Brussels (Belgium) 16 September 2025 (SPS)— On the 50th anniversary of the Moroccan illegal occupation of Western Sahara, the European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights (ELDH) and the Collective of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders (CODESA) issued a joint petition demanding decisive international action to end "five decades of occupation and plunder."
The statement, released today, calls upon the European Union, its Member States, and the United Nations to uphold international law and respect the rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which has repeatedly invalidated trade agreements covering Western Sahara’s natural resources.
“Western Sahara remains the last colony in Africa,” the petition declares, citing the 1975 International Court of Justice advisory opinion that Morocco has no territorial sovereignty over the territory. “The colonisation of Western Sahara must end.”
“Following the end of Spanish colonial rule, Morocco invaded Western Sahara in October 1975. The Saharawi independence movement, POLISARIO, resisted occupation, leading to years of war that paused only with the 1991 UN-brokered ceasefire and the promise of a referendum on self-determination. Morocco has consistently sabotaged that referendum and, since 2020, has openly violated the ceasefire. Today, war has resumed, while the international community largely remains silent,” the joint petition states.
According to ELDH and CODESA, the consequences of half a century of occupation have been devastating marked by gross Human Rights Violations.
The petition accuses Morocco of crimes against humanity, including arbitrary detention, killings, repression of dissent, and the use of drones against civilians. Activists and organisations such as CODESA face constant harassment.
Around half of the Sahrawi population lives in refugee camps in Algeria’s Tindouf region, enduring extreme desert conditions. The rest remain under illegal occupation or in exile, the petition recalls.
The plunder of natural resources, the two organizations indicated are of extreme importance. Morocco’s export of phosphates, fisheries, and agricultural goods from Western Sahara continues despite CJEU rulings, they argue, with EU institutions and companies complicit in illegal trade.
The petition also accused European governments for prioritizing trade, migration control, and alliances with Morocco over human rights and international law.
Therefore, the petition demands from the EU and the UN to enforce CJEU rulings by halting trade in Western Sahara resources, to reject Morocco’s autonomy plan reaffirming the right to a UN-organized referendum, to extend the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) to monitor human rights.
The petition further called on the UN and the EU to condemn the use of drones against civilians and to secure the release of Sahrawi political prisoners, including the Gdeim Izik group, to increase humanitarian aid to Sahrawi refugee camps, where shortages of food and water are worsening, and to Link EU–Morocco trade agreements to respect for human rights.
The petition stresses that the EU and its Member States have a “legal and moral duty” to act. “International law is clear: the Saharawi people have the right to self-determination and sovereignty over their land and resources,” the statement concludes.
CODESA and ELDH insist that global solidarity with the Sahrawi cause is growing, even as geopolitical interests delay justice. “Despite oppression, the Saharawi people’s struggle for self-determination endures,” they said, highlighting the central role of Sahrawi women in sustaining refugee communities and leading resistance efforts. (SPS)
090/500/60 (SPS)
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