NEW YORK (UNITED NATIONS) 16 July 2021 (SPS)– Algeria’s principled position regarding the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination and independence is a source of great pride for Saharawis, Dr. Sidi Omar, member of the Frente POLISARIO National Secretariat and Representative at the United Nations said in a press release today.
He also held the occupying state of Morocco responsible for the deterioration of the situation in Western Sahara and the resumption of military confrontations.
The Frente POLISARIO Representative at the UN equally criticised Morocco for intensifying its violations against Saharawi civilians, particularly after it breached the ceasefire on 13 November 2020.
He also blamed Morocco for obstructing the UN Secretary-General’s efforts to appoint a Personal Envoy for Western Sahara following Rabat’s rejection of most of the candidates submitted by the UN Secretariat for the post.
The full text of the Press Release as received by SPS is as follows:
PRESS RELEASE
Algeria’s principled position is a source of great pride for the Sahrawi people and the Moroccan occupying state is the responsible for obstructing the peaceful solution
[New York, 16 July 2021] Several media outlets have recently reported that the ambassador of the occupying state of Morocco to the United Nations sent a memorandum to the current presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement following the NAM virtual ministerial meeting held on 13-14 July 2021 under the theme: “Non-Aligned Movement at the Centre of Multilateral Efforts in responding to Global Challenges”, in which he again shows his obsessive fixation on misrepresentation, falsification and brazenly airing prejudices against others.
In a new attempt to mislead international public opinion, the ambassador of the occupying state of Morocco again denies the “resumption of military conflict” in Western Sahara. However, the outbreak of war in the Territory is an undeniable fact. Since 13 November 2020, military confrontations between the Sahrawi People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and the Moroccan occupying forces continue because of the documented breach by the occupying state of the 1991 ceasefire and Military Agreement No. 1 of 1997-1998. This situation has triggered a new war that could have the most serious consequences for peace, security, and stability in the region as a whole.
In his report (A/75/740), dated 11 February 2021, the UN Secretary-General himself has recognised “the resumption of hostilities” in Western Sahara and the “several new threats related to armed conflict”, (para. 13), despite his reluctance to hold the occupying state of Morocco fully responsible for violating the ceasefire.
Members of the UN Security Council are also aware of what is happening on the ground in the Territory, including the United States, the penholder for MINURSO. On 9 June 2021, the Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State stated that his government was consulting privately with the two parties about how best to “halt the violence” and achieve a lasting settlement in Western Sahara. The Spokesperson for the Department of State also confirmed the same position on 1 July 2021.
In the same vein, the ambassador of the occupying state of Morocco goes on to describe the situation in the occupied Territories of the Sahrawi Republic (SADR) as “calm and stable”, allegedly based on “daily reports of MINURSO”. However, despite the attempt by the occupying state of Morocco to cover up the facts of the open war that it ignited in the Territory on 13 November 2020, well-documented reports and testimonies backed by photographic evidence demonstrate that the Moroccan occupying authorities have intensified their flagrant violations of international humanitarian law as part of a parallel retaliatory war of aggression against Sahrawi civilians and human rights defenders who are subjected daily to unspeakable atrocities and inhuman and degrading practices in the Sahrawi Occupied Territories.
As usual, the ambassador the occupying state of Morocco takes the opportunity to brazenly air his prejudices against sisterly Algeria on account of her strong support for the legitimate struggle of the Sahrawi people against the Moroccan occupation of parts of the Sahrawi Republic. The principled position of sisterly Algeria regarding the issue of Western Sahara is a source of great pride for the Sahrawi people and for all peace-loving peoples because it is guided by a long history of liberation struggle against colonialism and foreign domination.
Sisterly Algeria’s position is also in line with the principles of international legality and the resolutions of the Organisation of African Unity (the present-day African Union) and the United Nations, including, inter alia, General Assembly Resolution A/RES/2983 of 1972, in which the United Nations reaffirmed the legitimacy of the struggle of colonial peoples, and its solidarity with, and support for the Sahrawi people in the struggle they were waging in order to exercise their right to self-determination and independence, and requested all States to give them all necessary moral and material assistance in that struggle (OP 2).
The occupying regime of Morocco has nothing to be proud of except the support of a few politically like-minded authoritarian rulers and regimes that base their rule on occupation, dispossession, and apartheid. History keeps well-documented records of the kinds of “special services” that the Moroccan regime has provided and continues to provide, thus making it the haven for all criminals, outcasts, and dictators in Africa and beyond.
Regarding the United Nations peace process in Western Sahara, the ambassador of the occupying state of Morocco claims that the Frente POLISARIO is “responsible for the delay in appointing a new personal envoy of the Secretary-General” for Western Sahara. The undeniable fact however is that the occupying state of Morocco has rejected many candidates for the post of the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara, including the last candidate Staffan de Mistura. The occupying state of Morocco also persists in its attempts to influence the process through a set of preconditions that arbitrarily exclude citizens of a group of United Nations Member States including Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Switzerland and the five permanent members of the Security Council, among others.
As we have stressed on previous occasions, it is abundantly clear that the occupying state of Morocco has no political will to engage in any UN peace process to achieve a peaceful and lasting solution to the conflict, because its aim is simply to maintain the status quo while trying to have a “tailor-made” Personal Envoy that would serve its agenda, which is totally unacceptable to the Frente POLISARIO.
In conclusion, it is crystal clear that the Moroccan memorandum is merely a recycled set of baseless claims and a new episode of the policy of slandering to which the occupying state of Morocco has always resorted to hide its failures and its deeply ingrained inferiority complex and to continue to divert the attention of its domestic public opinion from the multifaceted structural crisis besetting the Moroccan ruling regime.
Dr Sidi M. Omar
Ambassador
Representative of the Frente POLISARIO at the United Nations.” (SPS)
090/500/60 (SPS)