Saharawi Demonstrations in France and Belgium against Moroccan occupation and in celebration of 45th anniversay of the SADR

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PUSL.- This saturday, 27th of February hundreds of Saharawi living in the diaspora gathered in the french cities of Paris, Toulouse and Nantes and in Belgium.

The 27th of February 1976 the Saharawi Arabe Democratic Republic was founded and the Saharawi diaspora celebrated this day with demonstrations alerting the public opinion to the extreme Human Rights violations of Morocco in the occupied territories, the end of the cease-fire and their right to selfdetermination as inshrined in international law and demanded the release of all saharawi political prisoners.

In these demonstrations the Saharawi which participated wearing their traditional clothing and children and adults displayed some of their traditions.

The Statement of the Saharawi diaspora can be read below:

45th anniversary of the SADR: self-determination referendum, release of Saharawi political prisoners

GATHERING SATURDAY 27 FEBRUARY PLACE DE LA REPUBLIQUE AT 12 PM

The 45th anniversary of the proclamation of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) celebrated on February 27 is marked by the breaking of the ceasefire in force for 29 years, when the Moroccan army attacked on November 13th 2020, Sahrawi civilians who occupied the demilitarized zone of El-Guerguerat and build a 7th military separation wall there. The peaceful demonstrators demanded the closure of the illegal breach of El Guergarat through which Morocco exports the wealth illegally exploited from Western Sahara. Faced with this aggression, the Saharawi army retaliated in self-defense and the Polisario Front announced the return to armed struggle, in order to impose the right of the Saharawis to freedom and independence. Add to this President Trump’s scandalous declaration to recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over occupied Western Sahara, in exchange for the normalization of its relations with Israel. We call on President Biden to reverse this illegal decision which undermines the values ​​and principles on which the UN was founded such as the right to self-determination and the non-recognition of territory acquired by force.

In the occupied Saharawi territories, the frequency of violent attacks and reprisals, in particular against human rights defenders and journalists, increased after the breaking of the ceasefire: the arrest in El Aaiun of two young Sahrawis, Ghali Hamdi Al-Bou (Bouhalla) and Mohamed Nafie Suleiman (Boutasouvara); the frenzied campaign on the orders of the Makhzen, carried out by his agents in Boujdour, against the Sahrawi human rights activist Sultana Khaya and her sister, victims of brutal physical attacks, house arrest, constant surveillance and harassment since November 19 2020.

The associations of the Saharawi community in France and the platform of solidarity with the people of Western Sahara are following with great concern all these events as well as the current critical situation of Saharawi political prisoners such as the group of students and especially those of the group of Gdeim Izik, given the serious health condition in which they find themselves, to such an extent that their lives are threatened following successive hunger strikes.

That is why :

-We strongly condemn and denounce these practices and flagrant violations of human rights and we hold the Moroccan power, supported by France, responsible for these acts which aim to intimidate and silence the voices of the Saharawi people calling for self-determination
-We call on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to protect Saharawi civilians and urgently send a mission to the occupied Saharawi territories to investigate human rights violations and visit Saharawi political prisoners in Moroccan prisons
– We ask the United Nations Security Council to act to stop Morocco’s aggression against the Saharawi people and its illegal occupation of Western Sahara and to quickly organize the self-determination referendum, the priority mandate of the United Nations Mission ( Minurso)
– We call on all international organizations and human rights organizations to intervene urgently, on the one hand to open the territory of Western Sahara to international observers and journalists so that they can find out what is really going on and, on the other hand, to put an end to the brutality, oppression and intimidation to which the Saharawi people are subjected
-We salute the struggles and sacrifices of the Sahrawi populations in the occupied cities of Western Sahara and southern Morocco; we bring our full solidarity to their resistance struggle against the occupation and for the right to self-determination and independence.

Paris, February 26, 2021
Collective of Associations of the Sahrawi Community in France and Northern Countries
Platform for Solidarity with the People of Western Sahara