Caracas, Venezuela, 30 July 2019 (SPS) - The São Paulo Forum, in the Venezuelan capital, affirmed its steadfast support for the just struggle of the Saharawi people for independence, under the leadership of its legitimate representative, the Frente POLISARIO and the Sahrawi Government.
The Forum called upon the Security Council and the United Nations to guarantee the inalienable right of the Saharawi people to independence and to expedite the negotiation process between the parties to the conflict: Morocco and the Frente POLISARIO in order to reach a peaceful solution that guarantees the right of self-determination for Sahrawis.
Delegates who participated in the discussions of the São Paulo Forum, which was held from 25 to 28 July in Caracas, called on the international community to put an end to the Moroccan military occupation of the territory of the Sahrawi Republic and to enable the Sahrawi people to exercise their right to self-determination through a fair and free referendum organized by the United Nations and the African Union. "
The participants in the Forum called on the Security Council and the United Nations to "respect and guarantee the inalienable right of the Saharan people to self-determination and independence as required by the resolutions of the United Nations". They also called on the Council to "expeditiously encourage the negotiation process between Morocco and the Frente POLISARIO " with a view to reaching a peaceful solution that would guarantee the right of self-determination for Sahrawis.
In a statement adopted at the end of the four-day debate, the Forum strongly condemned "the killings, rape, torture, expulsion and attacks by Moroccan repressive agencies and other human rights violations of the Saharawi civilian population", calling for the "immediate and unconditional release" of prisoners War, detainees and Sahrawi prisoners of conscience in the Moroccan occupation prisons, and to provide clarifications on the fate of missing Sahrawis.
The Forum urged the UN Human Rights Council to "exert the necessary pressure" to put an end to the Moroccan violations of Saharawi human rights and called for the establishment of an independent mechanism within the framework of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) to monitor the precarious human right situation in the occupied parts of Western Sahara.
The delegates, representing 700 delegates of more than 400 political parties, movements, social organizations and academics from 70 countries, affirmed their absolute rejection of the illegal exploitation of the Sahrawi natural resources by the occupying power. He called on the governments and companies participating in this activity to stop the exploitation of the natural resources immediately.
In the same context, the São Paulo Forum condemned the fishing agreements signed between the EU and Morocco in violation of the opinion of the European Court of Justice on February 27, 2018, which affirms the "illegality of these agreements" as "Morocco has neither administrating nor sovereignty over Western Sahara, "and stressed that" any investment or financing of projects in this occupied territory represents funding for the Moroccan occupation. "
The Forum also strongly condemned the "wall of shame" - the longest active military wall in the world, with more than 5 million antipersonnel mines - created by the "Moroccan aggressor for the division of the Saharawi people and their land" condemning at the same time "expansionist methods of Morocco's expansionist regime with the complicity of France "and" the persistent obstacles Morocco has placed before the work of MINURSO and the special envoys of the Secretary-General of the United Nations. "
The São Paulo Forum called on all countries that have not yet recognized SADR to support their legitimate rights to sovereignty over their lands and resources.
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