Algiers (Algeria) 29 September 2025 (SPS) – The Deputy Permanent Representative of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic to the African Union and Sahrawi writer, Malainin Lakhal, stated to the magazine of the Foundation for the Promotion of Rights, “L’Humaniste”, that the Moroccan occupation can never erase history, stressing that “the recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara by certain states has no legal value as long as the Sahrawi people have not freely expressed their choice.”
L’Humaniste, which published its first issue in June/July 2025, released this interview that addressed the Western Sahara question, its latest developments, and perspectives for the future in light of the global shift in international relations.
Here is the full text of the interview:
Malainin Lakhal, Deputy Permanent Representative of the SADR to the AU: “International law is not a luxury or an ornament”
While Western Sahara remains the last officially recognized colony in Africa, the Sahrawi cause continues to be pushed to the margins of international priorities. Yet, behind diplomatic silence and strategic interests, a people struggle for their inalienable right to self-determination. In this frank interview, Malainin Lakhal, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic to the African Union and Sahrawi writer, denounces the Moroccan occupation, economic plunder, the complicity of certain Western powers, and the double standards of international law. For him, Sahrawi resistance is more alive than ever, carried by the historical, legal, and moral legitimacy of its cause.
L’Humaniste (L’H): Western Sahara today is the last colony in Africa. Yet, this cause remains largely absent from major international forums. How do you explain this persistent silence around the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination?
Malainin Lakhal (M.L): The relative silence around the Sahrawi question is neither accidental nor innocent. It results from a geopolitical balance dominated by powerful economic, strategic, and diplomatic interests, often at the expense of the fundamental principles of international law. Yet the Sahrawi people’s cause is clear: we are a colonized people, recognized as such by the UN since 1963, and Morocco is an illegal occupying power, recognized as such by the UN since 1975. The lack of concrete action by some major powers and the complacency of certain international media reflect a troubling hierarchy of causes, where justice is sometimes relegated behind short-term interests.
On the other hand, it would also be inaccurate to say that the Sahrawi question is totally absent from major international forums. On the contrary, it is regularly placed on the agenda of the United Nations General Assembly, where it enjoys broad support from member states, notably the Non-Aligned Movement, the African Union, and several Latin American and Asian countries. It also remains one of the most sensitive and debated issues within the Security Council, even if some permanent members block any substantive progress. In Europe, despite sometimes ambiguous postures, the Sahrawi cause is defended within the European Parliament, in the courts of the Union, and by many civil society organizations.
It is therefore a struggle that, although hampered by powerful forces, remains alive, legitimate, and carried with conviction in international arenas. I would even say that it remains, despite everything, one of the most vibrant international issues still on the agenda; a cause that Morocco and its allies have not managed to suffocate, despite all their influence, power, and interests. That is precisely why we see Morocco running to the four corners of the planet seeking support for its colonial position.
L’H: The African Union has recognized the SADR as a full member state. Does this continental support have a real impact, or is it largely symbolic?
M.L: The recognition of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic by the African Union is not symbolic. It is a strong political and legal act, taken, let us remember, by the founding fathers of Pan-Africanism, affirming that Africa cannot be built sustainably as long as one of its peoples is deprived of freedom. The SADR sits with the same rights as all other member states, including Morocco. This fact challenges Moroccan expansionist claims over our territory and reinforces the legitimacy of our cause.
That said, for this support to have a concrete impact, it must of course be accompanied by stronger measures, such as sanctions against the occupier, diplomatic pressure, and reinforced humanitarian support. That may not yet be the case, but it does not in any way diminish the political and legal weight of Africa’s recognition of the legitimacy and sovereignty of the SADR over its territory.
This recognition profoundly disturbs Morocco, because it exposes its isolation and places it in difficulty, even with its own African and international allies. It suffices, for example, to recall the participation of the SADR, on an equal footing with Morocco and other African Union member states, in partnership summits between the African Union and international partners such as the European Union, the Arab League, or Japan. The mere official presence of the SADR in these international forums is enough to challenge Moroccan colonialist theses and reaffirm the legitimacy of the Sahrawi struggle on the global stage.
L’H: How would you describe today the humanitarian situation in the occupied territories of Western Sahara, particularly regarding access to healthcare, water, freedom of expression, and education?
