Polisario Front affirms the Sahrawi people’s unwavering right to self-determination and independence
The representative of the Polisario Front to the United Nations and coordinator with the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), Sidi Mohamed Omar, emphasized that the “colonial proposal” promoted by the Moroccan occupying state and its supporters is nothing but a “farce” and a “maneuver” to legitimize the occupation.
In his address to the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization (Committee of 24) on Tuesday, Sidi Mohamed Omar stressed that the Sahrawi people remain committed to achieving a just and lasting peace, but will never renounce their right to self-determination and independence.
“Today, in honor of our martyrs and their sacrifices, the Sahrawi people say to you and to the whole world, loud and clear: we will never accept the policy of fait accompli, and we will continue our struggle and resistance by all legitimate means to achieve our non-negotiable national aspirations for freedom and independence,” he declared.
The Sahrawi diplomat recalled that the Special Committee on Decolonization sent a fact-finding mission to Western Sahara fifty years ago. In its report adopted on November 7, 1975, the visiting mission concluded, first, that there was overwhelming consensus among Sahrawis in the territory in favor of independence and opposition to any integration with Morocco or Mauritania.
The second and third conclusions, he added, stated that “the Polisario Front is the dominant political force in the territory and enjoys massive support from the population for its call for independence,” and that “the General Assembly should take steps to enable the people of the territory to freely determine their future in accordance with Resolution 1514 (XV) and other relevant General Assembly resolutions.” “These conclusions are as valid today as they were fifty years ago,” he said.
Sidi Mohamed Omar added: “The Sahrawi people have suffered under Morocco’s illegal occupation and brutal repression for nearly fifty years. Nevertheless, our people, led by their sole and legitimate representative, the Polisario Front, will never abandon their legitimate struggle for freedom and independence.”
He affirmed that “there is no alternative to the Sahrawi people’s exercise of their inalienable right to self-determination and independence in accordance with General Assembly Resolution 1514 (XV), through a free and fair referendum under the supervision of the United Nations.”
He also stressed that the “colonial proposal” pushed by the Moroccan occupying state and its defenders is merely a farce and a maneuver through which the occupier seeks to legitimize its illegal occupation of Western Sahara and deny its people their inalienable right to self-determination and independence.
Sidi Mohamed Omar called on countries genuinely committed to the fundamental principles of the UN Charter, international law, peace, and justice to demonstrate their commitments through actions, not just words. He warned that “leniency and inaction only serve to encourage the occupying state to continue its mistaken belief that it can impose the fait accompli by force in the occupied Western Sahara.”
