Gaborone, 26 September 2022 (SPS) - The ambassador of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) to Botswana, Malainin Lakhal, has indicated that the ruling by the African Court of Human and Peoples' Rights on the need to find a permanent solution to the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara, was a proof of the failure of the Moroccan policy of buying consciences to legitimize this occupation.
In a statement to APS, the Sahrawi diplomat affirmed that the ruling issued last Thursday by the African Court "is historic in every respect," saying that "whatever the nature of the case raised, the Court has set out, for the first time in the history of African justice, to put things straight, insisting on the essence of the facts of the conflict, that is the Kingdom of Morocco is only an occupying power, the Sahrawi people must exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and independence, and all states have the responsibility and obligation to act for the implementation of this right.
The African Court, he added, drew the attention of "all states to the fact that they have a direct responsibility to support the SADR to complete the process of decolonization, and that they must refrain from doing anything that could impede it," saying that "this is a very strong position of the African Court, consistent with international law.
For the Sahrawi diplomat, the ruling of the African Court has aborted the propaganda practiced for decades by the Moroccan occupier, recalling that the Makhzen's diplomacy has been working for over 20 years to promote the fact that "the principle of self-determination is obsolete, and that the logic of things is now what it calls 'Political Realism' which means, according to the Makhzen, expansion at the expense of neighbors and the violation of international law to serve the interests of some to the detriment of the Sahrawi people".
"All the funds and bribes squandered by the occupation regime in the purchase of consciences, positions of certain states and personalities, have fallen into the water, after the African Court affirmed that the right to self-determination is a binding rule in international law, and it is not for anyone to violate it and contribute to its violation," he added.
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