London, July 28, 2013 (SPS) - The NGO “Adala UK” has condemned, in a declaration issued Saturday, the new fishing treaty signed by Morocco and the European Union, covering a period of four years which includes the waters of the Western Saharan territory.
“The signing of this treaty signifies the exploitation of Western Sahara’s natural resources,” stated the declaration, adding that the treaty itself “goes against a consultation undertaken by a UN legal advisor, Hans Corell, (29 January 2002) which stated that Western Sahara is a territory awaiting decolonisation and that any exploitation of its natural resources, without the consent of the indigenous people, is a flagrant violation of international law.”
We, it underlined, remind the European Parliament and all those involved in the looting of natural resources and the exploitation of the country’s riches, either directly or indirectly, that the treaty has been made without the will of the Saharawi people.
It also indicated that this treaty “goes against UN resolutions and simultaneously causes the impoverishment of more Saharawis,” urging all countries “to respect the resolutions of the United Nations and Security Council so as to aid a just and honest solution to the question of Western Sahara.”
The NGO called upon the UN Security Council “to put the riches of the Western Saharan territory under the protection of the UN, with the aim of reducing their excessive and illegal exhaustion by the Moroccan State.”
It, therefore, called upon the UN and the UN Security Council and interested countries “to assume their responsibilities in the application of international legitimacy and permit the Saharawi population their right to free determination and to vote on their future.”
The declaration appealed to the European Parliament to take “urgent action” to reject this illegal treaty and to work to stop the exploitation of these resources and hold off the threat that it represents to the Saharawi natural resources and equally to the environment.
Adala UK is a British association aims to raise awareness of the conflict and of human rights violations in Western Sahara. (SPS)
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