Chahid El Hafed (Sahrawi Refugee Camps) 25 July 2026 (SPS)– Spanish lawyer Jacinto Lara affirmed that the Spanish State bears direct legal responsibility toward Western Sahara as the administering power of the territory, stressing that its obligations under the United Nations Charter remain in force. He argued that the current stage requires recourse to the Spanish courts to compel Spain to fulfill those obligations and protect the rights of the Sahrawi people.
Speaking at the international Conference on the “legal battle and the Sahrawi people's permanent sovereignty over their natural resources”, held on Saturday at the headquarters of the Presidency of the Sahrawi Republic, Lara explained that the 1975 Madrid Tripartite Accords and Spain's decolonization law produce no legal effect on the status of the territory.
He noted that the United Nations has regarded them as incompatible with the provisions of the UN Charter governing Non-Self-Governing Territories. Consequently, Spain has not, from a legal standpoint, lost its status as the administering Power of Western Sahara, despite its physical withdrawal from the Territory in 1976.
Lara further pointed out that several Spanish court rulings have reinforced this legal position. He cited a 2014 decision of Spain's National Court, which affirmed the jurisdiction of Spanish courts over cases relating to Western Sahara on the basis that Spain continues to hold the legal status of administering Power. He also recalled a 2015 judicial decision indicting eleven Moroccan military officers in a case classified as genocide.
The Spanish lawyer also emphasized that the judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union in 2016, 2018, 2021, and 2024 established three fundamental legal principles: the recognition of the Polisario Front as the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people; confirmation that Western Sahara is a separate and distinct territory from Morocco; and the requirement that the consent of the Sahrawi people be obtained for any agreement between the European Union and Morocco that applies to the Territory.
Lara added that Spain has failed, for more than fifty years, to comply with the obligations imposed upon it by international law, whether in protecting the Sahrawi people, guaranteeing their right to self-determination, or safeguarding them from violations. He argued that this constitutes a clear breach of Articles 73 and 74 of the United Nations Charter.
Concluding his presentation, the Spanish lawyer called for the launch of legal proceedings before Spanish courts, beginning with demands that the competent administrative authorities fulfill their responsibilities as the administering Power.
He urged Spain not to grant any licenses or authorizations affecting Western Sahara or its natural resources without the consent of the Sahrawi people, represented by the Polisario Front, as the legitimate representative recognized by the courts. (SPS)
090/500/60 (SPS)
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