Chahid El Hafed (Sahrawi Refugee Camps) 25 July 2026 (SPS)- Ambassador Malainin Lakhal, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Sahrawi Republic to Ethiopia and the African Union, affirmed that the African legal and institutional framework provides a robust foundation for defending the rights of the Sahrawi people, mainly their inalienable right to self-determination and permanent sovereignty over their natural resources. He highlighted the principal legal and judicial instruments that have consolidated the unique status of the Western Sahara question within the African Union.
The remarks were delivered on Saturday morning during the international Conference on "The Legal Battle and the Sahrawi People's Permanent Sovereignty over Their Natural Resources," organized at the Presidency of the Sahrawi Republic by the Working Group on Natural Resources and Related Legal Issues.
Ambassador Lakhal reviewed the historical evolution of Africa's position on the Western Sahara question, noting that the Organization of African Unity (OAU) classified it as a decolonization issue from the outset, rejected Morocco's invasion of the Territory in 1975, and recognized the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) in 1982. He said these decisions reflected the organization's firm commitment to the principles of decolonization and respect for borders inherited at independence.
The Sahrawi diplomat explained that the African Union, as the legal and political successor to the OAU, has consistently upheld this position. He pointed in particular to the 2015 legal opinion issued by the AU Office of the Legal Counsel on the illegal exploitation of natural resources in Western Sahara, describing it as a landmark expression of Africa's legal position.
The opinion, he noted, clearly defines the legal status of the Sahrawi Republic and the status of Morocco as an illegal occupying Power while affirming that the exploitation of the Territory's natural resources without the will and consent of its people is unlawful.
Ambassador Lakhal also underscored the significance of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, particularly Articles 20 and 21, which guarantee peoples' right to self-determination and permanent sovereignty over their natural resources.
He further highlighted the landmark judgment delivered by the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights in September 2022, which characterized Morocco's presence in Western Sahara as a military occupation, reaffirmed that the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination is inalienable, and held that the exploitation of the Territory's natural resources constitutes a serious violation of African and international law.
A member of the Working Group on Natural Resources and Related Legal Issues, Ambassador Lakhal stressed that these African legal and judicial precedents provide important opportunities to strengthen legal advocacy and diplomatic efforts in support of the Sahrawi cause.
He called for greater use of the African Union's judicial and advisory mechanisms and for closer complementarity between African jurisprudence and the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union to further protect the Sahrawi people's established rights.
Concluding his presentation, Ambassador Lakhal emphasized that the Sahrawi Republic's legal and political standing within the African Union, together with the growing body of legal opinions and judicial decisions issued by AU institutions, constitutes a fundamental pillar for advancing the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination, independence, and permanent sovereignty over their natural resources.
The symposium brought together a number of Sahrawi and international experts, who delivered presentations on a range of issues related to Western Sahara's natural resources, Morocco's exploitation of the Territory's resources, ongoing and prospective legal proceedings, as well as war crimes and human rights violations associated with those activities. (SPS)
090/500/60 (SPS)
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