Bir Lehlou (Sahrawi Republic), October 27, 2022 (SPS)- The Polisario Front issued a communiqué after the Security Council adopted, today resolution 2654 (2022) whereby it decided to extend the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) until 31 October 2023.
In its resolution, the Security Council recalls and reaffirms all its previous resolutions on Western Sahara and reaffirms its commitment to assist the two parties, the Frente POLISARIO and Morocco, to achieve a just and lasting solution that will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara while recognising the important role played by MINURSO on the ground and the need for it to fully implement its mandate. Nevertheless, the Security Council has failed once more to empower MINURSO with practical measures to ensure the full implementation of its mandate as established in Security Council Resolution 690 (1991).
The Polisario Front affirmed in its communiqué that “the continued inaction of the Security Council in the face of the aggressive and persistent attempts by the occupying state of Morocco to obstruct and undermine the mandate of MINURSO and to forcibly impose a fait accompli in the Sahrawi Occupied Territories leaves the Sahrawi people with no other option but to continue and intensify their legitimate armed struggle to defend their inalienable and non-negotiable right to self-determination and independence”.
The communiqué concluded saying “while reiterating its commitment to contributing constructively to a peaceful, just, and lasting solution to the decolonization of Western Sahara in accordance with the principles of international legality and relevant resolutions of the United Nations and the African Union, the Frente POLISARIO reaffirms strongly that the Sahrawi people will continue to use all legitimate means, including armed struggle, to defend their inalienable and non-negotiable right to self-determination and independence and to restore sovereignty over the entire Territory of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).
The full text of the Communiqué:
"Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro (POLISARIO)
Communiqué
[Bir Lehlou, Sahrawi Republic - 27 October 2022] On 27 October 2022, the Security Council adopted resolution 2654 (2022) whereby it decided to extend the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) until 31 October 2023.
In its resolution, the Security Council recalls and reaffirms all its previous resolutions on Western Sahara and reaffirms its commitment to assist the two parties, the Frente POLISARIO and Morocco, to achieve a just and lasting solution that will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara while recognising the important role played by MINURSO on the ground and the need for it to fully implement its mandate. Nevertheless, the Security Council has failed once more to empower MINURSO with practical measures to ensure the full implementation of its mandate as established in Security Council Resolution 690 (1991).
The continued inaction of the Security Council in the face of the aggressive and persistent attempts by the occupying state of Morocco to obstruct and undermine the mandate of MINURSO and to forcibly impose a fait accompli in the Sahrawi Occupied Territories leaves the Sahrawi people with no other option but to continue and intensify their legitimate armed struggle to defend their inalienable and non-negotiable right to self-determination and independence.
In this regard, the Frente POLISARIO categorically rejects again the inaction of the Security Council, particularly some of its influential members, and its deplorable silence and unjustifiable reluctance to hold the occupying state of Morocco accountable for its continued illegal occupation of parts of our country, for breaching and torpedoing the 1991 ceasefire and related military agreements on 13 November 2020 and for its continuing aggression on the Sahrawi Liberated Territories.
Instead of adopting a balanced, unequivocal, and consistent approach to deal with the peace process and the realities on the ground, the Security Council has opted for destructive ambiguity that deepens the prevailing impasse in a way that will only lead to impairing the mission of the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Western Sahara, aggravating the operational environment of MINURSO, and exacerbating the already tense situation on the ground.
The Frente POLISARIO reaffirms that the United Nations-the Organisation of the African Unity Settlement Plan remains the only mutual agreement accepted by the two parties, the Frente POLISARIO and Morocco, and approved unanimously by the Security Council in its resolution 658 (1990) and resolution 690 (1991) whereby the Council established, under its authority, MINURSO to hold a free and fair referendum without military or administrative constraints to enable the people of Western Sahara to exercise their inalienable right to self- determination and independence.
In this context, the Frente POLISARIO recalls its decision of 30 October 2019 to reconsider its engagement in the peace process as a whole, and strongly and unequivocally reaffirms that it will not participate in any peace process based on any approach that deviates, in both form and substance, from the United Nations-the Organisation of the African Unity Settlement Plan, which is the raison d’être of MINURSO and the basis of its mandate, or seeks to override the UN recognised legal nature of the question of Western Sahara as a decolonisation case.
The Frente POLISARIO further underlines that no one should therefore have any illusions that a genuine, credible, and viable peace process could start and advance in Western Sahara without ending the impunity with which the occupying state of Morocco has been allowed to undermine the United Nations-the Organisation of the African Unity Settlement Plan, obstruct the self-determination referendum, and eventually breach and torpedo the 1991 ceasefire and plunge the region into yet another spiral of violence and instability.
While reiterating its commitment to contributing constructively to a peaceful, just, and lasting solution to the decolonisation of Western Sahara in accordance with the principles of international legality and relevant resolutions of the United Nations and the African Union, the Frente POLISARIO reaffirms strongly that the Sahrawi people will continue to use all legitimate means, including armed struggle, to defend their inalienable and non-negotiable right to self-determination and independence and to restore sovereignty over the entire Territory of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR)”.
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