Melbourne, Oct 6, 2011 (SPS) - The Australian lawyer , Tim Roberston, said on Wednesday that the pillage of Saharawi natural resources is a crime of plunder outlawed by Geneva conventions, highlighting the role of Australian companies in looting the natural resources of occupied Western Sahara.
Mr. Roberston was speaking during an event hosted by The Australian Institute of International Affairs in Melbourne on the issue of Western Sahara under the title: Western Sahara and its Phosphate Rock: is Australia in a Hard Place?
The Australian lawyer said the International Court of Justices was very clear regarding the fact that Morocco had no historical or sovereignty over Western Sahara and that its people were entitled to the right of self-determination.
He mentioned that Morocco is not considered as administrating power of Western Sahara but an occupier. He added that the doctrine of self-determination involves a free and voluntary act by the people of a former colony on who would be their sovereign.
“The case of Western Sahara is the most shameful for the international community because the Saharawi people are entitled to the inalienable right of self-determination. There are numerous resolutions by the UN supporting such a right and the third of the nations of the world have recognized the Saharawi republic as well as the African Union as a sovereign state” Mr. Robinson highlighted.
“Despite all of this Morocco was allowed to build to build the wall and plunder Saharawi natural resources. He said that Australia is one of largest purchasers of phosphate from Western Sahara”
He further added that Australian corporations are buying Saharawi phosphate from a seller (Morocco) which doesn’t have a title over the goods it’s selling, mentioning that there is a principle in law insists that no one can obtain title over goods from a seller who didn’t have it. Therefore whoever buys Western Sahara resources from Morocco will not have a legal title to them.
Mr. Robertson also stated that some Australian companies are violating Australian domestic law (the Customs Act) by not stating that the origin of the Phosphate is Western Sahara. He said that they are guilty of serious criminal offence by making a misstatement that the country of origin is Morocco while the fact is that the phosphate is from Western Sahara. (SPS)