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The Association of Friendship Portugal-Western Sahara (AAPSO) in a note on the current situation in the
Western Sahara:
- rejects the unilateral decision of the USA and hopes that the already elected and next American President will bring the country back into line with the principles of the United Nations and firmly defend the peoples’ right to self-determination;
- calls on the UN Secretary-General and the Security Council to face with determination the negotiating process necessary to create the conditions that will allow a self-determination referendum to be held by which the people of Western Sahara can express their will as regards their future, namely by urgently appointing a Personal Envoy for this matter;
- condemns the Portuguese government’s silence on the latest developments in Western Sahara and urges it to take a clear position and act diplomatically in accordance with the principles of international law and with the experience, which deserved national consensus, in support of the process of self-determination of Timor-Leste;
- draws attention to the escalation of acts of intimidation and repression by the Moroccan regime on the Saharawis living in their country, militarily occupied by Morocco, attitudes that add up to so many others that have led to forced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, torture, illegal trials, among other forms of aggression, over the past few decades;
- calls, following many other organizations, for the UN Human Rights Council and the International Red Cross to fulfill their obligations, within the framework of their respective mandates, to the people of Western Sahara;
- expresses its deep and felt solidarity with the Saharawi people, and calls for it to be strengthened, in all corners of the world, including in Portugal, as a contribution so that freedom is achieved as soon as possible.
AAPSO ends its statement by reaffirming that “no people can be free while oppressing other peoples” and that it cannot, therefore, be complicit in any way with the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara.