Geneva (Switzerland), 08 March 2023 (SPS) - Zimbabwe called on the international community to expedite the process of enabling the Sahrawi people to determine their own destiny.
In its speech before the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Zimbabwe called for speeding up to enable the Saharawi people to determine their own destiny, expressing its strong condemnation of the continued Moroccan military occupation of Western Sahara.
It also called on the international community to work to enable the Sahrawi people of their right to self-determination and independence.
Zimbabwe indicated that, despite twenty-seven months after the resumption of war in Western Sahara, the UNHCR office remains silent about the systematic violations of international law and international humanitarian law by the Moroccan occupation forces in Western Sahara.
Zimbabwe denounced the continued repression of Sahrawi civilians by the Moroccan military occupation, despite the international community's expression of deep concern about the increasing suffering of the Sahrawi people and the Sahrawi political prisoners arbitrarily imprisoned in the Moroccan prisons, in addition to Zimbabwe's full concern over the Moroccan occupation's use of drone weapons against Sahrawi civilians.
It also expressed its condemnation and full concern for the illegal opening of consulates in the occupied territories of Western Sahara by some countries, considering this as behavior that violates the legitimate right to self-determination of the Sahrawi people in line with international law and the Charter of the United Nations.
In her speech, Zimbabwe stood on the last visit of the High Commissioner to Western Sahara eight years ago, where it was recorded that the suffering of the Sahrawi people increased during this period as a result of the gross Moroccan violations of human rights, and the resumption of war in Western Sahara, requesting the High Commissioner to organize a fact-finding visit to the region in line with international resolutions and agreements and to submit a resolution to the 53rd session of the Council.
At the end, Zimbabwe renewed its full and complete adherence to support for the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination, and it also called for compliance with the fifth paragraph of General Assembly Resolution No. 77/207, especially with regard to the right of peoples to self-determination.
SPS 110/T