Geneva, 5 February 2023 (SPS) - Several countries participating in the work of the 52nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, in Geneva (Switzerland), reaffirmed their strong support for the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination and independence.
In this context, South Africa stressed its "strong support" for the struggle of the Sahrawi people for their right to self-determination and freedom, and stressed the need to "work together" to protect human rights in the occupied Western Sahara.
Pretoria also reaffirmed its "firm rejection" of the repression in all its forms carried out by the Moroccan occupation authorities against Sahrawi civilians.
Namibia also reaffirmed its "full support" for the inalienable right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination in accordance with international resolutions and charters, calling on the Human Rights Council to "take measures to protect the collective and individual rights of the Sahrawi people and to confront the atrocious and inhumane acts perpetrated by the Moroccan occupation authorities in the occupied territories.
For its part, Timor-Leste drew the attention of the Human Rights Council to the tragic situation in which the Saharawi people live in the occupied territories and to the continuation of Moroccan human rights violations against Saharawi civilians, as well as to the failure of the international community in its efforts to find a political solution to the Saharawi conflict guaranteeing the Saharawi people the right to self-determination, independence and freedom and ending the Moroccan occupation in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.
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