Shahid El-Hafed (refugee camps), 26 February 2016 (SPS) - The celebration of the 40th anniversary of the proclamation of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) on Saturday comes in a context marked by a wide campaign of support to the Sahrawi people, who are peacefully struggling for their independence and their right to self-determination.
Proclaimed on 27 February 1976 by the Polisario Front in Bir Lehlou after the withdrawal of the last Spanish soldier from the Sahrawi territory, the SADR has achieved outstanding success on the international scene and has drawn many supporters to their just cause.
Indeed, many states have recognized it and expressed support for the protection and monitoring of human rights in the occupied Sahrawi territories as well as for the protection of Sahrawi natural resources illegally exploited by the Moroccan occupier.
Growing support to self-determination referendum
Many actions have been made around the world to urge the United Nations Security Council to hold a referendum on the self-determination of Sahrawi people.
To that end, a petition have been initiated by the Swiss Committee of support to Sahrawi People. In a call entitled "Western Sahara-Referendum Now," the petition's initiators call on the Security Council "to hold, before the end of 2017, a self-determination referendum among the Sahrawi people in accordance of the Peace Plan of 1991."
Sahrawi people should fully enjoy their right to decide their future, in accordance with the UN Charter.
Calls have been launched for the release of all Sahrawi political activists held in Moroccan prisons and the cessation of harassment and internment against them by the Moroccan occupation authorities, and shedding light on the fate of over 651 missing Sahrawis.
Many achievements have been made owing to the efforts of their legitimate representative Polisario Front, which is also striving to extend the prerogatives of the United Nations Mission for Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) to include a mechanism for the protection and monitoring of human rights in the occupied Sahrawi territories, to stop the plundering of the Sahrawi natural resources and to destroy the Moroccan "wall of shame," which represents a crime against humanity. (SPS)
062/090/700