return
Economic Reparation and Compensations
Compensations to Sahrawi Victims
Healthcare: Rehabilitation Programs
Holding the Referendum as Reparation for Harm
Collective Memory as a Prevention Tool - Epilogue. Human Rights and Conflict Transformation Agenda in Western Sahara
- The Role of the International Community
- Verification of the Civil and Political Rights Situation
- Independent Observation of the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of the Sahrawi Population
- Stimulate Measures Contributing to Improved Coexistence in Western Sahara
- Develop Exchanges and Bridges Between the Population in Western Sahara and the Refugee Camps in Tindouf
- Create Specific Transitional Justice Mechanisms for Western Sahara
- Develop Victim Assistance Programs by Independent Organizations
- Facilitate the Work of International Actors: Media, Cooperation Agencies or Humanitarian Aid and Human Rights Organizations
- Demilitarize Daily Life
- Apply International Law
- Bibliography