PUSL.- Approximately 200 people, convened by the Collective of Associations of the Saharawi Community in France and the Nordic Countries and the Solidarity Platform with the People of Western Sahara, met this Friday afternoon, October 16, at French capital to commemorate October 12, “Day of National Sahara Unity”.
The Saharawi diaspora urged France to assume its responsibility in the conflict and to defend the values of the French Republic by assuming these values at the level of the Security Council, demanding, in a clear and forceful way, respect for the right of peoples to decide on their destiny by organizing a self-determination referendum promised to Saharawis since 1991.
Several French personalities joined the protesters, such as the French Communist Party deputy Jean Paul Lecoq, representatives of the French Communist Party’s international relations department, as well as representatives of different French associations. The Saharawi diaspora in France received letters of solidarity from other immigrant associations in France.
During the concentration, a statement was read which we reproduce below:
FOR A FRENCH DIPLOMACY WORTHY OF THE VALUES OF THE REPUBLIC, RESPECTING HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE FREEDOM OF THE PEOPLES TO DISPOSE OF THEMSELVES.
The Associations and NGOs of the Saharawi Community in France, as well as representatives of the solidarity movement with the Saharawi people, meet this October 16, 2020, to commemorate “October 12” as the day of Saharawi national unity, and to request to the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs to assume a policy in accordance with the founding principles of the French Republic: the defense of human rights and respect for the right of peoples to decide their future.
1.- The participants in the demonstration express their concern at the dramatic situation of Saharawi political detainees in Moroccan prisons in these times of pandemic, and call on the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs to intervene, as soon as possible, before the Moroccan authorities, responsible for human rights violations in Western Sahara, so that these authorities respect human rights and international law in this regard.
2.- We call on the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs to defend the values of the French Republic and to assume these values at the Security Council level, demanding, in a clear and forceful manner, respect for the rights of the peoples to decide on their fate through the organization of a self-determination referendum promised to the Saharawi since 1991.
3-. We also request the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs of the Republic not to oppose the inclusion of the protection of human rights in the mandate of MINURSO (United Nations Mission for a Referendum of Self-determination in Western Sahara) , during the meetings of the UN Security Council.
We request that French diplomacy become the bearer and defender of the values of the Republic, demanding that the Security Council include in the mandate of MINURSO the supervision and protection of human rights that are systematically violated by the occupying power, the kingdom of Morocco, and this in the presence of the UN mission itself. The mission has become, with the complicity of said Ministry, the protector of those who intend to annex a territory recognized by the United Nations with a Non-Autonomous Territory, and therefore still pending self-determination.
4-. We here present denounce the decision of the European Union, a decision in which the voice of the French Republic prevails, to renew the trade agreements with Morocco in clear violation of European law itself defined by the three verdicts of the European Court of Justice (CJUE) , in 2016 and 2018, rulings that recall the sovereignty of the Saharawi people over their natural resources, and condition all economic activity in the territory to the consent of the Saharawi people.
In Conclusion, For 29 years, the Sahrawis, although victims of clear aggression and oppressed, have renounced the legitimate armed struggle, giving peace a chance, giving credence to the promise of the United Nations to carry out a referendum. Sadly, 29 years later that promise remains unfulfilled.
A country grows great and leaves its footprints for posterity when it raises the banner of justice and equality, and the defense of human rights and Peace.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the French Republic must act for La Paz and respect for the law. It must align its policy with the values of the nation.
The peaceful demonstrations envisaged by large sectors of Saharawi civil society in the illegal breach in El Guerguerat , are protests by a people who have been betrayed by the United Nations. This would be a unique opportunity for the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs of the Republic to act in the interests of respect for international law, and not in collusion with the Moroccan occupation and its collusion with the drug cartels they use. that illegal gap for the plundering of the territory’s natural resources, and facilitating the entry of large quantities of drugs to the African market, thus exposing its youth to the ravages of their consumption, and at the same time compromising, not only the development of Africa , the construction and integration of the Maghreb, but also threatens Europe, given the geographic proximity of this region.
Paris, October 16, 2020
Collective of Associations of the Saharawi Community in France and in the Nordic Countries.
Platform of Solidarity with the People of Western Sahara
