Letter of Frente POLISARIO Representative at the United Nations

Read Time: 3 minutes

H.E. Mr António Guterres      

Secretary-General of the United Nations

United Nations, New York

New York, 1 March 2022

Your Excellency,

Upon instructions from my Authorities, I am writing to you again to express our strong condemnation of the continued, egregious, and systematic human rights violations perpetrated with complete impunity by the occupying state of Morocco in the Sahrawi Territories under the Moroccan illegal military occupation.

On 27 February 2022, Sahrawis of all ages took to the streets in the Sahrawi Occupied Territories to commemorate peacefully the 46^th anniversary of the proclamation of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) by raising the SADR flags and chanting slogans in support of the right of the Sahrawi people to freedom and independence.

They also expressed their utter rejection of the continued illegal military occupation by the Moroccan state of parts of the SADR as well as their strong condemnation of the gross violations committed by the occupying state of Morocco against Sahrawi civilians and particularly human rights activists. 

As usual, the security forces of the occupying state responded to the peaceful demonstrations with brutal and indiscriminate violence and, as a result, dozens of Sahrawi civilians were brutalised and beaten severely at the hands of Moroccan security agents and state-sponsored thugs. 

In the occupied city of Bojador alone Moroccan security forces violently assaulted a group of largely Sahrawi women and human rights activists who intended to demonstrate peacefully in front of the beleaguered house of the family of Sid Brahim Jaya to express their solidarity with human rights activist Sultana Sid Brahim Jaya and her family on the SADR 46^th anniversary.

As documented by testimonies backed by photographic evidence, the Sahrawi women were severely beaten, maltreated, dragged through the street, and sexually harassed by a group of Moroccan security agents including those permanently stationed by the house of the family. 

The Frente POLISARIO strongly condemns this recent wave of repression unleashed by the occupying state of Morocco against Sahrawi peaceful demonstrators and human rights activists, which is a continuation of the parallel and retaliatory war waged against Sahrawi civilians in Occupied Western Sahara since the occupying state violated and torpedoed, with complete impunity, the 1991 ceasefire on 13 November 2020.

The Frente POLISARIO also denounces strongly the continued criminal acts perpetrated by the occupying state of Morocco against Sahrawi civilians in the Sahrawi Occupied Territories including the latest heinous crime targeting Sahrawi citizen Habib Aghrichi in the occupied city of Dajla.

Once again, we urgently call upon you, Mr Secretary-General, to operationalise the legal and moral responsibility of the United Nations towards the Sahrawi people especially Sahrawi civilians in the Sahrawi Occupied Territories. This entails taking practical measures to ensure their safety and security and establishing an independent and permanent UN mechanism for the protection and regular reporting on the human rights in Occupied Western Sahara where the UN Mission, MINURSO, is present on the ground in the Territory.

As we have already warned, the persistence by the occupying state of Morocco in its heinous crimes and blatant human rights violations against Sahrawi civilians, without being held accountable or punished for that, seriously undermines the prospects of the already stalled peace process, and closes the door on the desired peaceful solution.

Please accept, Your Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration. 

Dr Sidi M. Omar

Ambassador

Representative of the Frente POLISARIO at the United Nations

Coordinator with MINURSO