Washington, 10 January 2022 (SPS) – The American expert in international law, Stephen Zunes, has called on US President Joe Biden to "immediately" reverse the unilateral decision of his predecessor, Donald Trump, to recognize Morocco's alleged "sovereignty" over Western Sahara, as the "credibility" of the United States and the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination are at stake.
"For the sake of the people of Western Sahara and the credibility of the United States (...), Biden must immediately annul the U.S. recognition of Morocco's conquest," said Stephen Zunes, author and professor of political science at the University of San Francisco. In a recent article in the American magazine "The Progressive", the international law expert recalled that President Joe Biden had stressed that "any use of force to change borders is strictly prohibited by international law". "Preventing a country from expanding its territory by force was a founding principle of the United Nations, and it is enshrined in its charter," Zunes reminded.
In the same article, the expert focused on the human rights situation in the occupied territories of Western Sahara. Based on reports from Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International and other human rights groups, the American professor drew attention to the widespread repression of peaceful activists for the independence of Western Sahara. He denounced the use by Moroccan occupation forces of "torture, beatings, detentions without trial and extrajudicial executions" against Sahrawis.
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