Sahrawi President Called on UN to Expedite Western Sahara Decolonization

Boumerdas, July 24, 2024 – President Ibrahim Ghali of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic called on the United Nations today to accelerate its efforts toward the decolonization of Western Sahara. Emphasizing the urgency, he pressed for the enforcement of the UN charter and relevant resolutions, and the swift facilitation of MINURSO’s mandate to organize a self-determination referendum.

During the closing session of the 12th Summer University for Polisario Front and Sahrawi state cadres in Boumerdas, President Ghali declared, “We reiterate our call on the United Nations to expedite its commitment to completing the decolonization of Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa, by enforcing its charter and resolutions, and protecting unarmed civilians under occupation.”

He urged the international body to “accelerate enabling the MINURSO mission to fulfill its mission by organizing a self-determination referendum for the Sahrawi people according to the 1991 UN-African settlement plan, which is the only agreement accepted and signed by both parties to the conflict—the Polisario Front and the Kingdom of Morocco—and unanimously endorsed by the UN Security Council.”

On a continental scale, President Ghali, who also serves as Secretary-General of the Polisario Front, called on the African Union to “strictly apply the principles and objectives of the Union’s Constitutive Act,” particularly respecting borders inherited at independence.

He appealed to the European Union to “refrain from signing any agreements with the Moroccan occupying state that would affect the land, air, or territorial waters of Western Sahara,” deeming such actions as flagrant violations of international law, humanitarian law, and European law, as well as a direct contribution to the killing, displacement, oppression, blockade, and plundering of the natural resources faced by the Sahrawi people.

Reaffirming Spain’s legal responsibility towards Western Sahara, Mr. Ghali stated that this responsibility “does not lapse with time nor with the Spanish Prime Minister’s support for the Moroccan expansionist thesis.” He also expressed hope for a more prudent French position consistent with international legitimacy in the Sahrawi-Moroccan dispute.

He addressed the sovereign decision of the Sahrawi people to resume armed struggle in response to Morocco’s breach of the ceasefire agreement, within a phase characterized by resisting by all means the conspiracies and maneuvers of the Moroccan occupying state aimed at bypassing international legitimacy decisions and reneging on its commitments and signed agreements, thereby seeking to legitimize an unlawful occupation of our country.

He also touched upon the “momentum of continuous victories and achievements” being made by the Sahrawi cause. This is evident through its persistent presence on the international stage, its strengthened position as a founding member of the African Union, and the affirmation of the reality that the “Sahrawi Republic is an irrevocable national, regional, and international fact, serving as a balance and stabilizing factor in the region and the world.”

He explained that these developments “send a strong message from the Sahrawi people, led by their sole legitimate representative, the Polisario Front, that no approach or maneuver aimed at undermining their sacred right to self-determination and independence will be accepted, neither today nor tomorrow. They are firmly committed to defending this right by all legitimate means, foremost among them armed struggle.”

The Sahrawi president warned in his speech that “the greatest imminent danger threatening the peoples and countries of the region comes from the Moroccan occupying state,” which practices “policies of aggression and occupation of neighboring lands within a context of expansionism that does not recognize international borders. Additionally, there is a systematic and increasing flooding of the region with drugs from the Kingdom of Morocco, along with its support and encouragement of organized crime gangs and terrorist groups wreaking havoc in the neighborhood.”

He emphasized that “the Moroccan Makhzen regime today poses a real and imminent threat as it has thrown open the doors to the destructive agendas of the Zionist entity in our region, fully embracing it, facilitating the implementation of its plans, forming military and security alliances with it, and openly engaging in its aggressive policies and crimes against humanity towards the brotherly Palestinian people.”

The Sahrawi president expressed satisfaction with the International Court of Justice’s decision calling for an end to the Zionist occupation of Palestinian territories, stressing that “what applies to Palestine necessarily applies, by law and by history, to Western Sahara,” as both are “countries under occupation and peoples deprived of their right to self-determination and independence.”

Furthermore, the Sahrawi president condemned the crimes against humanity and genocide perpetrated by the Zionist occupation against Palestinians, reiterating his country’s steadfast support for the Palestinian people’s right to establish their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.