Midrand (South Africa), Oct 6, 2011 (SPS) - The Pan-African Parliament debated and adopted on Thursday two fact-finding mission reports on the situation in Cote d’Ivoire and Western Sahara.
Presenting the report on Western Sahara, MP Hon. Juliana Kantengwa from Rwanda said that they have observed that Moroccan human rights abuses and violations in the occupied territories of Western Sahara were reported to be continuing unabated,” adding “there was a complete media blackout imposed on the Saharawi people.”
She cited that Western Sahara is currently recognized by over seventy countries and is a member of the African Union, stressing that the rights of the Saharawi people to a referendum which determines their future “should not be subjected to negotiation.”
The report recommended that the Pan-African Parliament should strengthen advocacy on the plight of the people of Western Sahara, by ensuring that the issue takes prominence on the agenda of all African Union summits, and to urge the AU through its peace and security council to call upon its Members States to impose sanctions or other appropriate leverage to force the Moroccan regime to abide by the UN mandates.
It therefore asked the Parliament to speak out in condemnation of the ongoing human rights violations and abuses by Moroccan against the Saharawi people in the occupied part of Western Sahara. (SPS)
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