M.L: The humanitarian situation in the occupied territories is alarming. The Sahrawi people live there under constant and systematic repression. Access to healthcare is discriminatory, drinking water is scarce in some regions, and infrastructure is unequally distributed, favoring Moroccan settlers. Freedom of expression does not exist: journalists, activists, and ordinary citizens are monitored, imprisoned, tortured, or sometimes even assassinated simply for expressing their attachment to their national identity.
The Moroccan educational system there is a tool of indoctrination aimed at erasing Sahrawi history and culture. It is a form of silent yet systematic cultural and ethnic genocide. Unfortunately, UN mechanisms for the protection of human rights remain largely insufficient in the face of the serious and well-documented violations committed by Morocco in Western Sahara.
These abuses have been repeatedly denounced by international human rights organizations, as well as by several UN Special Rapporteurs, who expressed their concerns through official communications. These positions highlight the current inability of the UN system to ensure effective monitoring and publicly denounce systematic violations of the fundamental rights of the Sahrawi people.
Morocco indeed benefits from the political and diplomatic support of several states that call themselves democracies. This support, whether active or tacit, contributes to the impunity enjoyed by the Moroccan regime and perpetuates serious crimes, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as the ongoing violation of the Sahrawi people’s inalienable right to self-determination.
L’H: Algeria has for years demanded that MINURSO’s mandate be expanded so that it monitors violations of international humanitarian law and human rights abuses in Western Sahara. Why does this mandate remain limited, and who benefits from maintaining this status quo?
M.L: It is not only Algeria: all international human rights organizations, as well as many states committed to respect for international law, support expanding MINURSO’s mandate to include human rights monitoring. It is deeply troubling that this mission, originally created to organize a self-determination referendum, is today reduced to a limited role of monitoring the ceasefire.
This is a historical anomaly: it is the only peacekeeping mission created by the UN after the Cold War that does not have a human rights mandate.
This blockage is largely due to the opposition of certain influential members of the Security Council, notably, but not exclusively France, who prioritize their strategic and economic interests in the region over universal principles. Maintaining this status quo is endorsing a profoundly unjust order. It amounts to giving the occupying power a blank check to continue its violations with complete impunity, shielded from any independent observation. It is, in sum, a blatant denial of international responsibility.
It should also be recalled that the Polisario Front, recognized by the United Nations as the second party to the conflict in its capacity as the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people, has never ceased to demand the integration of a human rights monitoring mechanism in MINURSO’s mandate. This demand is also strongly supported by Sahrawi civil society. Yet, this legitimate request continues to be ignored, largely due to the political protection Morocco enjoys from certain powers that call themselves democracies. This unconditional support contributes to the perpetuation of an illegal occupation, systematic human rights violations, and acts that amount to war crimes in Western Sahara. This double standard undermines the credibility of international law and reveals deep hypocrisy in the attitude of these states.
L’H: Sahrawi human rights defenders, such as Sultana Khaya, are frequently harassed, placed under house arrest, or assaulted. What responsibility does the international community bear in the face of these serious violations?
M.L: The international community has the moral and legal responsibility to protect human rights defenders everywhere in the world. Cases such as that of Sultana Khaya are emblematic of the brutality of the Moroccan occupation regime. When a peaceful activist is assaulted in her own home, for months, under international silence, this sends a dangerous message: that some peoples can be deprived of their rights with total impunity. We call on states, NGOs, and UN mechanisms to act concretely, to document these crimes, and to exert pressure so that justice is done.
What is even more concerning is the persistent silence, even inaction, of certain African institutions that are supposed to protect human rights, such as the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, to name only this one. When such grave and systematic violations are committed with impunity against an entire African people, without an appropriate reaction from these bodies, it represents a major moral and institutional failure. History will not be kind to those who looked away, leaving the Sahrawi people to face colonialism, aggression, and daily violations of their fundamental rights alone, all in the name of political interests or geostrategic calculations.
L’H: Some states, including permanent members of the Security Council, have recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, supporting its autonomy plan. Does this undermine the international legality of the Sahrawi cause?
M.L: Not at all. International law is not a matter of opinion. It depends neither on economic weight nor military power. The recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara by certain states has no legal value as long as the Sahrawi people have not freely expressed their choice. France or the United States have no sovereignty over Western Sahara to give it to an occupying power which itself has no sovereignty over this territory.
The International Court of Justice, the African Union, and the Court of Justice of the European Union are clear: Western Sahara is a non-self-governing territory, awaiting decolonization. The Moroccan autonomy plan, unilaterally imposed, is simply illegal and unrealistic, and can in no way replace a free and fair referendum. The only reliable, credible, and just solution remains the exercise by the sole holder of sovereignty over its territory, the Sahrawi people, of their right to self-determination. Any other attempted solutions outside this framework are completely irrelevant.
