Brussels, April 15, 2014 (SPS) - In anticipation of the United Nations Security Council meeting on Western Sahara on 17th April, 115 organizations, of which Saharawi organizations and international ONGs, from 21 countries around the world have issued a joint letter calling on the UN Security Council to agree an expansion of the current MINURSO mandate to include the monitoring and protection of the human rights in Western Sahara.
The letter, a copy of which obtained by SPS, recalled to the frequent reports of Moroccan human rights abuses in occupied Western Sahara, including physical violence, torture, forced disappearances and political prisoners.
The ONGs indicated that the only way to accurately establish the actual human rights situation is through “independent investigation and reporting by MINURSO,” adding that this is a fundamental part of the process for achieving a lasting solution to a continuing crisis.
They also urged the Security Council and UN member states to redouble their efforts to fulfill the Sahrawi right to self-determination, including the option of independence, which was agreed upon in resolution 690 (1991).
It, on other hand, pointed out that the continuing exploitation of Western Sahara’s natural resources by Morocco and its international partners, without reference to the Sahrawi people, also falls under the category of human rights violations.
Established in 1991, the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) was tasked with organizing a referendum on self-determination for the Sahrawi people and maintaining a ceasefire agreement between Morocco and the Polisario Front.
Below is a full list of organizations who are co-signatories to the letter:
- Adala UK, United Kingdom
- Afrika Kontakt, Denmark
- Agir Contre le Colonialisme Aujourd’hui (ACCA), France
- Amis du Monde Diplomatique – Belgique, Belgium
- Amis du Peuple du Sahara Occidental (APSO), France
- ASISAHARAUI-PERÚ, Peru
- Asocación de Amigos del Pueblo Saharaui (AAPSIB), Spain
- Asociación Soriana de Amigos del Pueblo Saharaui , Spain
- Asociación Venezolana de Solidaridad con el Sáhara (ASOVESSA), Venezuala
- Assistance Advocacy Access Serbia, Serbia
- Associação de Amizade Portugal-Sahara Ocidental, Portugal
- Associació d’Amics del Poble Sahrauí de les Illes Balears, Spain
- Bachri Bentaleb, Associación Saharaui para Proteger y Divulgar y el Patrimmonio Saharaui ( ASPDCPS), Western Sahara (occupied territories)
- Association de la Communauté Sahraouie en France (ACSF), France
- Association de solidarité avec le Peuple Sahraoui de Lorraine (ASPS), France
- Association des Amis de la République Arabe Sahraouie Démocratique (AARASD), France
- Association des Anciens Appelés d’Algérie et de leurs Amis Contre la Guerre (4ACG), France
- Association des Familles des Prisonniers et Disparus Sahraouis (AFAPREDESA), Western Sahara (refugee camps)
- Association des Sahraouis en France (ASF), France
- Association Française d’Amitié et de Solidarité avec le Peuples d’Afrique (AFASPA), France
- Association Havraise Solidarité et Echange avec Tous les Immigrés (AHSETI), France
- Association Ibsar des Handicappés au Sahara Occidental, Western Sahara (occupied territories)
- Association of Artists and creators Sahrawis, Western Sahara (occupied territories)
- Association Sahraouie des Victimes des Mines (ASVIM), Western Sahara (refugee camps)
- Association Vierzonnaise de Solidarité avec le Peuple Sahraoui (AVSPS), France
- Associazione di Solidarieta’ con il Poplo Saharawi “Al Awda” , Italy
- Association Sahraouie des Victimes des Violations Graves des Droits de l’Homme Commises par l’Etat du Maroc (ASVDH), Western Sahara (occupied territories)
- Australia Western Sahara Association, Australia
- Australian Unions for Western Sahara, Australia
- Belgian Parliamentary Intergroup, Paix pour le Peuple Sahraoui, Belgium
- Blain Accueil Enfants Sahraouis (BAES), France
- Capsolidaire, France
- Collectif des Défenseurs Sahraouis des Droits de l’Homme (CODESA), Western Sahara (occupied territories)
- Collectif Midi-Pyrénées de Soutien au Peuple Sahraoui (COMIPSO), France
- Comitato “Selma”, Italy
- Comité Belge pour le Soutien au Peuple Sahraouis, Belgium
- Comité de Jumelage de Gonfreville l’Orcher, France
- Comité de Soutien au Plan de Résolution Onusien et pour la Protection des Ressources Naturelles au Sahara Occidental, Western Sahara (occupied territories)
- Comité Limousin de Solidarité avec le Peuple Sahraoui (CLSPS), France
- Comité National Algérien de Solidarité avec le Peuple Sahraoui (CNASPS), Algeria
