Western Sahara

The ICJ engaged in a relevant discussion of self-determination principles in the Western Sahara opinion however, it should be noted that any such discussion was framed by the decolonization paradigm, as the Court focused on the issue of whether the people of Western Sahara had the right to rid themselves of colonial domination, through the exercise of self-determination. The issue discussed in this opinion was thus vastly different from present-day discussions of self-determination in the non-colonial context, such as in the cases of Kosovo or the Georgian provinces. 

In their submissions to the world court, Morocco and Mauritania recognized the principle of self-determination, but argued that this principle could not be dissociated from the principle of national unity and territorial integrity of countries. Thus, both Morocco and Mauritania maintained that while the people of Western Sahara may have the self-determination right to separate from Spain through decolonization, the territory of Western Sahara should be 

The world court reaffirmed the existence of the principle of self-determination by specifically relying on General Assembly Resolution 1514, according to which peoples have the right to self-determination. Moreover, the 

3 Case Concerning East Timor (Port. v. Austl.), 1995 ICJ 90 at para. 18 (describing the negotiation between Australia and Indonesia over the Timorese continental shelf, which ultimately resulted in the conclusion of the Timor Gap Treaty in 1989). 

11 See Chapter 1 for a detailed discussion of the principle of self-determination in the decolonization paradigm. 

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The Zag meteorite fell in the western Sahara of Morocco in August 1998. This meteorite was unusual in that it contained small crystals of halite (table salt), which experts believe formed by the evaporation of brine (salt water). It is one of the few indications that liquid water, which is essential for the development of life, may have existed in the early solar system. The halite crystals in the meteorite had a remarkably high abundance of 128Xe, a decay product of a short-lived iodine isotope that has long been absent from the solar system. Scientists believe that the iodine existed when the halite crystals formed. The xenon formed when this iodine decayed. For this reason, the Zag meteorite is believed to be one of the oldest artifacts in the solar system. In this lab, you will use potassium-argon radiochemical dating to estimate the age of the Zag meteorite and the solar system. 

This model qualitatively explains the deviation of isotopic compositions away from the Meteoric Water Line because molecular diffusion adds a non-equilibrium fractionation term and the limited isotopic enrichment occurs as a consequence of molecular exchange with atmospheric vapor. It is mainly the humidity which controls the degree of isotope enrichment. Only under very arid conditions, and only in small water bodies, really large emichments in D and are observed. For example, Gonfiantini (1986) reported a 5 0-value of +31.3%c and a 8D-value of +129%c for a small, shallow lake in the western Sahara. 

More than 85 percent of phosphate rock mined in the United States comes from North Carolina and Florida. Smaller amounts are also mined in Idaho and Utah. Other major producers of phosphate rock are Morroco and Western Sahara, Russia, Tunisia, Brazil, Jordan, Syria, Israel, Egypt, South Africa, and Australia. 

C2. Marine aerosol delivery (e.g. western and southern Australian playas Namibian playas probably western Sahara playas (Mali)... 

A more ecological interpretation of multiple equilibria is given by Brovkin et al. (1998). They develop a conceptual model of vegetation-precipitation interaction in the western Sahara which is applied to interpret the results of comprehensive models. The conceptual model finds three solutions for present-day and LGM climate one of these, however, is unstable to infinitesimally small perturbations. The humid solution is shown to be less probable than the arid solution, and this explains the existence of the Sahara desert as it is today. For mid-Holocene climate, only one solution is obtained. Application of the conceptual model to biospheric feedbacks at high latitudes (Levis et al, 1999) yields only one solution for the present-day conditions. 

Fig. 6.12, Geological cross sections of the Sahara Platform. AA = southwest-northeast profile in the western Sahara BB = northwest-southeast profile in the eastern Sahara...

Basins (particularly western Sahara) Subsidence Repeated transgressions Detrital, mainly marine - -... 

This includes cases of armed occupation, racist regimes (formerly South Africa) and alien domination (Palestine), in addition to instances of secondary colonialism (Western Sahara, formerly East Timor). 

These include further tribes in Burma and India, settlements for Corsica, Cyprus, Kosovo, Abkhasia, South Ossetia, Transdniestria, Nagorno-Karabakh, Western Sudan (Darfur), Sri Lanka and Thailand. One might also include the settiement plan for Western Sahara, although this is the last remaining major outstanding case of colonial self-determination, alongside the special case of Palestine. 

