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Chahid El Hafed, 05/11/2008 (SPS) More than 47 international organisations called on the European Union (EU) to exclude the occupied territories of Western Sahara from its accords with Morocco, in a letter addressed to the European Commissioner for External Relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner.
47 organisations from 19 countries world wide, signed a petition so far, calling on the "European Union doesn’t grant Morocco advanced status unless the occupied territory of Western Sahara is excluded from the accord".
Here is the complete text of the petition and list of the signatories:
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Protest EU partnership plans for Western Sahara
Campaign calls on European Union to exclude Western Sahara from Moroccan-EU partnership. Have your organisation sign.
This petition below advocating the exclusion of Western Sahara from the Advanced Status talks and ensuing agreement, was opened 1 November 2008.
Only organisations can sign.
Those who would like to join are invited to send an email to Sara Eyckmans on advancedstatus@wsrw.org
Please provide her with:
1) the name of your organisation (in local language, and possibly English translation of organisation name)
2) the home country of your organisation
3) name of the person signing on behalf of your organisation.
Thank you for helping to find as many organisations as possible.
Deadline for signing up: 3 December 2008, 16.00 PM (GMT). The petition will be sent to the European Commission the following day.
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Petition text
MOROCCO’S ADVANCED STATUS MUST EXCLUDE WESTERN SAHARA
We, the signatories of this petition, demand that the European Union do not grant a so-called Advanced Status to Morocco, unless the occupied part of Western Sahara is specifically excluded from the agreement.
The EU and Morocco are currently in discussion on deepening their ties through this cooperation but, so far, there has been no mentioning in the reports from the EU-Morocco talks as to what is being done to prevent occupied Western Sahara from being included into the cooperation agreement.
If the EU would actually grant Advanced Status to occupied Western Sahara, through its negotiations with Morocco as the occupying power, it will give an unfortunate sign of support to the unfounded Moroccan claims over the territory. It could also lead to the EU damaging the UN’s efforts to decolonise the territory.
We would like to underline that Morocco continues to be an illegally occupying power in Western Sahara, in violation of over 100 UN Resolutions which call for the Western Sahara’s people’s right to self-determination. A number of Resolutions point to the fact that Western Sahara is an occupied and annexed territory. Furthermore, the International Court of Justice has rejected Morocco’s claims over Western Sahara, and the UN considers the Western Sahara case as a decolonisation issue.
Under international customary law, the EU and its member states have a duty of non-recognition of the Moroccan annexation of Western Sahara, and to support the decolonisation of the territory. It is also a moral obligation, as long as the Sahrawi people suffer either in exile or under severe human rights violations committed by the Moroccan forces in the occupied territories of Western Sahara.
The EU should therefore make sure that Western Sahara is unambiguously excluded from the territorial applicability of the Advanced Status cooperation, without delegating this responsibility to Morocco itself.
If the EU was to make such a precision, it would follow for instance the USA, who in their free trade agreement with Morocco have specifically excluded Western Sahara. It would also follow its own example of excluding the Palestinian territories from the EU-Israel Association Agreement. We urge the EU to follow these precedents and support the UN peace process by respecting its duty of non-recognition.
We, the signatories of this petition, are in principle not against a strengthened cooperation between the EU and Morocco. However, we demand that the agreement coming out of the Advanced Status talks will clearly specify that its applicability shall not extend further south than to Morocco’s internationally recognised southern border, namely 27°40’N.
Sincerely yours,
[signatories]
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List of Signatories
Following organisations have so far signed the petition calling for the exclusion of Western Sahara from the EU-Moroccan Advanced Status cooperation.
