Willington (New Zealand) 15 October 2019 (SPS)- New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (CTU) called on Tuesday on the United Nations to organise, without further delays, a self-determination referendum for the people of Western Sahara, considering it to be the only possible solution to this last case of decolonisation in Africa.
Representing over 320,000 New Zealand union members, from 27 affiliated unions, CTU, adopted a Motion Today during its Biennial Conference held on the 15th and 16th October in Michael Fower Center in Wellington, New Zealand, calling for the UN monitoring and protection of human rights in Western Sahara.
It further called on New Zealand companies to “halt imports of phosphates from the occupied areas of Western Sahara until the legal status of the Territory is determined and the Saharawi people are allowed to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination in accordance with relevant UN resolutions and Peace Plan of 1991.”
Here is the full text of the Motion adopted by the CTU Today during its
Motion
WESTERN SAHARA
New Zealand Council of Trade Unions:
A- notes that:
1. Moroccan has occupied Western Sahara since 1975,
2. The UN efforts to accomplish the decolonisation process in Western Sahara have not been accomplished yet,
3. Over 173,000 Saharawis have been living in refugee camps in South West of Algeria for the past 43 years in dire conditions, waiting to return to their homeland which is occupied by Morocco,
4. the only just, legal and lasting solution to the conflict in Western Sahara, is to end the Moroccan illegal occupation and allow the Sahara people to exercise their right to self-determination, in accordance with the UN resolutions and decolonisation doctrine,
5. that The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Parliament, Human rights Watch and Amnesty International have all called on the UN to extend the mandate of its mission in Western Sahara to monitor human rights,
6. the European Union Court of Justice and the High Court of South Africa have that Morocco has no right to exploit Western Sahara resources;
B- Strongly supports the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination and independence;
C- Calls on the UN to proceed without further delay with the organisation of the long overdue referendum of self-determination;
D- Condemns the gross violations of human rights in the occupied territories of Western Sahara and calls for the immediate release all Saharawi political detainees;
E- Urges the UN to expand the mandate of its mission in Western Sahara to include human rights monitoring;
F- Expresses concern about the exploitation of the natural resources of Western Sahara without the consent of the Saharawi people and their representatives
G- Urges the Government to:
1- (i) Support the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination and the holding of the long-delayed referendum in accordance with UN and AU Peace Plan.
2- Urge the UN to include human rights monitoring in the mandate of the UN mission in Western Sahara (MINURSO);
3- to ensure New Zealand companies halt imports of phosphates from the occupied areas of Western Sahara until the legal status of the Territory is determined and the Saharawi people are allowed to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination in accordance with relevant UN resolutions and Peace Plan of 1991.
090/500/60 (SPS)