February 28, 2021
On February 27, 2021, 45 years have passed since the proclamation of the RASD (Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic). It was proclaimed by the Saharawi people and their legitimate representative, under international law, being recognized by the United Nations and whose territory, Western Sahara, is a non-autonomous territory, which was provincialized by Spain and constitutes the former Spanish colony. In view of the abandonment of its functions as an administrative power, it was militarily occupied by Morocco, in an exercise against international law, human rights and humanitarian law, with the use of force and practice of genocide already recognized by international organizations.
At the date of this communication, Spain is the administrative power De Iure; Therefore, neither Mr. Sánchez’s current government nor the previous ones since 1975 have been able to violate international law, having tried on several occasions. The desire of the Spanish State and the friendly States of Morocco to silence the legitimate rights of the Saharawi people cannot be realized. The application of the law that assists the Saharawi people and their legitimate representatives, and the normal consequence of that right, which is the surrender of the territory to its legitimate population, expelling the military occupier, who commits genocide, is inevitable.
From this Foundation, we urge the government of Spain and its partners to abandon the field of falsehood and cover up the legal reality of Western Sahara and its population, demanding that, by virtue of the administration mandate conferred on it and which is legally the only one in force before the United Nations and the International Community, inextricably linked to the right to self-determination, to assume its historical and current responsibilities.
The latest events are the continuation of Morocco’s brutal repression against the Saharawi population, as the Moroccan regime illegally occupied the territory and whose aim is to suppress any Saharawi demonstration against the occupation, with the population being unarmed and defenseless, at the mercy of brutal inhuman and degrading treatment.
The violation of the territorial integrity of Western Sahara (which is prohibited by international law) and the breaking of the ceasefire on 13 November 2020, when Morocco decided to attack Saharawi civilian demonstrators in the El Guergarat area, put an end to the cease- fire, signed between the Polisario Front and Morocco in 1991, the Moroccan occupation state being solely responsible for these violations. Alongside this, there is the situation of violent escalation of the Moroccan occupation forces that have been operating in occupied Western Sahara for years, and that has intensified in recent months.
The situation in the occupied territories is alarming, with entire neighborhoods turned into ghettos, with armed surveillance by the occupying forces, home burglaries, torture of Saharawi human rights defenders and widespread apartheid of the population, such as the recent cases of Sultana Khaya and her family, Ghali Bouhalla, Nafaa Botasofra, Mbarka Lemjiyed and many others who suffer brutal Moroccan repression daily.
The situation of Saharawi political prisoners, taken into the interior of Morocco, in violation of international law, is a clear strategy of repression, with inhuman conditions of imprisonment, depriving them of the minimum rights of assistance, in violation of international conventions cynically signed by Morocco. In particular, against the Gdeim Izik Group, which, after a full null trial, without evidence and after being convicted on false charges by the Moroccan regime, has been detained for more than 10 years in the worst conditions, Saharawi prisoners are forced to publicly denounce the conditions with hunger strikes, as is the case with Mohamed Lamin Haddi. This Foundation denounces the conditions in which all Saharawi political prisoners are forced to live in Moroccan prisons, the suffering caused to families by unjust captivity and the extreme conditions in which they are forced to live.
In view of this serious situation caused by the Kingdom of Morocco, this Foundation:
1- Denounces the escalation of violence to which the Moroccan regime is subjecting the Saharawi population, Morocco being responsible for the failure of the ceasefire and for the genocide of the Saharawi people.
2- Denounces the failure of Minurso, which the occupied areas is subjected to the interests of Morocco, as this Foundation was able to verify in the observation missions carried out.
3- Denounces the false position of the Government of Spain, avoiding the truth and trying to exempt itself from its current responsibilities, as DE IURE administrator of the territory, since the status of the administering power has not been lost nor can it be lost by political declarations, but by compliance with the United Nations resolutions, which require the holding of a referendum. Therefore, we denounce not only the passivity, but also the collaboration, protection and support of the Moroccan regime, of this illegal military occupation.
4- The conditions of imprisonment and torture of Saharawi prisoners, subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment, revealed by the prisoners and their families, before international organizations.
This Foundation, in compliance with its purposes, URGES the Government of Spain to assume its responsibilities, of all kinds, to protect the unarmed civilian population, and as an administering power to bring to the international organizations, the requirement of the presence in the territory of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
We urge the European Union and the African Union to send delegations to monitor the human rights systematically violated by Morocco in the territory of Western Sahara and the Saharawi population that is imprisoned.
This Foundation shows its full support for the Saharawi population that is subjected to the state of terror, the Saharawi political prisoners and their families and the legitimate representatives of the saharawi.
