On February 2, 2024 members of a delegation of the “Group of Support for the territorial integrity of Morocco” issued a series of statements to the press following their talks with the Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Nasser Bourita, in which they openly supported the Moroccan claims to annex the territories of Western Sahara.
The representatives to the United Nations Office in Geneva of the Comoros Sultan Chouzour, the Bahraini Hasan Moosa Ghulam Shafaei, the Gambian Muhammadou M.O.Kah, visited the occupied cities of Dakhla and El Ayoun, where they met with representatives of the Moroccan authorities and issued statements assimilating non-self-governing territories as Moroccan territory.
The position expressed by members of UN Member States is in full breach of international law, since Western Sahara was identified as a Non-Self-Governing Territory in 1963. It remains pending decolonization since 1975, when Morocco illegally occupied the region.
As early as 1975, the International Court of Justice affirmed that there had never been any link of territorial sovereignty between Western Sahara and Morocco. A similar position was then issued by the European Court of Justice in judgments of 2016, 2018 and 2021 in which it recognises the right to self-determination of the Saharawi people in accordance with international law as well as the distinct and separate status of the territory of Western Sahara from that of Morocco. The Court concludes in the aforementioned judgments that regardless of the alleged benefits, any economic activity carried out in Western Sahara must be consented to by the Saharawi people, represented by its sole and legitimate representative: the POLISARIO Front.
The Kingdom of Morocco does not only engage in breaches of the right to self-determination of the Sahrawi people, it also represses any voice peacefully advocating for such right and engages in daily violations of the Sahrawi people’s fundamental rights. Western Sahara’s resources are illegally exploited while the Sahrawi live in extremely precarious economic situations. Meanwhile, peaceful demonstrations are systematically hindered and anyone expressing their position in favour of self-determination faces arbitrary arrest, torture, surveillance, and asset freezes. Any State supporting Morocco’s claims is therefore also blindly supporting such blatant human rights violations.
ISACOM and Right Livelihood condemn all the human rights violations committed by the Kingdom of Morocco in Western Sahara and are therefore gravely concerned by the intensification of Morocco’s efforts to obtain international support for its illegal position, of which this latest visit is proof. The position expressed by the “Group of Support for the Territorial Integrity of Morocco” in numerous avenues, including at the Human Rights Council, is not only illegal, but seeks to shift the attention away from the unfinished question of decolonisation and human rights violations committed by Morocco.
In light of Morocco’s blatant attempts to shift the narrative and obtain States’ support for its illegal occupation, it is fundamental that the United Nations take all appropriate measures to resume the decolonisation process of Western Sahara, guaranteeing the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination and urgently call on Morocco to align with its international human rights obligations.
