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– We can confirm that Equinor has sold a load of butane from Kårstø to the company Gulf Petrochem (GP). This cargo was sold by GP to a customer with delivery from Laayoune, and we transported the cargo there to GP, writes Eskil Eriksen in Equinor, an email to Dagsavisen.
Eriksen writes that this is the first time they have sold a shipment to deliver in Laayoune, the largest city in Western Sahara.
This happened despite Norway’s failure to advise the Norwegian business community to operate in Western Sahara, as this may be contrary to international law.
Also read: “This is like David vs. Goliath. And it’s incredibly fun to be with him. “
Occupied area
The battle over Western Sahara has been going on for over 40 years, and stands between Morocco on the one hand and the inhabitants of Western Sahara, the Sahrawis on the other. Morocco annexed Western Sahara in 1975. The Sahrawis are represented by the Polisario liberation movement, which has declared the area independent.
No state has formally recognized Morocco’s claim on the territory, and both the UN and the Hague Court have supported the locals’ claim for an independent country, according to the United Nations connection. The UN has had peacekeeping forces in the area since 1991 when there was a ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario.
Meanwhile, Morocco has built a wall over 2,000 kilometers long around the central areas, leaving around 400,000 Moroccan settlers to settle in Western Sahara.
About half of the indigenous population of Western Sahara has fled since 1975, and many of them today live in refugee camps in neighboring Algeria.
A Sahrawi holds a Polisario flag near Moroccan soldiers guarding the 2,000-kilometer-long wall across Western Sahara in 2017. Photo: NTB scanpix
The occupation has caused serious human rights violations in Western Sahara. Sahrawis have been subject to restrictions on both freedom of assembly and freedom of expression, according to Amnesty International. In Morocco and Western Sahara, Moroccan authorities rejected the protests, according to a report by Human Rights Watch.
Also read: Oil for Western Sahara under the Norwegian flag
No penalties
Equinor’s investigations prior to the signing of the gas supply contract showed that there are no UN or Norwegian sanctions or embargoes for trade in the area, spokesman Eskil Eriksen writes.
– In our pre-sale procedures, it was not realized that the Norwegian authorities have a different attitude towards Western Sahara than the EU, which has a trade agreement with Morocco that also includes Western Sahara. We regret that this has not been captured and we are going to intensify the procedures for this to be captured in the future, he continues.
Equinor claims that they have informed the Norwegian authorities of the sale of butane, a gas that is often used for cooking and heating. Secretary of State Audun Halvorsen (H) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms to Dagsavisen that they are familiar with the matter in question, but that it is Equinor who must respond to the circumstances surrounding the sale and transportation.
Lead was attitude
Norway does not recognize either Morocco’s claim to sovereignty over Western Sahara or what the state liberation group Polisario has stated; The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).
When Western Sahara was in the Storting in March of this year, Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide (H) said, among other things, that they on the Norwegian side are concerned “with avoiding actions that may be perceived as legitimizing of the situation in Western Sahara. ”
In an email to Dagsavisen, Secretary of State Audun Halvorsen states Norway’s position:
– Since 2007, the Norwegian authorities have adopted a “precautionary” attitude towards Western Sahara, in the form of an official council, which emphasizes, among other things, that “to prevent trade, investment, resource use and other Forms of commercial activity that are not in accordance with the interests of the local population in Western Sahara and, therefore, may be contrary to international law, the Norwegian authorities discourage such activities, “he writes.
The advisory is not a legally binding ban, but is intended to be a clear call for private actors to exercise caution and corporate responsibility in their assessments of engagement in Western Sahara, Halvorsen continues.
– Norwegian positions in Western Sahara are firmly in line with the decisions of the UN Security Council, he says.
Also read: Norwegian observers deported from Western Sahara
Prolonged conflict
The areas of Western Sahara controlled by Morocco have large fishing resources, and the country is also rich in phosphate. However, in 2016 and 2018, the European Union court ruled in two judgments that the EU cannot conclude trade agreements with Morocco in the case of Western Sahara.
However, the European Commission concluded new trade and fisheries agreements with Morocco in 2018 for the occupied territories, writes the UN.
UN envoy Horst Köhler after talks between parts of Western Sahara in March last year. Photo: Valentin Flauraud / NTB scanpix
Since 2011, the Support Committee for Western Sahara has been closely monitoring maritime traffic to Western Sahara. They even contacted Equinor to find out if the Norwegian gas was delivered in April.
– Overall, it is very gratifying that Equinor understands drawing in Western Sahara and refrains from such exports again. Norwegian gas has nothing to do with it in occupied Western Sahara, says Erik Hagen, general manager of the support committee.
He admits that the sale did not violate any rules or penalties, but he believes that companies have a moral obligation.
– Legally, companies must follow embargoes, but they must also respect international law and human rights. When companies say there is nothing in the law prohibiting trade in occupied Western Sahara, they are right that the UN has not banned it. But that doesn’t prevent it from being morally or politically incorrect, or it can support violations of international law, says Hagen.
Ask for more answers.
The Support Committee has asked for even more responses from Equinor about the delivery, including those related to the company’s investigations before entering into contracts.
– We were not completely satisfied with your response, explains Hagen.
Gulf Petrochem (GP), which bought the butane, has so far not responded to Dagsavisen’s request for comment on the case.
Also read: Expelled from Western Sahara
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