Resolution of Censure Condemning Saw Gerrera of the Partisans

"I will be issuing a motion to formally censure Saw Gerrera and cut him off from any contact with our forces. Our Rebel Alliance will not include Gerrera or his Partisans."

- Mon Mothma, to Bail Organa

The Resolution of Censure Condemning Saw Gerrera of the Partisans was an official act of censure issued against Saw Gerrera, resistance leader of the Partisans and member of the fledging Alliance to Restore the Republic, by the Alliance Council. The motion of censure was introduced by rebel leader Mon Mothma shortly before the formal Declaration of the Rebel Alliance in 2 BBY. The resolution formally removed Gerrera, a controversial resistance fighter due to his brutal tactics against the Galactic Empire, from the Rebel Alliance. Gerrera later condemned Mothma and the Alliance leadership as being weak and ineffective, further fracturing the relationship between them. The Alliance briefly put aside their concerns about Gerrera in 0 BBY when they sent Jyn Erso and Captain Cassian Andor to Jedha to locate Gerrera and uncover what he knew about the Empire's Death Star.

History
"&hellip;the brutality of the Partisans is actively harming our cause. That sort of extremism is what allows the Empire to paint us all as extremists."

- Mon Mothma, to Bail Organa

Saw Gerrera was one of the earliest resistance fighters to combat the rule of the Galactic Empire, having been personally trained as a rebel by the Jedi on Onderon during the Clone Wars. As the early rebellion grew, Gerrera employed more and more tactics that many other early rebel leaders considered brutal and inhumane. He became a figure of controversy amongst members of what became the Alliance Council, sparking debate between Senators Mon Mothma and Bail Organa, two of the most prominent rebel leaders. Between 5 BBY and 2 BBY, Organa argued that Gerrera’s methods, while cruel, served the cause of rebellion and he was worth keeping him and his Partisans as an ally. Mothma, on the other hand, advocated the stance of a Jedi: that the compromising of moral principles was a path to darkness, and that Gerrera was too far gone.

Around 2 BBY, Mothma made the decision to introduce a formal resolution of censure against Gerrera. She presented her motion to the Alliance Council after informing Organa of her decision, refusing to allow Gerrera to have any further contact with rebel forces. The motion was passed shortly before the Declaration of the Rebel Alliance that formally gave rise to the Rebel Alliance, and it blasted Gerrera for his violations of the Ruusan Armistice governing humane behavior and acting in a manner contrary to the laws and ideals of the rebellion. The result was the Resolution of Censure Condemning Saw Gerrera of the Partisans, ending his official involvement with the Alliance.

Despite the censure, the resolution was not the end of Gerrera’s encounters with the Alliance. In 1 BBY, after the Alliance refused to conduct an operation against an Imperial relay station on Jalindi, Gerrera broadcasted a message to Alliance operates on Yavin 4 and condemned Alliance leaders as cowards. Mothma spoke to him directly and labeled him a criminal who targeted civilians before cutting off the transmission. The Spectres, a group of rebels led by Commander Hera Syndulla, ultimately carried out the mission with some support from Gerrera. In 0 BBY, the Alliance sent Jyn Erso and Captain Cassian Andor to find Gerrera on Jedha and discover whatever information he had about the Empire’s new superweapon, the Death Star. Though Gerrera perished when the Death Star destroyed the Holy City on Jedha, the information he had obtained proved valuable to the discovery of the Death Star plans and the ultimate destruction of the Death Star.

Decades later, the planetary governor of Durkteel recovered an artifact known as The Rebel Files and handed it over to the New Republic, which in turn provided it to the Resistance led by General Leia Organa. The document included multiple conversations between Mothma and Bail Organa about Gerrera’s actions, along with the full text of the Resolution of Censure Condemning Saw Gerrera of the Partisans. General Organa noted in the document that she remembered Gerrera and all of the debate surrounding him, but that Mothma had always made her opinion clear.

Behind the scenes
The end of Saw Gerrera's relationship with the Rebel Alliance was indirectly mentioned in the 2016 film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, when Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) spoke of Gerrera's break from the Alliance and the problems his militancy caused them. The decision that led to his removal from the Alliance was officially named as the Resolution of Censure Condemning Saw Gerrera of the Partisans in the 2018 reference book Star Wars: The Rebel Files.

Appearances

 * Rogue One: A Star Wars Story