ALGIERS, December 16, 2013 (SPS) —The President of the Republic, Secretary General of the Polisario Front, Mohamed Abdelaziz, asserted Saturday in Algiers that the resistance of Sahrawi to occupation and oppression is a legitimate right and a sacred duty recognized by the United Nations, before the Fourth Algiers International Conference “Peoples’ Right to Resistance: the Case of the Sahrawi People”.
The full Speech of Mr Mohamed Abdelaziz, President of the Sahrawi Republic (SADR) and Secretary-General of the Frente POLISARIO before the Fourth Algiers International Conference “Peoples’ Right to Resistance: the Case of the Sahrawi People” Algiers, 14-15 December 2013:
“Ladies and Gentlemen,
At first, I would like to thank you very much for coming to this fourth edition of Algiers International Conference: “Peoples’ Right to Resistance: the case of the Sahrawi People”. On your behalf, I would like to thank the Algerian National Committee of Solidarity with the Sahrawi people, headed by Mr Haj -Amari Mehrez.
I would also like to thank very much all brothers and friends and all professors and researchers who have come from all continents of the world motivated by the sense of solidarity with and support for the just cause and the resistance of an oppressed people.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Peoples’ resistance to colonialism, occupation and oppression is and will always remain a legitimate right and sacred duty. The United Nations has recognised the right of the Sahrawi people to defend themselves and to resist the occupiers, including the use of armed struggle, in order to attain self-determination and independence.
The heroic struggle waged by the Sahrawi people, under the leadership of the Frente POLISARIO, for over more 40 years has made it very clear that the will of the people cannot be defeated. That is because it is a popular choice that stems from the conviction of the Sahrawis that are attached very strongly to the establishment of an independent state, the Sahrawi Republic, over its entire national territory.
The Sahrawi people have had a great experience in building the foundations of an independent state in the midst of a fierce war of liberation. They have built a modern and open society that is attached to its rights and to the ideals of democracy and respect for freedoms, equality and coexistence between cultures, a society that empowers women and the youth.
The practices of oppression and torture pursued by the Moroccan State of occupation will never succeed in crushing the Sahrawi resistance. Moroccan colonial policies will always be met with categorical rejection of the occupation and the willingness to make more sacrifices for the Sahrawi just and sacred cause.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The human rights violations committed by the Moroccan State since its military invasion of Western Sahara on 31 October 1975 are well-known. They are documented and attested to not only by the suffering of the Sahrawis but also by hundreds of reports of human rights organisations and governmental and international institutions.
Many testimonies will be presented before the Conference including cases from the occupied territories. In addition, the terrible mass graves discovered recently of Sahrawis who were assassinated at the hands of Moroccan forces not only reveal the genocidal practises of the occupying State but also confirms that its previous claims about these cases were fraught with lies and inaccuracies.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
These violations represent an irrefutable truth that is experienced on a daily basis in the occupied territories of Western Sahara and southern Morocco. Even European citizens, including members of the European Parliament, have been victims of these practices.
This question makes us wonder and deplore the approval by this institution of the fishing agreement with the Moroccan State of military and illegal occupation, which regrettably makes it an accomplice in the robbery of the resources of an occupied people whose territory is awaiting decolonisation.
We call on the European parliamentarians, representatives of the European peoples, to reconsider such an unjust decision, which violates international law and strikes at the very core of the ideals, principles and values on which the European Union is founded.
It is also an opportunity to remind the Spanish state that it is still legally responsible for enabling the Sahrawi people to exercise their right to self-determination. We call on Spain to play a constructive role consistent with that responsibility to find a democratic and just solution to conflict. This role is clearly incompatible with its encouragement of such an agreement, which contributes to the prolongation of the conflict, to the suffering of the Sahrawi people and to thwarting regional stability and development.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Stability and peace in the region is exposed to a real threat because of the colonial and expansionist policies of the Moroccan State, which does not recognise international borders and attacks its neighbours and occupies their land and wreak havoc on them. The wall of the Moroccan military occupation today is a crime against humanity, which divides Western Sahara and its land and people by a huge destructive arsenal of millions of landmines, including the internationally banned anti-personnel mines.
The Moroccan State of occupation brings to trail Sahrawi civilians, including human rights activists, before military courts in the twenty-first century. In view of this, we demand an urgent international action, at all levels, in order to ensure the release of all Sahrawi political prisoners in Moroccan jails and the accounting for the disappeared.
The Moroccan State of occupation has reneged on all its commitments and agreements signed with the Sahrawi party under the auspices of the United Nations, which provide for a free and fair referendum on self-determination for the Sahrawi people. Morocco’s attempt to evade the UN-OAU settlement plan of 1991 is a thinly veiled manoeuvre aimed at overriding the will of the Sahrawi people to freedom and independence.
According to the United Nations, the Moroccan State of occupation occupies the first rank in the world in the production of cannabis. The massive influx of these drugs has become a serious threat to the peoples of the region, which threatens to corrupt their young people and destroy their future. Indeed, these Moroccan drugs contribute directly and actively to the formation and financing of the organised crime and terrorist groups in the region.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
A few days ago, we attended the funeral of one of the symbols of resistance in Africa and the world, the great freedom fighter Nelson Mandela. It is undoubtedly a sad moment, yet we cannot but express our sentiments of pride and confidence.
We are proud because we are with Mandela and with the people of South Africa in the same trench of resistance to colonialism and oppression.
We are proud because we are with Mandela and with the people of South Africa and all peoples struggling for freedom and dignity. The Great Algeria has always given its principled support for decolonisation and for the right of peoples to self-determination in keeping with the precepts of international legality.
This is quite natural for Algeria, the land of the revolution of one million and a half martyrs, the great country of the Algerian people that resisted colonialism, which oppressed them for 130 years. This is natural for the Mecca of free people that embraced, with a high sense of pride, freedom fighters from Africa and the whole world. It is Algeria that occupies today a well-deserved and leading position in the region and the world. It is Algeria that is respected for her role in the maintenance of peace and stability and her experience and excellence in the fight against extremism and terrorism. It is Algeria that is marching steadily, under the leadership of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, on the path towards the establishment of the rule of law, state institutions and development.
It is Algeria that is a great inspiration to peoples of the world and to us and an example of the triumph of peoples’ struggle for justice. We are confident, then, as we follow in the steps of the Algerian revolution and the struggle of Nelson Mandela and all peoples struggling for freedom and emancipation that victory is inevitable and irreversible. We are preparing these days to conclude the year 2013, the year of the fortieth anniversary of the founding of the Frente POLISARIO and the beginning of the armed struggle against colonialism in our land. We are confident that the Sahrawi legitimate resistance will not stop, but will continue and escalate and will eventually prevail.
There is no Alternative to Self-determination and the Independent Sahrawi State is the Solution.
Thank you very much” (SPS)
062