Geneva, 23 March 2024 (SPS) - The International Council for Supporting Fair Trials and Human Rights issued a call to the United Nations Human Rights Council on Friday, urging them to pressure the Moroccan occupation to implement recommendations issued by various UN human rights mechanisms related to violations in the occupied Sahrawi territories. These territories fall under the responsibility of the United Nations until decolonization is achieved and they are finally and permanently liberated.
In a statement during the fifth agenda item discussion of the Human Rights Council session, Sahrawi activist Al-Ghaliya Addjimi expressed the organization's "deep concern" regarding the Moroccan Kingdom's "clear" lack of respect for its legal obligations regarding its dealings with various human rights mechanisms. This includes special rapporteurs, their reports, and recommendations, as well as reports and recommendations of working groups, particularly the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which has issued 11 opinions.
The organization also pointed out that the "UN Committee Against Torture also faces (Moroccan) disregard, having issued recommendations in at least six cases, including cases of torture and ill-treatment suffered by Sahrawi human rights defenders held in Moroccan prisons for over a decade on fabricated charges and unjust sentences, some of which are life imprisonment."
The organization's statement added, "It is regrettable that the country presiding over the council blatantly violates all the fundamental rights of the Sahrawi people, including their inalienable right to self-determination and freedom, and ignores all decisions, recommendations, and concerns issued by various UN human rights mechanisms."
The organization renewed its call to the Human Rights Council to fulfill its duties "with credibility and in accordance with its mandate" regarding the situation in the occupied Sahrawi territories and the violations committed by the Moroccan occupation, and the extent to which the latter fulfills its obligations as a member of the council.