Berlin (Germany), November 29, 2023 (SPS) - The representative of the Polisario Front in Germany expressed its deep dissatisfaction and denunciation of the fallacies and biased descriptions mentioned a few days ago in an article by the German newspaper “Die Welt” correspondent for Middle East affairs, expressing its regret for the serious decline of ethics and professionalism into which the newspaper has fallen.
The Sahrawi diplomatic mission in Germany said, through a letter addressed to the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Mr. Stefan Aust, that the newspaper published an article, the second of its kind in less than ten months, attempting to undermine the legitimate struggle of the Sahrawi people for freedom and independence, which was republished minutes later by many media outlets and websites known for their blatant defense of the expansionist thesis of the Moroccan occupation in the Western Sahara.
“The Polisario Front deeply regrets that your newspaper did not respect the journalistic code of ethics and did not adhere to the press law. It also did not bother to contact the relevant authority in advance to verify the credibility of the information contained in the article. Instead, your newspaper presented a biased article that quickly turned into an episode from a frenzied campaign launched by the Moroccan occupation state through the use of false information as a policy to divert attention from the documented human rights violations it is committing against the Sahrawi people in the occupied territories of Western Sahara”, said the letter.
Refuting the biased and false description of the leader of the Sahrawi national struggle, the Polisario Front, the mission said in its letter, “The Polisario Front is represented in the United Nations and internationally recognized as the legitimate and exclusive political representation of the people of Western Sahara since the 1970s. It is also considered the only national liberation movement in the world that has signed the Geneva Convention and its Additional Protocol in 2015. It is the result of the long-term resistance of the Sahrawi people against various forms of foreign occupation, as stated by the Court of Justice of the European Union in the text of its ruling issued on September 29, 2021. The well-known Foreign Policy magazine had also previously classified the Polisario Front as one of "the most democratic liberation movements in history."
The Polisario Front representation in Berlin regretted that such articles only serve the obstructing party of the UN-led peace process in Western Sahara. It is the same party that continues its systematic violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in the occupied territories of Western Sahara, including enforced disappearances of Sahrawi human rights defenders, torture of prisoners of conscience, arbitrary detention, terrorism of civilians, and extrajudicial killings, as occurred for the Sahrawi political prisoner Hasanna El Wali, who was killed in the occupied city of Dakhla in September 2014. In addition to subjecting the entire occupied Western Sahara to a military siege and a complete media blackout, the Moroccan occupation continues to prevent international observers and the media from visiting the region. It also refuses to apply international humanitarian law to the region, despite being a signatory to the Geneva Conventions.
The Polisario Front’s representation in Germany, according to the letter signed by its deputy representative, Saleh Mohamed Sid Al-Bashir, reminded also of the “Morocco Gate” scandal, which is still under investigation by the Belgian judicial authorities and which revealed the Moroccan regime’s involvement in bribing members of the European Parliament. It is the same scandal that was followed by another, more stinking and disgusting scandal, namely the spying scandal carried out by Morocco at the European Union level using the “Pegasus” program - and the investigation into it is still ongoing by specialized committees affiliated with the European Parliament.
SPS