United Nations Security Council resolution 1495, adopted unanimously on 31 July 2003, after recalling all previous resolutions on the situation in

Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the ...

, particularly Resolution 1429 (2002), the Council extended the mandate of the

United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara The United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara ( ar, بعثة الأمم المتحدة لتنظيم استفتاء في الصحراء الغربية; french: Mission des Nations Unies pour l'Organisation d'un Référendum au ...

(MINURSO) until 31 October 2003 and supported the

Baker Plan The Baker Plan (formally, Peace Plan for Self-Determination of the People of Western Sahara) is a United Nations initiative to grant self-determination to Western Sahara. It was intended to replace the Settlement Plan of 1991, which was further ...

put forth by James Baker III, who was at that time the Special Representative for Western Sahara of the Secretary-General

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founde ...

, as a replacement of the 1991

Settlement Plan The Settlement Plan was an agreement between the ethnically Saharawi Polisario Front and Morocco on the organization of a referendum, which would constitute an expression of self-determination for the people of Western Sahara, leading either to ...

. The resolution, adopted after significant changes to the original draft, was welcomed by the

Polisario Front The Polisario Front, Frente Polisario, Frelisario or simply Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of (Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro), (in ar, rtl=yes, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير الس� ...

, which supported the Baker Plan, but not by

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

, which resisted it.

Resolution

Observations

The Security Council was concerned at the lack of progress towards a political solution to the dispute between Morocco and the Polisario Front, which remained a potential source of instability to the

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...

region. It reaffirmed its commitment to assist the parties in achieving a durable solution which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara. The parties were commended for their respect of the

ceasefire A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...

and MINURSO's efforts were also praised.

Acts

Acting under Chapter VI of the United Nations Charter, the Council supported the Baker Plan as the "optimum political solution" to the dispute and called upon both parties to work towards the acceptance and implementation of the plan. Furthermore, the parties and states in the region were asked to co-operate with the Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy. The resolution called upon the Polisario Front to release all remaining prisoners of war under

international humanitarian law International humanitarian law (IHL), also referred to as the laws of armed conflict, is the law that regulates the conduct of war ('' jus in bello''). It is a branch of international law that seeks to limit the effects of armed conflict by pro ...

and for both parties to co-operate with the

International Committee of the Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...

to resolve the issue of persons unaccounted for since the start of the conflict. The parties were urged to implement confidence-building measures with the

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

(UNHCR) and for the international community to support the UNHCR and

World Food Programme The World Food Programme; it, Programma alimentare mondiale; es, Programa Mundial de Alimentos; ar, برنامج الأغذية العالمي, translit=barnamaj al'aghdhiat alealami; russian: Всемирная продовольствен� ...

in overcoming the deteriorating food situation among refugees. Finally, the Secretary-General was asked to provide an assessment of the situation before 31 October 2003.

References

External links

*
Text of the Resolution at undocs.org
{{UNSCR 2003 1495 1495 1495 2003 in Morocco 2003 in Western Sahara July 2003 events

Resolution

Observations

Acts

See also

References

External links