Rome (Italy), November 15 , 2013 (SPS) - The President of the Republic, Secretary General of the Polisario Front, Mohamed abdelaziz, called on the international community, in particular the United Nations and the great powers, to put an end to the suffering of the Saharawi people who is waiting for its independence since several decades, in his opening to the 38th EUCOCO International Conference of Support for the Sahrawi people, Friday afternoon in Rome, Italy.
The full text of the address by Mr Mohamed Abdelaziz, President of the Sahrawi Republic and Secretary-General of the Frente POLISARIO during the Opening of the 38th EUCOCO International Conference of Support for the Sahrawi people, Rome, 15 November 2013:
‘H.E. Nicola Zingaretti, President the Region of Lazio,
Dear Friend, Mr Pierre Galand,
Mr Luciano Ardesi,
Ladies and Gentlemen invited guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen, Members of the international movement of solidarity with the Sahrawi people,
Today we meet again in this annual forum of solidary with the struggle of the Sahrawi people. The thirty-eighth EUCOCO Conference takes place at a time when the Sahrawi people, together with all their friends and allies in the world, are commemorating the fortieth anniversary of the creation of their liberation movement, the Frente POLISARIO. Since its inception, the Sahrawi movement has been undertaking a modernising mission for building a modern society based on the values of freedom, democracy, gender equality, coexistence between religions and rejection of all forms of extremism, violence and terrorism and for the establishment of the Sahrawi Republic State on the basis of justice, human rights and the rule of law.
We are very grateful and thankful to the pioneers of the solidarity movement, including those who have already left us and those that are still carrying the torch of our victorious march, such as Ms Marisa Rodano to whom we pay a special tribute. Thanks to these great men and women, the solidarity movement has been increasingly growing. It has grown from a European coordinating gathering to an international forum of solidarity that brings together supporters of freedom and dignity in Western Sahara from all over the world.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Two weeks ago, an African conference held in Abuja, the capital of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, issued a very clear statement deploring the failure of the international community to decolonise the last colony in Africa. It also called for the imposition of economic sanctions on the Moroccan occupying State, similar to those that were imposed on the apartheid regime in South Africa, because it pursues the same appalling policies and practices.
The UN relevant resolutions and a series of compelling reports and testimonies about the violations of the precepts of international law and human rights committed by the Moroccan occupying State in the Sahrawi occupied territories do not leave room for hesitation in terms of taking the necessary decisions and steps to end a unique case of blatant colonialism and injustice.
The mass graves of Sahrawi victims of the Moroccan invasion, which have been discovered recently, belie all attempts of the Moroccan State to cover its heinous crimes against Sahrawi civilians. These crimes include mass killings, bombing by the internationally banned napalm and phosphorus, burying people alive, burning people or throwing them off helicopters, direct assassination or under torture, not to mention persecutions, kidnappings, forced disappearances and arbitrary detentions.
The Moroccan State that has been engaged in expansionism, occupation and annexation of the lands of others and violation of human rights and plunder of peoples’ natural resources is the same State that is behind the spread of cannabis.
There are horrifying figures published by high profile organisations such as the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and the International Narcotics Control Board and the US State Department, for instance, which talk about an area of between 47,500 and 72,000 hectares of the Moroccan land reserved for planting these types of drugs, and a production that mounts up to 38,000 tons per year.
They even indicate that t 72% of the total amount of cannabis that have been intercepted worldwide during 2011 originated from the Kingdom of Morocco. They also highlight the close relationship between the drug boom and the emergence of groups engaged in smuggling, organised crime and terrorism whose activities pose a great threat to the security and stability in the whole region.
From this rostrum, we would like to stress that the Sahrawi Government is committed, in the framework of its international obligations and the resolutions of the African Union, to confronting, in a firm and robust manner, all these risks and threats.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
With all these facts, we unfortunately can see today some quarters in Europe defending the signing of agreements with Morocco to plunder the natural resources of the Sahrawi people, thus encouraging the aggressor to persist in its colonial practices.
From the Italian capital, Rome, we would like to make it clear that it will not honour the peoples and countries of Europe that the EU signs a fishing agreement or otherwise that violates the law and ethics and infringes on the rights of a people whose land has been occupied by Moroccan military forces. It would also be a disgrace in the history of the EU whose constitutive principles emphasise the values of freedom, justice and respect for human and peoples’ rights.
Peoples and governments of Europe and the international community in general must contribute, in a responsible and serious manner, to putting an end to the injustice suffered by the Sahrawi people. They should also work to stop the looting of their natural resources and removing the wall of military occupation that divides the land and the people and wreaks havoc on human lives and the environment owing to the destructive arsenal that it contains, including millions of antipersonnel landmines.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
After forty years of struggle and resistance, sufferings and sacrifices, the Sahrawi cause has been straightforwardly established as a decolonisation issue to be settled through the respect for and exercise of the right to self-determination of the Sahrawi people who continue to suffer under the Moroccan military and illegal occupation since 31 October 1975.
It is time that the entire international community takes rigours action to ensure the achievement of the only peaceful and democratic solution to the conflict, through a free, fair and just referendum on self-determination for Sahrawi people.
The UN has the responsibility to ensure the speedy decolonisation of the last colony in Africa. It is also responsible for ensuring the protection of Sahrawi citizens from the Moroccan oppression and abuse. It is therefore urgent and imperative to take heed of the increasing international demands that MINURSO be mandated to protect, monitor and report on human rights in Western Sahara.
In this context, we call upon the UN to intervene immediately to ensure the release of Sahrawi political prisoners in Moroccan jails such as human rights activist Embarak Daoudi who has been unjustly detained by Moroccan authorities together with four of his sons. The occupying authorities have already threatened to bring him before a military court, just as it did with the Gdeim Izik’s group of civilians and human rights activists who were sentenced to unjust sentences ranging from life sentences to 20 years’ imprisonment on account of defending peacefully a scared international right, namely the right to self-determination.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Independence Uprising waged by the Sahrawi people today, in the context of their peaceful resistance, is another chapter in their historic struggle that will inevitably lead to their exercise of their inalienable right to self-determination and independence.
Dear Friends, defenders of justice, peace and the rule of law, rest assured that the Sahrawi people, whom you know as a peaceful, determined and persistent people, will never forget your solidarity and support, and will not give up or abandon the pursuit of their legitimate rights.
Human history and experiences of struggling peoples confirm that victory is inevitable, and that such a great gathering of solidarity will be held one day, which we hope to be very soon and with the participation of all of you, in a fully independent and sovereign Sahrawi Republic over its entire national territory.
Until we meet again, I wish you all every success.’ (SPS)
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