Geneva, 7 November 2023 (SPS) - Member organizations of the Geneva Support Group for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights in Western Sahara strongly denounced on Monday the support provided by Western countries to the illegal military occupation and annexation of the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara by Morocco.
In a statement released on the occasion of the 48th anniversary of the invasion of Western Sahara by Morocco, 313 NGOs belonging to the Geneva Support Group called on all United Nations member states to facilitate the decolonization process in Western Sahara.
The organizations also urged the United States to unequivocally revoke the recognition by former President Donald Trump in 2020 of the so-called "sovereignty" of Morocco over Western Sahara and to freeze all military programs with the kingdom of Morocco.
The Geneva Support Group further invited the European Union (EU) and its member states to "fully respect the letter and spirit of the EU Treaty and the principles of the Union's external action, implement the decisions rendered by the Court of Justice of the EU regarding the EU-Morocco agreements, and implement the EU's global human rights sanctions regime adopted in 2020 with regard to the illegal occupation of the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara by Morocco".
Furthermore, it urged Morocco to fully implement the agreements concluded with the Polisario Front and approved by the United Nations Security Council, which led to the establishment of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), and to create the conditions that would enable the UN mission to fulfill its primary mandate, namely the organization of a self-determination referendum for the Sahrawi people.
The NGOs stated that Western powers "that politically, financially, and militarily support the invasion and occupation of Western Sahara are complicit in the crimes committed by the Moroccan army" and contribute to the concealment of these crimes.
"Moreover, any political support given to Moroccan territorial claims is in contradiction with international judicial decisions and decisions of UN bodies, and violates the fundamental right to self-determination of the Sahrawi people and their permanent sovereignty over their natural resources," the statement added.