Rome (Italy), 17 December 2025 (SPS) – The Permanent Committee on Human Rights in the World, established within the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, held an important hearing this morning dedicated to the situation of the Sahrawi people and the state of human rights in Western Sahara.
The session was convened as part of an ongoing inquiry into Italy’s commitment within the international community to promoting and protecting human rights and combating all forms of discrimination.
The hearing, which began at 08:30 local time, was attended by the Representative of the Polisario Front in Italy, Ms. Fatma Mahfud, along with a number of Italian figures and organisations active in the fields of solidarity and human rights, as well as members of the Permanent Committee on Human Rights in the World.
During the session, the Committee heard statements from Ms Fatma Mahfud, Representative of the Polisario Front in Italy; Ms Nadia Conti, President of the Italian Solidarity Network with the Sahrawi People (Rete Saharawi); Ms Valentina Roversi, Vice President of the Network; Ms Francesca Doria, Head of the Network’s Human Rights Working Group; and Ms Giulia Olme, Representative of the International Committee for the Development of Peoples (CISP).
The presentations addressed the humanitarian situation in Western Sahara and in the Sahrawi refugee camps, ongoing human rights violations in the occupied territories, challenges linked to displacement and stability, as well as the role of Italian civil society in supporting the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination and the contribution expected from Italian institutions in defending and protecting human rights.
The session was also attended by Mr Stefano Vaccari, President of the parliamentary group “Peace for the Sahrawi People,” who stressed the importance of this parliamentary initiative, describing it as an institutional contribution to raising awareness and advancing support for human rights in Western Sahara.
This hearing forms part of a series of parliamentary meetings aimed at assessing and strengthening Italy’s role in defending human rights at the international level and supporting United Nations efforts to find a just and lasting solution to the conflict in Western Sahara that guarantees the Sahrawi people’s inalienable right to self-determination and independence. (SPS)
090/500/60 (SPS)
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