Düsseldorf (Germany) 25 October 2026 (SPS)— The European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights (ELDH) addressed a formal and detailed appeal to the members of the United Nations Security Council on October 24, 2026, urging adherence to international law and respect for the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination in the Council's anticipated resolution at the end of the month.
The letter presented a legal and institutional appeal expressing serious concern regarding certain provisions of the US “0draft” presented as a draft for the United Nations Security Council resolution dated October 20, 2026, and its serious negative consequences for the UN-led peace process and the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination.
This step and the objections raised by the association are based on the findings and documentation of ELDH’s fact-finding report published in July 2026, entitled "Fifty Years Under Occupation: Human Rights Violations, Settler-Colonial Transformation, and the Absence of International Monitoring in Western Sahara".
Through this letter, the organization seeks to call upon Security Council members to reconsider the current draft resolution and ensure that the applicable international legal frameworks and the decolonization process references in the territory are not bypassed.
The association stressed that the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination must remain the governing foundation of the political process, warning against establishing autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty as the exclusive and predetermined outcome of negotiations, as it presupposes a sovereignty that is not internationally agreed upon and conflicts with the territory's status as a Non-Self-Governing Territory.
The organization also explicitly called for preserving the name of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) and its original referendum-related mandate, based on Security Council resolution 690 (1991) and the UN-Organization of African Unity Settlement Plan accepted by the parties.
The organization warned that removing the referendum reference and linking the outcome to the autonomy proposal threatens to undermine the foundations of the peace process and the parties' confidence in the neutrality of the United Nations.
In the same context, the letter stressed the necessity of respecting the legal status of the Frente POLISARIO as the representative of the Sahrawi people and a primary party to the negotiated settlement process, affirming that any consultations with civil society must be complementary rather than alternative to direct negotiations with the Frente POLISARIO, in order to avoid fragmenting the negotiation process or bypassing the political will of the Sahrawi people.
The organization demanded the inclusion of a permanent, independent, and effective human rights monitoring and reporting mechanism within the UN presence in Western Sahara to address the existing human rights protection gap. It urged Security Council member states not to adopt the draft resolution in its current form and to introduce substantial amendments that preserve the credibility of the United Nations and ensure full respect for international legality and the inalienable rights of the Sahrawi people.
The letter explicitly referred to Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter and the principle prohibiting the acquisition of territory through the threat or use of force, warning that any language in the draft resolution that could be understood as legitimizing sovereignty acquired by force without the free consent of the Sahrawi people would contradict the principle of territorial integrity and weaken the credibility of the United Nations in addressing other international disputes.
The organization also cautioned that any potential popular vote on autonomy arrangements must not be affected by demographic changes or the inclusion of a settler electorate that displaces the choice of the indigenous Sahrawi people, which requires careful agreement and independent monitoring safeguards to ensure the validity of the expression of popular will.
In a related context concerning human rights conditions, the 2026 fact-finding report reviewed serious and recurring violations, including arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment, enforced disappearances, unfair trials, restrictions on freedom of expression and association, intimidation of human rights defenders and journalists, alongside obstacles to independent legal representation.
To address the human rights gap resulting from the lack of monitoring, the association called for enabling the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to conduct regular monitoring missions, while obligating the Secretary-General to provide systematic and regular reports to the Security Council.
In conclusion, the organization warned that adopting decisions interpreted as aborting the decolonization process or legitimizing territorial acquisition by force would inflict severe damage on the international community's confidence in the principled and impartial role of the Security Council regarding the peaceful settlement of regional disputes in general. (SPS)
090/500/60 (SPS)
Related blogs
