PRESS RELEASE
On the Commemoration of the 62nd Anniversary of UN General Assembly Resolution 1514
Today the United Nations and all world nations mark the 62nd anniversary of the adoption by the UN General Assembly of its resolution 1514 (XV), on 14 December 1960, on the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial countries and Peoples, known also as the Magna Carta of decolonisation.
By its resolution 1514 (XV), the General Assembly recognised that the subjection of peoples to alien subjugation and domination constituted a denial of fundamental human rights, was contrary to the Charter of the United Nations and was an impediment to the promotion of world peace and cooperation. It solemnly proclaimed the necessity of bringing to a speedy and unconditional end colonialism in all its forms and manifestations. However, colonialism is still far from over.
At present, the Special Committee on Decolonisation includes on its list 17 Non-Self-Governing Territories whose peoples have not yet exercised their right to self-determination and independence including Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa, whose decolonisation was obstructed by Morocco’s military invasion and occupation of the Territory on 31 October 1975, which was deeply deplored by the General Assembly in its resolutions 34/37 of 21 November 1979 and 35/19 of 11 November 1980.
Almost six decades have passed since the General Assembly adopted its resolution 1956 (XVIII) of 11 December 1963 whereby the General Assembly approved the report of the Special Committee on Decolonisation containing the list of the Territories to be decolonised including Western Sahara. Numerous General Assembly resolutions have been adopted ever since calling for enabling the Sahrawi people to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and independence in line with General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) and other relevant resolutions. However, the decolonisation of Western Sahara is still to be accomplished.
Moreover, all efforts deployed by the United Nations and the Organisation of African Unity (currently the African Union) with a view to achieving a peaceful and lasting solution to the overdue decolonisation of Western Sahara have been met with the obstructionism of the occupying state of Morocco. The inaction exhibited by the United Nations over the past decades has emboldened the occupying state not only to persist in its illegal occupation of parts of Western Sahara but also to breach and torpedo the 1991 ceasefire leading to the resumption of military confrontations.
The Sahrawi people have again been forced to resume their legitimate national liberation struggle with which the UN General Assembly had already expressed its solidarity and supported it in its resolutions including resolution 2983 (XXVII) of 14 December 1972. However, our people still look to the United Nations to implement its own resolutions regarding the decolonisation of Western Sahara. The United Nations should therefore assume its sacred responsibility towards the Sahrawi people and create the necessary conditions to enable our people to exercise freely and democratically their inalienable and non-negotiable right to self-determination and independence, thus bringing to a successful conclusion the decolonisation of the last colony in Africa.
New York, 14 December 2022
