New York (United Nations) 20 May 2023 (SPS)- Polisario Front’s Representation at the United Nations, recalled in a press release issued today that after 50 years of existence, Polisario Front is more determined than ever to continue the legitimate struggle for the decolonization of Western Sahara.
Following is the full text of the Press Release issued Today on the occasion:
The Representation of the Frente POLISARIO at the United Nations
PRESS RELEASE
[New York, 20 May 2023]: In the aftermath of the bloodshed and violence with which the Spanish colonial authorities confronted the Sahrawi peaceful demonstrations in June 1970, the UN General Assembly, in its resolution 2711 (XXV) of 14 December 1970, reaffirmed its recognition of the legitimacy of the struggle waged by the colonial peoples for self-determination and freedom and declared that the continued existence of a colonial situation in Western Sahara retarded stability and harmony in north-west Africa.
In its resolution 2983 (XXVII) of 14 December 1972, the UN General Assembly again reaffirmed the legitimacy of the struggle of colonial peoples and its solidarity with, and support for, the Sahrawi people in the struggle they were waging to exercise their right to self-determination and independence and requested all States to give them all necessary moral and material support in that struggle.
After decades of peaceful resistance, which was repeatedly supressed by the colonial authorities and in keeping with the recognition by the United Nations of the legitimacy of their struggle for self-determination and freedom, the Sahrawi people became fully cognizant of the need to advance their struggle within the framework of a national liberation movement that would embrace armed struggle as a means for liberation, and hence was the establishment of the Frente Popular para la Liberación de Saguía el-Hamra y de Río de Oro (Frente POLISARIO), the sole and legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people, on 10 May 1973.
Ten days later, the Frente POLISARIO declared the launching of the armed struggle against Spanish colonial presence in Western Sahara. Following the departure of the colonial power, the Sahrawi people were compelled to continue their armed struggle against the military illegal Moroccan occupation of the Territory on 31 October 1975, which was resumed on 13 November 2020 because of the breaching and torpedoing of the 1991 ceasefire by the occupying state of Morocco.
Today, the Sahrawi people mark the 50th anniversary of the launching of our legitimate armed struggle for independence and freedom as they take pride in half a century of resistance and steadfastness amid great achievements in different domains while renewing their unwavering determination to regain their freedom and independence whatever it takes. The Sahrawi people also commemorate this historic anniversary by paying tribute to the memory of those men and women who laid down their lives for the freedom of our people.
Today is also an occasion to reaffirm the commitment of the Frente POLISARIO to contributing constructively to the efforts deployed by the United Nations and the African Union to complete the decolonisation of Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa. In the meantime, the Sahrawi people, under the leadership of the Frente POLISARIO, are more determined than ever to defend, by all legitimate means, their inalienable, non-negotiable, and imprescriptible right to self-determination and independence and the establishment of the full sovereignty of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).” (SPS
090/500/60 (SPS)