UN pressed on Western Sahara human rights

UK MPs, NGOs witness police ‘violence, intimidation’

Westminster MPs and representatives from British non-governmental organisations today urged the UN to monitor human rights in Western Sahara.

The alert came amid the return of the first-ev

er UK delegation to Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara to investigate claims of human rights abuse in the territory.

During the four-day probe, organised by the all-party parliamentary group on Western Sahara, the delegation met human rights activists, as well as the families of people allegedly killed or disappeared by Moroccan forces, and collected testimonies from victims.

It comprised the parliamentary group’s chair, Jeremy Corbyn MP, its secretary, Mark Williams MP, War on Want executive director John Hilary and John Gurr, coordinator of the Western Sahara Campaign.

Western Sahara has been occupied by Morocco for 39 years, in violation of international law and numerous UN security council resolutions.

Since the occupation started, there have been reports of disappearances, torture, sexual violence and mistreatment in jail, besides evidence of extrajudicial murders.  

The UN mission in Western Sahara is one of only a handful of such missions without a human rights mandate.

Morocco and France strongly opposed earlier proposals to rectify this situation.

The delegation - after witnessing what members described as a violent police crackdown on peaceful demonstrators calling for independence - emphasised the urgent need for the United Nations to give the UN mission in Western Sahara (MINURSO) the power to monitor human rights.

Corbyn said: "After what we have seen in our visit here, over the past couple of days, it is clear the UN must fulfil its duty to the people of Western Sahara and mandate MINURSO to monitor human rights, as a matter of urgency. The Saharawi people deserve nothing less.”

The delegation’s findings will be presented to Parliament and will be followed by a public meeting on 25 February (link below)

http://www.waronwant.org/news/events/18068-human-rights-and-western-sahara

NOTES:

·         Since the United Nations-brokered ceasefire in 1991, the UN has been charged with organising a referendum on self-determination to allow the Saharawi people to decide their future, as part of the process of decolonisation.  The referendum has not yet take place.

·         MINURSO, established in 1991, is an anomaly among modern peace-keeping missions.  It is the only UN peace-keeping mission established since 1978 without a human rights mandate.

·         A coalition of NGOs campaigns for human rights monitoring to be part of the UN mission’s mandate:  http://wsaforum.org/

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