It is for the people to determine the destiny of the territory and not the territory the destiny of the people .This renowned definition of the right to self-determination, expressed by Judge Dillard in his Individual Opinion in the 1975 Western Sahara case, demonstrates the dangers of well-intentioned judicial activism, for there has rarely been a judicial pronouncement more dangerously mistaken than this one. 

As already noted, in addition to genuine colonies, it is accepted that peoples living under alien occupation (Palestine) and under racist regimes (formerly South Africa) are entitled to the right of self-determination. The same applies to secondary colonies. These are entities that were entitled to colonial self-determination in the first place. However, when they were at the very point of administering the act of self-determination, they were forcibly incorporated into another state. East Timor and Western Sahara are the two principal examples of this phenomenon. The 1999 referendum in East Timor, and the territory s subsequent independence from Indonesia, is an example of the implementation of colonial self-determination in the classical sense, albeit somewhat delayed. 

Accordingly, in relation to Western Sahara the International Court of Justice confirmed that links may have existed between that territory and Morocco before colonialism. Morocco argued that the people of Western Sahara had previously owed allegiance... 

One proposal for interim governanee has been put forward in relation to the long-running Western Sahara dispute. Like that of East Timor before it, the case of Western Sahara is rather special, given its context of unftilfilled colonial self-determination. In the peace plan for self-determination of the people of Western Sahara of 23 May 2003, it is elarified that the purpose of the plan is to achieve a political solution to the conflict in Western Sahara which provides for self-determination, as contemplated in paragraph 1 of Security Council Resolution 1429 (2002), of 30 July 2002. The plan then proposed ... 

Peace Plan for Self-determination of the People of Western Sahara, Annex II of the Report of the Secretary General on the situation concerning Western Sahara, S/2003/565, at para. 1. Full text available at http //www.arso.org/S-2003-565e.pdf, accessed 3 November 2008. 

A referendum to determine the final status of Western Sahara shall be held no earlier than four and no later than five years after the effective date of the plan. 

Y.H. Zoubir and D. Volman (eds.) International Dimensions of the Western Sahara Conflict (Westport, CT Praeger Publishers, 1993). 

Central and West Africa Sebjet Tah, Western Sahara Lowland Atlantic Ocean 35 500 400... 

World phosphate rock production figures for 1988 are given in Table 5.10. The figures for 1988 were chosen for iOustrative purposes because the world phosphate market was relatively stable at this time. Based on 1988 data, four countries - the United States, FSU, Morocco (including Western Sahara), and China - collectively produced about 75% of the world s phosphate rock. The top 12 countries produced about 95% of the world s total phosphate rock. 

World phosphate rock production capacity has been estimated as 195.5 million tpy [49]. At 150 million tpy, world capacity utilization is about 77%. At 130 million tpy, world capacity utilization is about 66%. Perhaps most significant in this scenario are the production capacities of the two primary players in the export market the United States (55 million tpy) and Morocco and Western Sahara (32 million tpy). Competition, together with the overcapacity of the major players and of the world as a whole, is one of the prime reasons that world phosphate rock prices have not increased over the past 15-20 years. 

Reliable figures for many phosphate rock reserves are difficult to obtain since conflicting data have been published and estimates are continually being revised. Reserves are considered by most authorities to be that part of the known resources which can be at present profitably recovered. Revision will be necessary whenever new deposits are discovered or if significant advances are made in technology. If only present economically workable deposits are considered, Moroccan (and Western Sahara) reserves (20,000-50,000 million tons) exceed the combined resources of the United States, Russia and China. Other estimates (2009) have put world reserves at -18,000 million tons, of which China and Morocco probably hold about 1/3 each. South Africa and the United States around 6-8% each and Australia about 1%. 

Located in what is now the Western Sahara region, it was common knowledge among mariners of the time that ships which rounded this cape never returned, one explanation being that there were sea monsters which attacked and destroyed them. 

Because most of the world s phosphate resources are marine phosphorites, the uranium content of phosphate products is relatively uniform, ranging from 60 to 130 ppm. The phosphate product from the principal phosphate-producing fields of central and southern Florida (U.S.A.), Morocco, Idaho and Utah (U.S.A.), the Western Sahara, Mexico, Jordan, eastern Florida (U.S.A.), Peru and Iraq has a relatively uniform concentration of 100-120ppm uranium. Other major phos-... 

International Court of Justice (1975) Western Sahara Advisory Opinion of 16 October 1975 I.C.J. Reports 1975, pp. 12, para. 70. 

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