Lisbon, 11 July 2022 (SPS) - No less than 677 personalities and organizations sent an open letter to the Portuguese government to address Western Sahara issue, inviting it to defend "clearly" and "explicitly" the right of Sahrawi people to self-determination, in accordance with international law, in order to contribute to a "lasting" solution to the conflict.
In the letter sent to Prime Minister Antonio Luis Santos da Costa, and his Minister of Foreign Affairs, the signatories (677: 651 personalities and 26 civil society organizations), invite the Portuguese Government to "keep the Western Sahara issue on its agenda," in accordance with international law, the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic and the support previously given to the Timorese people, and to defend "clearly" and "explicitly" the right of Sahrawi people to self-determination.
The letter also calls for "the support and involvement (of the government) by all means to stop human rights violations in Western Sahara by supporting, in particular, the setting up of a monitoring mission as part of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO)."
The letter highlights the importance of "the rigorous application of the decisions of the European Union court (EU) on trade agreements signed between the EU and Morocco, and the non-involvement of Portugal in projects in the non-autonomous territory of Western Sahara."
062/SPS/APS