Conference
“International Law and the Question of Western
Sahara”
Institute of Social
Studies, The Hague, 27 and 28 October, 2006
Friday, 27 October
08.30-09.15
– Registration
09.15-09.30
– OFFICIAL OPENING
Prof. Louk Box (Rector of the Institute of Social Studies)
09.30-11.00
- HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND THE STAND OF THE PARTIES IN THE CONFLICT
José Ignacio Algueró Cuervo (Historian):
The
ancient history of Western Sahara and the Spanish colonization of the
territory
Toby Shelley (Journalist and writer):
The history of Western Sahara
since 1975
Ambassador of Morocco to the Netherlands (to be confirmed):
The
position of Morocco
Mohamed Ould Salek (Minister for Foreign Affairs, República
Árabe Saharaui Democrática - RASD) or Mohamed
Sidati (Minister-Delegate for Europe, RASD) (to be confirmed):
The
position of RASD/Polisario Front
11.00-11.30
– coffee break
11.30-13.00
– WESTERN SAHARA AND INTERNATIONAL LAW: GENERAL ASPECTS
Prof. Roger Clark (Board of Governors Professor at Rutgers School of
Law, USA):
The “decolonisation” of Western Sahara
and the UN norms of self-determination and aggression
Prof. Lauri Hannikainen (Professor of International Law, University of
Turku, Finland):
The case of Western Sahara from the perspective of ius
cogens
Prof. Eduardo Trillo (Associate Professor of International Law and
International Relations at the National University for Distance
Education, Madrid):
The obligations of Spain as Administering Power of
Western Sahara
13.00-14.15
– lunch break
14.15-15.45
- THE RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION AND OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS
Catriona Drew (Lecturer in International Law at the School of Oriental
and African Studies, University of London):
The meaning of
self-determination and the case of Western Sahara
Prof. Iain Scobbie (Sir Joseph Hotung Research Professor in Law, Human
Rights and Peace Building in the Middle East at the School of Oriental
and African Studies, University of London):
Self-determination and the
jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice: the
Western Sahara advisory opinion
Lord Eric Avebury (Vice Chair of the UK Parliamentary Human Rights
Group) (to be confirmed):
Human rights violations in occupied
territories
Aminetu Haidar (Juan Maria Bandrès Prize 2005, ex-political
prisoner):
Repression and resistance in the occupied Western Sahara
15.45-16.15
– tea break
16.15-17.45
– COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES ON WESTERN SAHARA
Prof. Stephen Zunes (Professor of politics and chair of the Peace and
Justice Studies program at the University of San Francisco):
East Timor
and Western Sahara: a comparative view
Charles Scheiner (Timor-Leste Institute for Reconstruction Monitoring
and Analysis - La'o Hamutuk):
Self-determination requires more than
political independence: recent developments in Timor-Leste
Viktor Kaisiepo (Representative of the Presidium of the Papuan Council
in Europe):
West Papua and Western Sahara: a brief study in contrast
Saturday, 28 October
09.30-11.00
- THE SOVEREIGNTY OVER NATURAL RESOURCES
Gerry Simpson (Reader in International Law at the London School of
Economics) (to be confirmed):
International Law and natural resources
of Non-Self Governing Territories
Stephanie Koury (Research Fellow at the Hotung Programme on Law, Human
Rights and Peacebuilding in the Middle East at the School of Oriental
and African Studies, University of London):
The European Union
obligations under the EC-Morocco Association Agreement
Prof. Marcel Brus (Professor of International Law and the Law of
International Organisations at the University of Groningen):
The Corell
opinion and oil exploration and exploitation in Western Sahara
11.00 – 11.30
– coffee break
11.30-13.00
- THE SOVEREIGNTY OVER NATURAL RESOURCES (CONT.)
Vincent Chapaux (Assistant in International Law and Political Science,
Université Libre de Bruxelles):
The EU-Morocco Fisheries
Agreement
Sasha Stepanova (Lawyer, Kocián Šolc
Balaštík, Prague, Czech Republic):
Lessons from
the East Timor case (Portugal v. Australia)
Carlos Wilson (International Coordinator of Western Sahara Resource
Watch)/Erik Hagen (Journalist):
The foreign companies that plunder
Western Saharan resources: Who’s involved and what is done to
stop plundering?
13.00-14.00
– lunch break
14.00-16.30
– ROUND TABLE: PROSPECTS FOR RESOLVING THE PROBLEM
Ambassador of Spain to the Netherlands (to be confirmed):
The position
of Spain
Prof. Aymeric Chauprade (Professor of Geopolitics at the University of
Paris-I Sorbonne) (to be confirmed):
The position of France
Prof. Yahia Zoubir (Professor of International Relations and Management
at the Euromed Marseille School of Management, France):
Geopolitics of
the Western Sahara Conflict
Prof. Pål Wrange (Senior Legal Advisor, Swedish Ministry for
Foreign Affairs) (to be confirmed):
The position of Sweden
Ambassador Frank Ruddy (Former Deputy Chairman, United Nations Mission
for the Referendum in Western Sahara)(to be confirmed):
The role of the
United Nations in the conflict
Prof. Carlos Ruiz Miguel: (Professor of Constitutional Law at the
University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain):
The referendum of
self-determination and the role of Spain
Karin Finkler (Foreign policy adviser, US Congressman Joseph Pitts):
The United States and the Western Sahara conflict
Karin Scheele (MEP, President of the Intergroup on Western Sahara in
the European Parliament):
The necessary new stance of the European
Union
Prof. Jaume Saura-Estapà (Professor of International Law,
University of Barcelona):
Possible solutions to the conflict based on
the full respect of international law
16.30-17.00
– KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Prof. Christine Chinkin (Professor of International Law at the London
School of Economics):
Western Sahara, the United Nations and the Second
Decade to Eradicate Colonialism
17.00 -
reception
Venue: Institute of Social Studies
Kortenaerkade 12,
2518 AX
The Hague