Bir-Lehlu (Liberated Territory), 23 July 2017 (SPS) - President of the Republic, Secretary-General of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, considered the rulings against Sahrawi political prisoners of Gdeim Izik group as another proof of Morocco's intentions to continue to violate human rights in the occupied territories of Western Sahara With the presence of witnesses.
The President of the Republic, in a letter sent to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Antonio Guterres, on Sunday, confirmed that the sentences against the Saharawi political prisoners group were further evidence of Morocco's intention to pursue a policy of human rights violations without witnesses, which highlights the urgent need for a human rights mechanism in Western Sahara to monitor, protect and decide on the human rights situation in the territory.
“It has become clear that the Moroccan authorities do not respect international law and persist in their grave violations of human rights in Western Sahara, under the responsibility of the United Nations, in view of the decolonization of the territory and the exercise by its people of their inalienable right to self-determination and freedom,” said the President of the Republic.
“As we warned on previous occasions, the Moroccan authorities have never had the intention of enabling Saharawi political prisoners to have a fair trial because they were arrested mainly because of their political views and public defense of the Saharawi people's right to self-determination. However, the President adds, the recent judgments represent a serious development in Morocco's notorious record of human rights violations in occupied Western Sahara,” he added.
In his letter, the President of the Republic, underlined that the Moroccan courts have no jurisdictions over matters relating to Western Sahara established by international law, recognized as a non-self-governing territory. (SPS)
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