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In Morocco, the «National Observatory of Strategic Studies» is calling on the Spanish government to initiate a parliamentary inquiry into terrorist attacks allegedly carried out by the Polisario against «Spanish civilians and sailors».
«These attacks, supported by testimonies from victims and their families, have led to numerous casualties and injuries among civilian sailors, both Spanish and Moroccan. Some individuals were even kidnapped and held in the Tindouf camps. These operations, involving heavy weaponry, align with the international definition of terrorism, warranting an official reassessment of this period», the research center asserted in a letter addressed to the head of government, Pedro Sanchez, the president of the House of Representatives, Francina Armengol, the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares.
This appeal follows a call made on August 11 by the Moroccan think tank, urging «all states to adopt an approach similar to that of the US Congress regarding the designation of the Polisario Front as a terrorist organization».
300 Spanish victims await recognition
In April, Representatives Joe Wilson, a Republican, and Jimmy Panetta, a Democrat, introduced a bill to this effect, despite the Polisario having claimed the lives of only five American nationals, as noted by Robert Greenway, director of the Allison Center for National Security at the Heritage Foundation, an influential body within Donald Trump's Republican Party.
The Polisario's terrorist acts in Spain, committed during the 70s and 80s, remain a largely taboo topic. In contrast to the attacks by the Basque group ETA, the MPAIAC (Movement for the Self-determination and Independence of the Canary Islands), founded in Algiers by Antonio Cubillo (1930-2012), or jihadist organizations, those perpetrated by the Polisario appear to receive a degree of leniency from the Iberian political sphere and media.
Nevertheless, Law 29/2011, published in Spain's Official State Bulletin on September 22, 2011, «pays tribute to the victims of terrorism and expresses its ongoing commitment to all who have suffered or may suffer from it. This law signifies recognition and respect, along with a duty of solidarity (...) and a collective effort towards reparations for victims and their families», as articulated in its preamble.
However, victims of Polisario terrorism feel «neglected and abandoned» by public authorities, the Canary Association of Victims of Terrorism (ACAVITE) lamented in February 2024. The NGO criticized the limited financial support from public authorities for its initiatives, while they generously fund the Polisario's activities. ACAVITE denounced «a glaring double standard».
Founded in 2006, ACAVITE estimates that 300 victims of Polisario terrorism are still awaiting official recognition.
