Chahid Al Hafed (refugee camps), April 11, 2014 (SPS) - As the first official response from the Frente Polisario, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Mohamed Salem Ould Salek has welcomed the report submitted by the UN Secretary-General on the situation concerning Western Sahara, highlighting that it has touched pivotal issues.
In a statement to SPS, Mr. Ould Salek said that the report highlighted very pivotal issues, of which;
First, the UN Secretary General reaffirmed once again that Western Sahara has been registered in the UN list of the Non-Self-Governing Territories since 1963, confirming that the efforts of the United Nations, through the work of the Personal Envoy, Special Representative and MINURSO, to organize the referendum in Western Sahara "will remain highly relevant until its final status is established."
Second, the UN chief Ban Ki-moon stressed the need to establish a “sustained, independent and impartial” human rights monitoring mechanism in Western Sahara, which is a clear response to the systematic and gross violations of human rights committed by Mororccan occupying state against the Saharawi people, and welcomed, in this respect, the Saharawi party’s initiative to establish the Saharawi Commission for Human Rights.
Third, the report expressed concern with regard to the issue of the exploitation of Western Sahara’s natural by Morocco, where he stated that the interests of the inhabitants of Western Sahara "are paramount", calling upon all relevant actors to respect the provisions of international law in this regard.
Fourth: Ban expressed recognition of the important played by the Organization of African Unity and its successor, the African Union, in the first phases of the search for a settlement despite Morocco’s fierce opposition, calling for further cooperation between the UN and UN for the decolonization of Western Sahara.
Fifth: the UN Secretary General asked the international community to assume responsibility towards the decolonization of Western Sahara, if no progress occurs before April 2015, a thing proves that UN’s patience has run out due to Morocco’s intransigence.
By reminding Morocco that Western Sahara is a matter of decolonization and affirming UN’s responsibilities in this regard, the report, once again, exposed all Morocco’s allegations and maneuvers.
Head of Saharawi diplomacy described as a "great victory" for the Intifada of Indepence and a "political intercation" by the international with the Saharawi martyrs, prisoners and victims of repression the report’s calling for a sustained, independent and impartial human rights monitoring mechanism in Western Sahara.
For the minister, only the conduct of the self-determination referendum, as soon as possible, would put an end to the conflict and save the region from the ravages of the devastating war and looming risks, in a way that ensures development, progress and stability of the peoples of the region.
"Enabling the MINURSO with the rask it was created for is a matter of urgency, because it has to do with the responsibility of the United Nations in one hand and with its credibility in the other hand," underlined Mr. Ould Salek, in his statement to SPS. (SPS)
090/089/TRA