The 52nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva served as a warm-up for Morocco and Algeria, in anticipation of the April deadline scheduled for the Security Council on the question of Western Sahara .
Moroccan Justice Minister Abdellatif Ouahbi defended in his speech the exclusive UN review of the regional dispute, with a view to reaching a “realistic, lasting and practical solution”. He also praised the Moroccan autonomy initiative which enjoys the “support of 91 states”. Ouahbi took this opportunity to call for a resumption of the round table process, “with the participation of Algeria”, as in the previous meetings of December 2018 and March 2019, organized in Geneva under the aegis of the UN.
In his reply to the Moroccan minister, the permanent representative of Algeria to the United Nations Office in Geneva reiterated yesterday that his country considers that “the conflict in the Sahara is a question of decolonization, the settlement of which inevitably involves application of the principle of self-determination”.
The Algerian diplomat called on the United Nations to “assume its responsibilities towards the people of Western Sahara under occupation, by guaranteeing their inalienable and imprescriptible rights to self-determination”. He also asked the Security Council to extend the mandate of MINURSO to the monitoring of human rights in the Sahara.
In the coming weeks, the personal envoy of the UN Secretary General for Western Sahara will present, behind closed doors, to the members of the Security Council a report on the situation. Since taking office in November 2021, Staffan de Mistura has so far failed to relaunch the negotiation process, stalled since March 2019.