Opening of the Conference on Multilateralism and International Law in Pretoria with the Western Sahara as a Case Study

The academic event is co-chaired by the Professor Calie Pistorius, Vice Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria and high profile officials from the South African Department of Foreign Affairs and the participation of former UN officials and academics from South Africa, Algeria, USA, United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Italy, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Mexico, Japan and members of the diplomatic missions accredited in the South African capital, as well as representatives of the South African political parties, civil society and the media.

The first day of activities of the conference was dedicated to the study of the Legal Claim of the Saharawi People to Self-determination and Decolonization, the Historical Background and Multilateralism and the Role of Multilateral Organizations and counted with the Saharawi researcher Dr. Sidi M. Omar, Professor Macharia Munene of the US International University in Nairobi, Professor Stephen Zunes of the University of San Francisco, USA, Mr. Toby Shelly, Journalist and writer, US Ambassador and former deputy chairman of the Identification Commission, Frank Rudy and Mr. Jacob Mundy from the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies as the main lecturers and speakers from Mexico, Algeria, Spain and Italia.

In his intervention before the conference, the Saharawi researcher Dr. Sidi M. Omar detailed the different stages of the struggle of the Saharawi people for self-determination and independence and considered the Moroccan lack of good will and unilateralism as an approach that ignores fundamental realities on the ground. Dr. Sidi also expressed that “over thirty years of institution and nation-building that have made the Sahrawi nation an irreversible reality. In addition, the Sahrawi Republic (SADR) is a fully-fledged State that exercises its full sovereignty over the Sahrawi liberated territories and has the administrative and political capacity to handle its own affairs and conduct its international relations. Indeed, it is the embodiment of the strong collective will of the Sahrawi people and their vehicle to achieve their legitimate national aspirations for self-determination and independence”.

The Conference on Multilateralism and International Law with the Western Sahara as a Case Study will continue its deliberation on Friday, December 5th with the interventions of Mhamed Khadad, the Saharawi coordinator with the MINURSO, the Human Rights activists and R.F.Kennedy Human Rights laureate 2008, Aminatu Haidar, Ambassador Hans Corell, former Under Secretary General for Legal Affairs and the Legal Counsel of the United Nations, Francesco Bastagli, former special representative of the UN Secretary General for Western Sahara, Senator Pierre Galand, President of the European Coordination Committee in Solidarity with the Saharawi People, Eric Hagen, Journalist and member of the WSRW, Professor Carlos Ruiz Miguel, Pedro Pinto Leite, Secretary of the International Platform of Jurists for East Timor, Professor Christine Chinkin and Ambassador Ebrahim Saley, Chief Director of North Africa Desk in the South African Department of Foreign Affairs

062/090/000 042200 DEC 08 SPS