Bir Lehlou (Saharawi Republc) 18 April 2021 (SPS)- The President of the Sahrawi Republic and Secretary-General of Frente Polisario, Mr. Brahim Ghali, sent a letter Today to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Antonio Guterres, strongly condemning the recent atrocious and inhumane violations committed by the occupying state of Morocco against Sahrawi civilians and human rights activists in the occupied areas of Western Sahara.
He considered that “Frente POLISARIO, which has demonstrated by concrete actions its genuine commitment to a peaceful, just, and lasting solution to the decolonisation of Western Sahara, affirms once again that no peace process will ever be possible while the occupying state of Morocco persists, with complete impunity, in its atrocious and repressive actions against Sahrawi civilians and human rights activists. We hold the occupying state of Morocco fully responsible for the consequences of its criminal acts and its ongoing aggressive war on the Sahrawi people.”
Following is the full text of the letter of which SPS received a copy:
Letter of the President of the Sahrawi Republic and Secretary-General of the Frente POLISARIO, Mr Brahim Ghali, to the UN Secretary-General, Mr António Guterres
Bir Lehlou, 18 April 2022
Mr Secretary-General,
On the eve of the forthcoming consultations that the Security Council is planning to hold on MINURSO on 20 April 2022, I am writing to you with a sense of urgency and grave concern to express our strong condemnation of the atrocious and inhumane actions carried out recently by the occupying state of Morocco against Sahrawi civilians and activists in the Sahrawi Territories under Moroccan illegal occupation.
On early Saturday, 16 April 2022, the security forces of the occupying state of Morocco surrounded the houses of a group of Sahrawi activists in the Occupied City of Bojador and blocked all streets and alleys in the area. The Sahrawi activists, including Zainabu Babi, Fatima Mohamed Al-Hafiz, Hajitna Babi, Um-El-Muminin Abdallah Brahim, Mbarka Mohamed Al-Hafiz, Maluha Mohamed Al-Hafiz, Fatma Babi and Balla Mohamed Hafiz, were forcibly prevented from visiting and expressing their solidarity with the human rights activist Sultana Sid Brahim Jaya and her family whose house has been under tight siege since 19 November 2020.
On the same day, while taking a taxi, Sahrawi activist Zainabu Babi was stopped and forced out by Moroccan police and then taken to a police station where she was subjected to brutal and degrading treatment for several hours. No sooner had she left the police station in terrible condition than she was dragged through the street and brutally beaten by five masked agents of the Moroccan security forces using batons. She was seriously injured and bruised because of the severe beatings on various parts of her body and had to be taken to the hospital.
Sahrawi activists Fatima Mohamed Al-Hafiz, Hajitna Babi, Um-El-Muminin Abdallah Brahim, Maluha Mohamed Al-Hafiz, and Fatima Babi were also severely beaten and subjected to physical and verbal abuse by Moroccan security agents.
Early this week, Moroccan security agents used brutal force against a group of Sahrawi civilians who were protesting peacefully in the Occupied City of Smara to express their rejection of the continued Moroccan illegal occupation, the flagrant and degrading violations of human rights and the plunder of Sahrawi natural resources. Several protestors were severely beaten and had to be taken to the hospital as was the case of Abdel Muniem Hamadi Nassiri who was dragged through the street and bruised because of the severe beatings on various parts of his body.
The new attack on Sahrawi civilians and human rights activists is a heinous and cowardly act that should be vehemently condemned by the United Nations and by all the conscientious people and those who defend the values of justice, peace, and human dignity in the world.
We call upon you, Mr Secretary-General, to act urgently to end the terror and the retaliatory and racist actions carried out by the occupying state of Morocco against Sahrawi civilians and human rights activists, including Sultana Sid Brahim Jaya and her family. We also call upon you again to urgently ensure the immediate and unconditional release of Sahrawi political prisoners, including Gdeim Izik Group, who are being held in the prisons of the occupying state.
As we have stressed in previous communications, the occupying state of Morocco would not have continued to oppress and terrorise Sahrawi civilians and human rights activists in the Occupied Western Sahara and to violate the rules of international law and international humanitarian law, with complete impunity, had it not been for the complacency and unjustifiable silence exhibited by the United Nations and the international community regarding the situation in the Territory.
The Sahrawi people and many peace-and justice-loving peoples around the world enquire about how long the United Nations and the international community will remain bystanders to terrorisation, torture, rape, siege and trampling underfoot human rights and dignity in the Occupied Western Sahara, and what would it take to make them act in defence of the Sahrawi people and their human fundamental rights, including their inalienable right to self-determination and independence.
We call once again and urgently upon you, Mr Secretary-General, to operationalise the legal and moral responsibility of the United Nations towards our people, particularly Sahrawi civilians living in the Territories under the illegal Moroccan occupation. This entails deploying international protection mechanisms and taking practical measures to ensure their safety and security, including the establishment of an independent and permanent UN mechanism for the protection of human rights in the Occupied Western Sahara.
In concluding, the Frente POLISARIO, which has demonstrated by concrete actions its genuine commitment to a peaceful, just, and lasting solution to the decolonisation of Western Sahara, affirms once again that no peace process will ever be possible while the occupying state of Morocco persists, with complete impunity, in its atrocious and repressive actions against Sahrawi civilians and human rights activists. We hold the occupying state of Morocco fully responsible for the consequences of its criminal acts and its ongoing aggressive war on the Sahrawi people.
I would be grateful if you would bring this letter to the attention of the Members of the Security Council.
Please accept, Mr Secretary-General, the assurances of my highest consideration.
(signed)
Brahim Ghali
President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Secretary-General of the Frente POLISARIO
H.E. Mr António Guterres
United Nations Secretary-General
United Nations, New York
Copies to:
H.E. Mr Staffan de Mistura,
Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Western Sahara
H.E. Dame Barbara Woodward
Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations
President of the Security Council.” (SPS)
090/500/60 (SPS)