Skip to main content

It is unacceptable UN does not protect human rights in Western Sahara, says Ghali

Submitted on

Algiers, March 31, 2018 (SPS) - President of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and Secretary General of the Polisario Front Brahim Ghali on Friday, in Algiers, said it is unacceptable that the United Nations, which is directly responsible for the conflict zone in Western Sahara, is "absent" from protecting and monitoring human rights, welcoming Algeria's support to the Saharawi people's and their right to self-determination.
In an opening address at the 6th international conference on ""Peoples' Right to Resistance: the Case of Sahrawi People," Ghali said it is "unacceptable to see the United Nations, which is the direct responsible for the conflict zone in Western Sahara, "absent from protecting and monitoring human rights."
In this respect, the Saharawi president welcomed the support of Algeria, the "country of resistance per excellence," to Western Sahara people and their right to self-determination through a clear, unfailing position, in line with the international law.
Western Sahara's leader said Algeria has "always backed liberation causes in the world, including the Sahrawi people issue, under the leadership of President of the Republic Abdelaziz Bouteflika who has always defended the rights of African, Asian and Latin-American peoples to self-determination and independence."  
He also welcomed "Algeria's key role in the promulgation of the historic UN General Assembly Resolution 1514 in 1960, relating to the granting of independence to colonized countries and peoples."
Ghali expressed recognition and gratitude to Algeria which, he said, "is the Mecca of resistance movements against injustice and oppression and a destination for the fighters for freedom and dignity."
Mentioning the latest developments of Western Sahara issue, Ghali said he is satisfied with the position of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic on the world stage, especially in Africa, as a result of African Union's last decisions according to which Morocco's occupation authorities were required to respect the post-independence borders, hence the necessity to withdraw from the occupied territories of Western Sahara."
Western Sahara cause has been backed by a "legal arsenal, including the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued on 27 February 2018, supporting its previous decision taken in late 2016, the International Court of Justice's ruling of 1975 and the decision of the South African Supreme Court  on the withdrawal of many companies implicated, with Morocco's occupation authorities,  in plundering the natural resources of Western Sahara," the leader of the Polisario Front said.
President Ghali called the European Union to for an "immediate and rigorous implementation of the CJUE's decision."
"With the decision of the CJUE, Europe must assume its direct historical responsibility, especially as Spain (the European power administering Western Sahara) "has not assumed its responsibility in the decolonization of the last colony in Africa. (SPS)
062/SPS/APS