Algiers, 17 April 2024 (SPS) - Participants at the 5th session of the Diplomatic Forum of Solidarity with the Sahrawi People have reaffirmed their unwavering support for the Sahrawi people's struggle to exercise their right to self-determination and independence. They called on the United Nations Security Council to urgently relaunch the peace process and put an end to the obstacles created by the Moroccan occupation to impede the resolution of the conflict and perpetuate it.
In a final statement concluding the forum's proceedings, held on Wednesday at the Embassy of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) in Algiers, the participants issued an "urgent" appeal to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Security Council to "immediately relaunch the peace process" in order to guarantee the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination. They emphasized the imperative to end the political blockade and the obstacles set by the Makhzen regime to perpetuate the conflict in the last colony in Africa and impose illusory solutions that contradict the nature and legal framework of the conflict.
The participants also reminded Spain that it "cannot continue to evade its international commitments as the administering power of Western Sahara," urging it to "fully embrace its historical, legal, political, and moral responsibilities to put an end to the colonization of Western Sahara, in order to avoid an escalation of tensions that could jeopardize the prospects of a political settlement of the conflict and exacerbate instability in the region."
The forum also called on all countries worldwide and both the public and private sectors to "refrain from financing projects in the occupied Sahrawi territories," as this would constitute "a flagrant violation of international law." They denounced the repressive practices and human rights violations by the Moroccan occupier against defenseless Sahrawi civilians in the occupied territories of Western Sahara.
The international community, the participants added, must take action for the immediate release of all Sahrawi political prisoners held in Moroccan jails, affirming the need to expand the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) to include the protection of human rights and the immediate cessation of the systematic plundering of Western Sahara's natural resources.
The forum participants expressed "their thanks and gratitude to Algeria, which generously opened its arms to the Sahrawi people, as well as for its consistent position in defending just causes and supporting oppressed peoples fighting for their freedom and independence, foremost among them the Sahrawi and Palestinian peoples."
The current President, Ambassador Peter Katana Angore of Kenya to the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), stated in his declaration that the 5th edition of the Forum was a "success," emphasizing that it reiterated "solidarity with the Sahrawi people until they can exercise their right to self-determination and independence."
"Today's meeting finalized the last details regarding the upcoming forum meetings, and it was agreed to hold the next session in its 6th edition at the Sahrawi refugee camps, from May 19th to 21st," announced the session's president.
Meanwhile, the Ambassador of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) in Algeria, Abdelkader Taleb Omar, stated that the forum "reaffirmed the broadening of international solidarity with the Sahrawi cause, which is gaining ground day by day at the African and European levels, and even in Latin America," thus reviving "the will of the Sahrawi Arab Republic to continue working to promote the bonds of solidarity and friendship with the countries of the forum."
The Sahrawi ambassador praised "the Algerian media for raising awareness about the Sahrawi cause," highlighting "the need for significant media action to mobilize the international community in support of the Sahrawi people in their just struggle for independence, in the face of Moroccan propaganda."