2023-04-19 05:20:29
The Security Council is due to discuss, on Wednesday, the situation in occupied Western Sahara, in a context marked by the continuation of hostilities between Morocco and the Polisario Front which this year celebrates the 50th anniversary of its creation.
This meeting (in camera) will be an opportunity for members to hear a report from the personal envoy of the UN Secretary General for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, and the head of the United Nations mission United for the Organization of a Self-Determination Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), Alexander Ivanko, on the current situation in the Saharawi territories occupied by Morocco.
The human rights situation in the occupied Saharawi territories is a subject of concern. The Secretary General’s report of October 3, 2022 notes that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations (OHCHR) has not been able to carry out any visit to Western Sahara for the seventh year.
The report adds that the OHCHR continues to receive allegations of human rights violations in Western Sahara committed by the Moroccan occupying forces.
De Mistura’s biannual briefing comes as war is in full swing in occupied Western Sahara, following the Moroccan army’s November 2020 breach of the ceasefire agreement, targeting Sahrawi civilians without defense in the buffer zone at El-Guerguerat.
The Security Council meeting on Western Sahara also comes as the Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro (Polisario Front) celebrates on May 10, the 50th anniversary of its creation.
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