New York, Sept 18, 2011 (SPS) - The UN Independent Expert in the field of cultural rights, Ms. Farida Shaheed, has called on the Moroccan government to respect the cultural rights of the Saharawi people, condemning the restrictive measures have been taken against the promotion of the cultural heritage of the Sahrawis.
The UN expert had visited Morocco and Western Sahara in the period from September 5 to 6, 2011 to evaluate the efforts made by the Moroccan authorities in the path of promoting and protecting the cultural rights.
“I led a visit to Western Sahara where I stepped at a number of festivities that work on promoting the cultural heritage in the Territory,” said Ms. Shaheed.
She expressed regret for preventing Saharawi singers to participate in these festivals due to the content of their songs, stressing that the procedures which preventing or limiting the cultural rights of Western Sahara population “must be thrown out immediately by the Moroccan government.”
The expert stressed the need to respect the cultural rights by everybody and respecting human rights through the legal frameworks.” (SPS)
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