Castries (St. Lucia), 14 May 2022 (SPS) - The Permanent Representative of Algeria to the UN, Ambassador Nadir Larbaoui, as well as representatives of countries participating in the annual seminar of the UN Committee of 24 on decolonization issues, reiterated the urgent need to complete the decolonization process of Western Sahara.
On the second day of the annual seminar of the Committee of 24, held in the capital of St. Lucia, Castries, from 11 to 13 May, the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination was reaffirmed by the overwhelming majority of the participants of the three flagship regions of the fight against colonialism: Africa, Asia and Latin America who intervened during the session devoted to the issue of Western Sahara.
The representatives of the countries were unanimous in noting that decolonization "remains incomplete, stressing that this is a serious source of concern", as the United Nations enters the second year of the Fourth International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism.
Ambassador Larbaoui affirmed in his speech that Algeria, "as a nation whose founding fathers' struggle for freedom and emancipation has shaped its destiny and forged its conviction of principle and its commitment to defend relentlessly the right of all peoples to decide fully and freely their fate, has always been and will always remain committed to the noble mission of decolonization.
Mr. Larbaoui regretted the absence of any progress in the holding of a free referendum in Western Sahara, as stipulated in the United Nations resolution 1514 on decolonization, notwithstanding the fact that Western Sahara, is listed, since 1963 as a non-autonomous territory, a status reaffirmed in 1966, by resolution 2229 granting the inalienable right of the Saharawi people to self-determination and independence.
He recalled the "crucial role" of the African Union which has "continuously contributed to the peace efforts in Western Sahara, the latest example of which dates from March 2021, with the summit of Heads of State and Government of the Peace and Security Council devoted to the issue.
The Permanent Representative of Algeria highlighted "the deficit and inability of MINURSO to monitor the human rights situation in the occupied part of Western Sahara and remains the only UN mission without a component in its mandate dedicated to monitoring human rights.
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