Copenhagen, April 7, 2015 (SPS) - Afrika Kontakt, Danish MEP Rina Ronja Kari and other Danish organizations have stressed the urgent need to give the UN Mission for the Referendum (MINURSO) a mandate to monitor human rights situation and protect natural resources in Western Sahara, being illegally exploited by Morocco and some foreign companies.
In a letter addressed to the President of the UN Security Council Dina Kawar, the ONGs highlighted that the implementation of these two matters “is essential for a just, peaceful and viable solution to the Western Sahara conflict in accordance with relevant human rights treaties, the UN Charter and the Geneva Convention, as well as for the protection of the interests of the Saharawis until such a solution is found.”
The letter also urged the Security Council to uphold all relevant human rights treaties, the UN Charter and the Geneva Convention, in insuring that no UN member state takes part in the illegal plundering of the natural resources of non-self-governing territories such as Western Sahara.
The letter, in relevant context, pointed out that in occupied parts of Western Sahara itself, the UN and many human rights organizations have documented numerous instances of ongoing human rights violations such as torture, unfair trials and arbitrary court rulings, as well as discrimination and illegal plundering of the natural resources that legally belong to The Saharawis.
They added that the Saharawis living in the refugee camps have had to deal with “dwindling aid reserves” and “a subsequent lack” of food and other basic necessities.
The letter underlined, on other hand, that Danish Foreign Affairs Committee in May 2014 adopted a report on Western Sahara that, amongst other things, stated that Denmark “will continue to support the endeavours of the United Nations to ensure a referendum on the status of Western Sahara, that MINURSO must be allowed to monitor the human rights situation in Western Sahara, and that Danish governmental institutions and companies are recommended not to buy products from Western Sahara”. (SPS)
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