The Democratic Women’s Movement (Portugal) today sent a letter to all members of the UN Security Council on the issue of Western Sahara just days before the meeting of this body on the non-autonomous territory.
The letter, which has more than 200 signatures from all quarters of Portuguese society, briefly summarizes the multiple violations of international law suffered by the Saharawi people and calls on the Security Council to: • advise the Moroccan authorities to comply with the decisions and opinions of the UN Human Rights mechanism
• expand the MINURSO mandate to include a human rights component in order to enable the independent, impartial, comprehensive and sustained monitoring of the human rights situation in the Mission area
• close the illegal breach created in El Guergarat
• urge the Secretary General to appoint a new personal envoy of the Secretary General for Western Sahara
• take serious, practical actions with a view to creating the necessary conditions for MINURSO to implement the primary mandate for which it was originally established, namely the holding of a free and fair referendum whereby the people of Western Sahara would exercise freely and democratically their inalienable right to self-determination and independence, thus bringing to a successful conclusion the decolonization of the last colony in Africa.
H.E. Members of the Security Council
We undersigned address this letter to the Security Council Members in view of the alarming situation in occupied Western Sahara, where serious and practical measures are urgently needed to a successful conclusion the decolonization of Western Sahara in accordance with the UN resolutions and the ceasefire agreement.
The Moroccan occupying authorities are intensifying their repressive and terrorizing actions against Saharawi civilians in occupied Western Sahara. The systematic human rights violations to which the Saharawi people in occupied Western Sahara are subjected by the Moroccan occupying authorities are mounting at an alarming rate, targeting children, youth, men and women alike.
International observers, researchers, lawyers and journalists were denied access to or expelled from the Territory by the Moroccan occupying authorities.
The Moroccan army continues its illegal presence and activities in the Buffer Strip in Guerguerat which leads to more tension in the area, endangering the ceasefire agreement. The illegal breach opened by the Moroccan army is a passage for narco traffickers and other illegal activities that undermine the security in the entire region. It is also a gateway to support the plunder of the Saharawi natural resources.
The Saharawi Political prisoners have been victims of torture, ill treatment and harassment, detained without respect for the most basic principles of fair procedures and abducted in Morocco some of them over 1300km from their homeland. So far Morocco did not heed any decision, opinion or interim measures issued by the UN Human rights mechanism regarding these prisoners, especially the prisoner known as Gdeim Izik Group.
The Natural resources of the Saharawi People continue to be plundered by the Moroccan Kingdom in a clear violation of International Law and without any benefit for the Saharawi people.
The lack of progress in the political process, the failure of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) so far to implement the mandate for which it was established by Security Council resolution 690 (1991), and the delay in the appointment of a new personal envoy of the Secretary General for Western Sahara perpetuate the status quo of the situation, increasing the frustration of the Saharawi People with the United Nations.
The persistent systematic human rights violations perpetrated by Moroccan authorities against the Sahrawi people show the urgent need for the MINURSO mandate to be expanded and to include a human rights component that would enable the independent, impartial, comprehensive and sustained monitoring of the human rights situation in the Mission area.
Members of the Security Council the situation in Western Sahara, particularly in the Territories of Western Sahara under the Moroccan illegal occupation, remains alarmingly unstable. The political process is completely paralyzed, and the Saharawi people have lost faith in the United Nations and its Mission that has regrettably become a passive bystander to the Moroccan unlawful actions that aim to consolidate Morocco’s illegal occupation of parts of Western Sahara that remains a Non-Self-Governing Territory on the United Nations agenda.
We undersigned congratulate the Saharawi people for their patience and respect of the agreements signed, namely the ceasefire agreement and their non-violent resistance since 1991 has been an example for the World.
Members of the Security Council at a time when the Security Council is expected to adopt a resolution on the renewal of MINURSO mandate by the end of the month, we call upon you to:
• advise the Moroccan authorities to comply with the decisions and opinions of the UN Human Rights mechanism
• expand the MINURSO mandate to include a human rights component in order to enable the independent, impartial, comprehensive and sustained monitoring of the human rights situation in the Mission area
• close the illegal breach created in El Guergarat
• urge the Secretary General to appoint a new personal envoy of the Secretary General for Western Sahara
• take serious, practical actions with a view to creating the necessary conditions for MINURSO to implement the primary mandate for which it was originally established, namely the holding of a free and fair referendum whereby the people of Western Sahara would exercise freely and democratically their inalienable right to self-determination and independence, thus bringing to a successful conclusion the decolonization of the last colony in Africa.
