SOLIDARITY WITH THE SAHARAWI PEOPLE AND THE POLISARIO FRONT
We condemn the military attack by the Kingdom of Morocco against the Sahrawi civilian population
Today, the armed forces of the Kingdom of Morocco have attacked hundreds of Sahrawi civilians who, since last October 21, were protesting peacefully in the Guerguerat area, in Western Sahara, demanding that the United Nations and the International Community enforce once and for all the UN Resolutions and the 1991 Ceasefire Agreement, according to which the self-determination referendum agreed between the parties should have been held almost 30 years ago and that the United Nations Mission in the Western Sahara (MINURSO) was tasked with organizing. However, year after year, it has been postponed, yielding to Moroccan blackmail.
The protest has been carried out in that “illegal breach” of Guerguerat for being a means used by the Moroccan occupier to transfer part of the Sahrawi natural resources illegally expropriated in its territory, facilitating drug trafficking and smuggling. They also demand that their political, social and labor rights be guaranteed, with impunity trampled on by the Moroccan regime, as repeatedly denounced by international associations that defend Human Rights. And all this before the indifference, if not complicity, of MINURSO itself, which sees with its own eyes how these ignominies are committed without lifting a finger to prevent it.
The Moroccan military attack against the Sahrawi civilian population who exercised their right to demonstrate and protest peacefully, in addition to being the violation of a fundamental right, represents the violation of Military Agreement No. 1 by which the Ceasefire was established between the Polisario Front and Morocco under the supervision of the United Nations. Therefore, the Sahrawi Government and its National Liberation Army are entitled to act in legitimate defense, protecting the civilian population against the Moroccan aggressor and occupier and in defense of their territorial sovereignty.
The serious consequences that derive from this military action are the sole and exclusive responsibility of Morocco and the governments that support it, also those who remain silent, manipulate the facts, accusing the victims instead of their executioners, or look the other way before such a flagrant crime.
The unions that are signatories of this communiqué demand that the United Nations, the international community and the Spanish Government immediately intervene to enforce international legality of the Moroccan state.
The Spanish state, as the administrative power of the territory, must assume its historical responsibility in this conflict. It must rectify the betrayal that the illegal Tripartite Agreement of Madrid of November 14, 1975 entailed for the Saharawi people, which handed over Western Sahara. We demand that it fulfill its obligations and that, at a time as grave as the present one, it assume its historical responsibility and repair the evil it inflicted on the Saharawi people with that infamous agreement. 49 years later, it’s time that Spain ceases its continued support for the Moroccan dictatorship and the sale of arms to its government, and place itself once and for all on the side of the Sahrawi people that it should never have abandoned.
We condemn the Moroccan military action, we demand that a date be set for the holding of the referendum committed to before the United Nations, the cessation of the occupation, the violation of human rights and the plundering of Sahrawi natural resources.
Faced with this serious situation, we once again express our commitment and solidarity with the just struggle of the Saharawi people and their legitimate representative, the Polisario Front.
VIVA SAHARA, LONG LIVE FREE SAHARA!
