Polisario Front Rejects Any ‘Initiative’ Not Ensuring Sahrawi Self-Determination
On Thursday evening, the Polisario Front expressed its “total and categorical” rejection of any “proposal” or “initiative” that does not fully safeguard the inalienable and imprescriptible right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination and independence, nor respects the territorial integrity of Western Sahara.
This stance was articulated in a statement following a meeting of the Permanent Bureau of the National Secretariat of the Polisario Front, chaired by Brahim Ghali, President of the Sahrawi Republic and Secretary-General of the Polisario Front. The meeting addressed a briefing presented on Wednesday during a closed session at the Security Council by the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara.
During a meeting held on October 3, the Sahrawi representatives conveyed their firm and categorical rejection of any discussions regarding proposals or initiatives that lie outside the legal framework of the Western Sahara conflict, as emphasized by the Polisario Front. They reiterated that such proposals do not align with the mandate of MINURSO (the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara).
The Polisario Front recalled that following the military invasion of Western Sahara on October 31, 1975, Moroccan occupation divided the territory of Western Sahara with Mauritania on April 14, 1976, in clear violation of international law principles, the territory’s international status, and its designation as a region to be decolonized.
Additionally, the Polisario Front underscored the international status of Western Sahara as a territory requiring decolonization, which is supported by a robust legal framework established by the UN, the African Union (AU), and other international organizations. Notably, the most recent ruling on this matter was delivered by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) earlier in October.
