10/25/2023
UN report on the situation in Western Sahara
Systematic human rights violations must be addressed as such
The recent report by UN Secretary General António Guterres on the situation in Western Sahara once again neglects the kingdom’s systematic human rights violations against the Sahraouis in the region. “For decades, Morocco has been violating international humanitarian law in Western Sahara and committing crimes against humanity against the Sahraouis,” criticized Christoph Hahn, expert on genocide prevention and the Responsibility to Protect (Society for Threatened Peoples), on Wednesday in Göttingen. “The least the United Nations Secretariat could do for them is to treat the crimes of the Moroccan government as such.”
Some of the Sahraouis already belong to the third generation of refugees living in camps in Western Sahara. “The Moroccan State is systematically violating their civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights,” Hahn stated. “The UN Security Council should extend the MINURSO mission for two years in order to enforce the right to self-determination of the people in the occupied territories.”
The “Report of the Secretary-General on the situation of Western Sahara (S/2023/729)” was published by the United Nations Secretariat on October 3, 2023. The UN Security Council will decide on a possible extension of the MINURSO mission on October 30. The Secretary General had recommended an extension of one year.
Western Sahara is on the list of the so-called “non-self-governing territories”, and has been occupied by Morocco since 1975. Since its establishment thirty years ago, the aim of the MINURSO mission was to conduct a referendum among the Sahraouis as a basis to enforce their right to self-determination.
The right to self-determination can be found in the UN Charter and, among others, in Resolution 1514. As early as in 1975, the International Court of Justice referred to the resolution in an advisory opinion and emphasized the significance of the right to self-determination in the case of Western Sahara. Every people has the right to freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social, and cultural development.