L’H: Could these diplomatic recognitions of the Moroccan plan permanently weaken the Polisario Front’s resistance or have a significant impact on the future of the Sahrawi cause?
M.L: Sahrawi resistance is founded on historical, legal, and moral legitimacy. It does not depend on diplomatic fluctuations or shifting political interests and circumstances. Certainly, these recognitions may complicate the international balance of power, but they do not change the will of the Sahrawi people, which remains unshakable, nor the nature of the conflict, which remains a decolonization conflict. The Polisario Front is the political and military expression of this will. Each time the law is violated, our determination grows stronger.
History teaches us that peoples in struggle always end up winning when they are on the side of justice. Morocco cannot be more powerful than France or the United Kingdom at the height of their colonial empires, and yet these powers eventually abandoned their colonies, despite all their efforts to maintain control. Colonization is a historical anomaly and a crime against humanity. It cannot be justified by any political, economic, or strategic argument. It must be rejected and fought by all peoples who love justice, freedom, and dignity.
L’H: Western Sahara is rich in natural resources (phosphates, fisheries, solar energy…). To what extent does this economic plunder contribute to perpetuating the conflict?
M.L: The plundering of Sahrawi resources is both a consequence and a driver of the occupation. It finances the entrenchment of Morocco’s presence and helps buy diplomatic alliances. It also deprives our people of their fundamental economic rights. By exploiting our wealth without our consent, Morocco violates international law, particularly the principle of the permanent sovereignty of peoples over their natural resources. As long as this plunder continues, the conflict will be fueled, because it creates an intolerable situation of structural injustice.
In fact, just this very afternoon, the Sahrawi Natural Resources Observatory published a particularly detailed and rigorous report on this question. I strongly invite you, and your readers, to consult it to better grasp the scale of the economic plunder to which the Sahrawi people are subjected. (The Sahrawi Observatory for Natural Resources and Enviromental Protection (SONREP) annual report 2025 under the title: “Sustainability for Whom? Renewable Energy and Environmental Justice under Occupation,”
L’H: Europe often shows ambiguity in its position: on the one hand, it speaks of respecting international law; on the other, it signs economic agreements with Morocco that illegally include Western Sahara. Is this European duplicity a form of complicity?
M.L: This duplicity, unfortunately, can be likened to a form of passive, or even active, complicity. European institutions are perfectly aware that agreements with Morocco must not apply to Western Sahara, as confirmed by several rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union. Yet, some member states push to bypass these decisions, in the name of “realpolitik.” This posture weakens Europe’s credibility on human rights and undermines respect for international law. It is time for principles to prevail over interests.
But this is neither surprising nor new. On many international issues, several European countries have shown deep contempt for international legality, or even for their own legal commitments. Their positions, whether collective or individual, with the exception of a few states, regarding the ongoing genocide in Palestine, sadly illustrate this drift. It is no longer even necessary to comment, since their silence or complicity speaks for itself. Europe, and the West in general, have failed spectacularly this fundamental test of humanity and respect for the law.
This double standard fuels a profound sense of injustice in the Global South and undermines the moral credibility of the West on the international stage. Because what oppressed peoples, whether Sahrawi or Palestinian, demand is not special treatment, but simply the fair application of international law. That very law which some invoke selectively, depending on their strategic or economic interests.
L’H: What use is international law when clear and repeated rulings of the International Court of Justice and the Court of Justice of the European Union in favor of the Sahrawi people are ignored or circumvented?
M.L: Be careful: we must not fall into the trap of opposing international law, criticizing it, or despising it, that is precisely what some want. International law is not a luxury or an ornament. It is the backbone of world peace, and the minimal set of rules that allow for a more-or-less just coexistence. When it is ignored, the world falls into arbitrariness and the law of the jungle. That is precisely what some international powers and regimes indifferent to justice, such as the Makhzen or the Zionist entity, desire.
Yes, it is true that the decisions of the ICJ and the CJEU in favor of the Sahrawi people are legally binding, but their implementation depends on the political will of each country. That is why we, with our allies and friends, must intensify our efforts to mobilize public opinion, civil society, and independent institutions in these countries, in order to confront them with their own contradictions. The law is on our side. So is history. All that remains is to make justice prevail.
Related blogs