- Comité pour la Défense du Droit à l’Autodétermination pour le Peuple du Sahara Occidental (CODAPSO), Western Sahara (occupied territories)
- Comité pour le Respect des Libertés et des Droits Humains au Sahara Occidental (CORELSO), France
- Commission Nationale Sahraouie des Droits de l’Homme, Western Sahara (refugee camps)
- Coordination of the Families of Saharawi Political Prisoners in Dakhla, Western Sahara (occupied territories)
- Danish United Nations Association, Denmark
- Dialogue des Peuples, Belgium
- Droit Solidarité, France
- Enfants Réfugiés du Monde, Pays de Loire (ERMPL), France
- European Coordination of Support for the People of Western Sahara (EUCOCO), (international)
- Euro-Med Movement (Malta), Malta
- European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights, Germany
- European Parliamentary Intergroup, Paix pour le Peuple Sahraoui, (international)
- Fédération des Associations de Solidarité avec les Travailleurs Immigrés (FASTI), France
- Federation du Reseau Italien de Solidarité avec le Peuple Sahraoui, Italy
- Federacion Estatal de Instituciones Solidarias con el Sahara (FEDISSAH), Spain
- Femmes Solidaires, France
- Forum Nord Sud, Belgium
- Freie Westsahara, Germany
- German coordination, Sahara Marathon, Germany
- Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker, Germany
- Groupe Non-Violence Active Sahara Occidental (NOVA SAHARA OCCIDENTAL), Western Sahara
- Hungarian Western Sahara Association, Hungary
- Institute for Western Sahara Studies (Institut za studije Zahodne Sahare), Slovenia
- Institute for Social Creativity (Institut za druzbeno kreativnost), Slovenia
- International Association of Jurists for Western Sahara, Spain
- International Platform of Jurists for East Timor, Portugal
- l’Association pour un Référendum Libre et Régulier au Sahara Occidental (ARSO), Switzerland
- La Coordination Nationale d’Action pour la Paix et la Démocratie (CNAPD), Belgium
- Le Carrefour Sahraoui des Initiatives Culturelles et Mediatiques, Western Sahara (occupied territories)
- Le Centre National de Coopération au Développement (CNCD), Belgium
- Le Comité Suisse de Soutien au Peuple Sahraoui, Switzerland
- Le Mouvement de la Paix, France
- Ligue des Étudiants Sahraouis en France, France
- Medico International, Germany
- Moroccan Association for Human Rights in Dakhla, Western Sahara (occupied territories)
- Mouvement Contre le Racisme et pour l’Amitié entre les Peuples (MRAP), Switzerland
- Not Forgotten International, United States of America
- Pax Christi International, Belgium
- Plateforme pour la Solidarité avec le Peuple du Sahara Occidental, France
- Projektgruppe Westsahara, Germany
- Quand l’Occident Rencontre le Désert (QORD), France
- Sahara-Japan Journalists Association, Japan
- Sahrawi Association of Victims of Mines in Dakhla , Western Sahara (occupied territories)
- Sahrawi Center for Media and Communication, Western Sahara
- Service Civil International, Belgium
- Social Democratic Youth, Denmark
- Socialist Youth Front, Denmark
- Stichting zelfbeschikking WS, The Netherlands
- Stockholms FN-förening, Sweden
- Strategic Conflict Resolution Group, USA
- Survie, France
- Swedish Western Sahara Committee, Sweden
- The Committee Against Torture in Dakhla, Western Sahara (occupied territories)
- The Group Shoumoukh, Western Sahara (occupied territories)
- The Sahrawi Committee for the Defence of Human Rights in Glaimim, Western Sahara (occupied territories)
- The Sahrawi Observatory for Child and Woman, Western Sahara (occupied territories)
- The Sun of Freedom to Protect Sahrawi Human Rights, Western Sahara (occupied territories)
- Um Draiga, Spain
- Union des Étudiants de Seguia El Hamra y Rio de Oro, Western Sahara
- Union des Journalistes et Écrivains Sahraouis (UPES), Western Sahara
- Union des Juristes Sahraouis (UJS), Western Sahara (refugee camps)
- Union General des Travailleurs de Seguia El Hamra y Rio de Oro (UGTSARIO), Western Sahara (refugee camps)
- Unión Nacional de la Juventud de Saguia el Hamra y Rió de Oro (UJSARIO), Western Sahara (refugee camps)
- Union Nacional de Mujeres Saharauis, Western Sahara (refugee camps)
- Volkshilfe, Austria
- Vrede, Belgium
- War on Want, United Kingdom
- Western Sahara Action Forum, United Kingdom
- Western Sahara Campaign UK, United Kingdom
- Western Sahara CEE Alliance, Hungary
- Western Sahara Fisheries Association, Western Sahara (occupied territories)
- Western Sahara Human Rights Watch, Spain
- Western Sahara Resource Watch (Spain), Spain
- Zain Atfaak, Belgium
- Zentrum für Europäische und Orientalische Kultur, Germany. (SPS)
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