1. ARSO - Association de soutien à un référendum libre et régulier au Sahara Occidental (Association for a fair and free referendum in Western Sahara), Switzerland
2. Kritische Ökologie / ifak e.V.(Critical Ecology / Inst. for Appl. Cultural Research), Germany
3. Solidariteitsgroep Westelijke Sahara (Solidarity Group Western Sahara), Belgium
4. Støttekomiteen for Vest-Sahara (Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara), Norway
5. IPJET - International Platform of Jurists for East Timor
6. Union de Periodistas y Escritores Saharauis (UPES) (Saharawi Journalists’ and Writers’ Union), Western Sahara
7. BIRDHSO - Bureau International pour le Respect des Droits Humains au Sahara Occidental (International Bureau for the Respect of Human Rights in Western Sahara), Switzerland
8. Stichting Zelfbeschikking West-Sahara (The Netherlands Foundation for Self-determination in Western Sahara), The Netherlands
9. AFAPREDESA (Association of the Families of Saharawi Prisoners and Disappeards), Western Sahara
10. UJS - Union de Juristas Saharauis (Saharawi Jurists Union), Western Sahara
11. WSRW - Western Sahara Resource Watch
12. Tidningen Anti (Political journal), Sweden
13. Drustvo Za Podporo Zahodni Sahari (The Western Sahara Support Society), Slovenia
14. Central and Eastern European Alliance for the Solidarity with the Saharawi People, Hungary
15. IESBAA ELKARTEA - Asociacion de Amigos del Pueblo Saharaui de Aretxabaleta (Assocation of Saharawi Freiends from Aretxabaleta - IESBAA), Spain
16. SJJA - Sahara Japan Journalist Association, Japan
17. Association for Sahrawis in Norway, Norway
18. New Internationalist Publications, United Kingdom
19. AARASD - Association des Amis de la RASD (Association of Friends of the RASD), France
20. Stoettekomiteen for Vest Sahara i Danmark (Danish Support Committee for the Saharawi People), Denmark
21. Patchanka, Denmark
22. Western Sahara Campaign UK
23. Observatorio de Derechos Humanos Del Colegio de Abogados de Badajoz, Spain
24. New Zealand Western Sahara Association, New Zealand
25. Ateneo Republicano de Málaga, Spain
26. Club de Amigos de la UNESCO, Spain
27. El Grupo Jaima de Córdoba, Spain
28. Pax Christi Australia, Australia
29. Missionaries of the Sacred Heart Justice and Peace Centre, Australia
30. Sosialistisk Ungdom (Socialist Youth League of Norway), Norway
31. Observatorio Galego para o Sáhara Occidental, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Spain
32. Suomen Rauhanpuolustajat ry (Finnish Peace Committee), Finland
33. Föreningen Västsahara, The Swedish Committee for Western Sahara, Sweden
34. U.S.-Western Sahara Foundation, US
35. Örnsköldsviks FN-förening/Stellan Bäcklund, ordf. (Swedish UN Association, local chapter in Örnsköldsvik), Sweden
36. Solidaritetskommittén vid Jakobsbergs folkhögskola (Solidarity Committee of the Folk High School of Jakobsberg), Sweden
37. SUKS - Schweizerisches Unterstützungskomitee für die Sahraouis (Swiss Supporting Comittee of Sahawi People), Switzerland
38. ACAPS Wilaya Alt Penedès, Spain
39. Tasmania Quaker Peace and Justice Committee, Australia
40. Generación de la Amistad Saharaui (The Friendship Generation), Western Sahara/Spain
41. Lembarki, Spain
42. Asociación Amal-Esperanza de solidaridad con el Pueblo Saharaui (Amal-Hope Association for Solidarity with Saharawi People), Spain
43. Casal La Gallineta from Mollet del Vallès (Catalunya), Spain
44. Tierra Libre, Spain
45. Le Comité Syndical Saharaoui, Western Sahara
46. Partido Impulso Democrático, Spain
47. Asociación Soriana de Amigos del Pueblo Saharaui (Saharawi’s people friends Asociation.Soria), Spain. (SPS)
020/090/TRD 051245 NOV 08 SPS
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