PUSL.- The Collective of Associations of the Saharawi Community in France sent a letter addressed to the United Nations Security Council calling for respect for international law and consequently for the right of self-determination of the Saharawi people as established in the numerous resolutions of the UN themselves.
This letter is sent a few days before the hearing at the SC by Staffan de Mistura, a personal envoy of the UN Secretary General who has held a round of meetings with the parties and neighboring countries.
To Her Excellency Mrs. Barbara Woodward
Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom
President of the United Nations Security Council
To the Members of the United Nations Security Council
H. E. António Guterres, Secretary-general of the UN
Excellency,
The Collective of Associations of the Sahrawi Community in France, recalls that the Sahrawi people, given their attachment to a lasting peace based on the precepts of international legitimacy, have invested themselves wisely in total cooperation with the United Nations and its mission in place for more than 30 years, for the application of its right to self-determination and the organization of the Referendum included in the ceasefire agreement signed by Morocco and the Polisario Front in 1991, under the aegis of the United Nations and the African Union. On the other hand, Morocco has evaded its international obligations and has never ceased to erect obstacles to prevent the implementation of a free and fair self-determination referendum.
Since Morocco broke the ceasefire and resumed fighting on November 13, 2020, the situation of the Sahrawi population in the occupied territories of Western Sahara has experienced a rapid deterioration due to the large-scale repression carried out by the Moroccan occupying forces on the ground systematically closed to the press and international observers. There is no freedom of movement, speech or associational activity.
The deterioration of the situation of Saharawi political prisoners and the frenetic campaign against the Saharawi human rights activist Sultana Khaya and her family that have been under house arrest for over 500 days, physically and sexually assaulted, prevented from receiving visitors including their parents. This is one of the most painful examples.
The United Nations and the international community must endeavor to ensure that international law is applied for everyone and everywhere in the world, without selective or distinctive criteria.
Their inaction and their deafening silences in the face of the Moroccan military occupation of certain parts of Western Sahara, have encouraged the kingdom to trample on international law and to continue, with all impunity, its intransigence, thus endangering the peace and stability of the whole region.
Faced with this intolerable situation which increases the suffering of the Sahrawi people, these abuses also constitute a violation of international law and an affront to all those who are committed to defending and respecting human rights, justice and freedom.
-We demand the release of Sahrawi political prisoners, an end to repression in the occupied territories and the establishment of an international mechanism for the monitoring of human rights in Western Sahara.
– We urge the Security Council to take advantage of the long-awaited appointment of the new United Nations envoy to Western Sahara, to combine its commitment to a just and lasting peaceful solution, by giving it the means to carry out concrete and effective actions in enabling the people of Western Sahara to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination.
Please accept, Excellency, the expression of our highest consideration.
Paris, April 7, 2022
Collective of Associations of the Sahrawi Community in France
