Algiers, April 1, 2018 (SPS) – The participants in the 6th International Algiers Conference on "Peoples’ right to resistance: the case of the Sahrawi people," reaffirmed Saturday the legitimacy of the national liberation struggle of the Sahrawi people and their peaceful resistance against the Moroccan occupation, making a strong appeal to the UN and the international community to reach a just and final solution to Western Sahara conflict through a free and transparent referendum on self-determination.
After having debated the different aspects of the Sahrawis’ just struggle, they clearly reaffirmed, in their final declaration, the right of the Sahrawi people to "resistance to the illegal occupation of their territory by Morocco, such as stated in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter and UN General Assembly Resolution 3163, of 1973."
On this occasion, the legitimacy of the Sahrawi people's struggle for national liberation and its peaceful resistance against the Moroccan occupation have been reaffirmed by the participants, who also welcomed the "steady, firm and courageous position of the African Union (AU) in favour of self-determination in Western Sahara."
The participants also demanded that the UN quickly fulfill its commitment for holding a self-determination referendum for the Sahrawi people, and denounced Morocco's "repeated violations" of human rights in Western Sahara.
In this context, they expressed support “to the extension of the mandate of the UN Mission for the organization of the referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) to Human Rights Monitoring in Western Sahara."
The final declaration issued following the two-day conference also calls on the UN, the European Union (EU), the African Union (AU), International Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and all human rights defenders around the world to "guarantee by all possible means the respect and protection of human rights of all Sahrawi prisoners and their immediate release…"
It also calls for the immediate halt to the spoliation of Western Sahara's natural resources by Morocco, calling in particular on the EU and some governments to respect the international law and to execute the decisions of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) of December 2016 and January 2018.
The 6th International Conference, co-organized by the Algerian National Committee of Solidarity with the Sahrawi People (CNASPS) and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) embassy in Algeria was attended by more than 300 persons from many countries: namely Argentina, Chile, Peru, Mauritania, Slovenia, Croatia, Ghana, Mexico, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Belgium, France, Congo-Brazzaville, Guinea, Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, Cuba, South Africa, Venezuela, Egypt, Syria, Mozambique, Angola, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, United States, Great Britain, Congo, Portugal, Finland, Nigeria, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Serbia, Switzerland, Brazil, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Panama, Guinea Conakry and Namibia. (SPS)
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