Algiers, 26 December 2022 (SPS) - The Sahrawi issue has experienced, during the year 2022, important diplomatic and legal successes on the international scene, as well as an unprecedented surge of solidarity with the Sahrawi people, despite Morocco's efforts to obscure and stifle the existing truth of a people struggling for its independence.
Two years after the resumption of war following Morocco's violation of the ceasefire agreed with the Polisario Front in 1991, in this non-self-governing territory, international bodies have consistently expressed their deep concern about the unstable situation in occupied Western Sahara, calling for respect for international legality and UN and African Union (AU) resolutions.
While the "distinct and separate" status of Western Sahara has been clearly defined by the various courts of justice, Morocco continues to violate the rights of the Sahrawi people and to impose a "blackout", preventing all foreign delegations from accessing the occupied territories to report the facts.
On the other hand, the re-establishment of relations with certain countries committed to respecting the right to self-determination, the rulings of the various courts of justice, and the participation of Sahrawi President Brahim Ghali in a number of international events, testify to the impetus given to the Sahrawi cause.
Thus, the diplomatic success of the Polisario Front began to take shape last February, when the Sahrawi president participated, alongside his African and European peers, in the work of the 6th European Union/African Union summit held in Brussels.
Mr. Ghali had just participated for the second time in such summits, after that of 2017 in Abidjan, given the status of the Saharawi Republic (SADR) as a founding member of the AU, enjoying all the rights and duties.
It should be recalled that his participation in the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD8), held in Tunis, had aroused the anger of the Makhzen who, devoid of common sense, created a ridiculous political crisis with Tunisia, demonstrating a scathing failure in achieving its 2017 AU membership objectives.Makhzen no longer counts blows
2022 was also the year of the appointment of the first Ambassador of Botswana and Angola to the Saharawi Republic since the establishment of relations between the countries concerned and the first historic visit of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Honduras, Torres Zelaya Gerardo, to the Saharawi refugee camps.
The African continent also stood out with South Sudan re-establishing diplomatic relations with the SADR, suspended in 2018, and Kenya reaffirming its support for the unquestionable and inalienable right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination through the organization of a free and fair referendum led by the UN and the AU.
in Latin America, Peru and Colombia announced the re-establishment of diplomatic relations with SADR, in accordance with the principles and objectives of the UN Charter.
On the legal front, the Moroccan occupier received a slap from the African Court of Human and Peoples' Rights with a ruling on September 22, in which it denounced the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara, calling on all AU member states to find a permanent solution to this occupation and ensure the enjoyment of the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination.
This is in addition to the decision of the French Council of State, issued at the initiative of the Confédération paysanne, to ban the import of agricultural products from the occupied Saharawi territory, on the grounds that Western Sahara does not belong to the Kingdom of Morocco, as ruled by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in 2016 and 2018, stressing that "presenting these products as originating in Morocco violates EU law and the rulings of the Court".Sahrawi cause also enjoys great support in international fora
At the UN, during the session of the Special Committee on Decolonization known as the "Committee of 24", several representatives of countries and international organizations reiterated their support for respect for the inalienable right of the Saharawi people to self-determination, denouncing the violence and human rights violations exercised by the Moroccan occupier in occupied Western Sahara.
In Sweden and Germany too, the issue of Western Sahara was discussed in the Scandinavian Parliament and the Sahrawi flag was raised by the authorities of the German city of Bremen on the mast of the regional parliament, as part of the commemoration of the 46th anniversary of the proclamation of the SADR.
A global youth coordination for solidarity with Western Sahara, representing the various youth organizations from around the world, was created to raise awareness of the Sahrawi cause worldwide and mobilize support for the Sahrawi people.
The last conference of the European Coordination for Support and Solidarity with the Sahrawi People (EUCOCO), held in December in Berlin, also reaffirmed support for the right to self-determination for the independence of Western Sahara.
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