Symposium on Western Sahara: call for resumption of UN process – Sahara Press Service

Brussels, 27 June 2020 (SPS) – Participants in the political symposium, entitled «Settlement of the conflict in Western Sahara: one year after the resignation of UN Envoy Horst Kohler,» on Wednesday called for the resumption of negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario Front, urging the UN chief to hasten the designation of a personal envoy for Western Sahara.

The symposium, held via videoconference, has been attended by Oubi Bouchraya Al-Bashir Sahrawi ambassador to Europe and the European Union, Pierre Galand President of the EUCOCO, Said Ayachi Head of the Algerian Committee for Solidarity with the Sahrawi People (CNASPS), and Gilles Dover Lawyer of the Polisario before the European courts and Francesco Bastagli former representative of the UN Secretary General in Western Sahara.

In the Final Declaration, a solemn appeal was launched to the UN chief to designate as soon as possible a new envoy for this non-self-governing territory with a view to relaunching the negotiations in a deadlock since Horst Kohler’s resignation in May 2019.

The Participants stressed the importance of the effective implementation of the right to self-determination, and the liberation of political prisoners.

They condemned Morocco’s destabilizing actions aiming at evading its international obligations and slowing down the process of decolonization of Western Sahara territory, reminding the Spanish government of its responsibilities to end the colonization and to recognize the inalienable right of the Sahrawis to build their state as affirmed by the African Union.

In the same context, the speakers denounced the position of the European Commission with regard to this conflict between the Polisario Front in Morocco, demanding that it respect the relevant decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on the Association Agreement between the European Union and Morocco.

They also recalled that the decisions of the CJEU on this conflict say that Morocco and Western Sahara are two distinct and separate territories.

Reaffirming their support for the legitimate demands of the Sahrawi people, the participants stressed the urgency for the UN Security Council to fulfill its promises regarding the Western Sahara decolonization. (SPS)

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