Take action immediately to demand that, in the wake of the Gdeim Izik, the United Nations Security Council live up to its moral and legal responsibilities to protect the human rights of the people of the Western Sahara. See how here.
Human rights violations continue unabated in Western Sahara. The UN mission in the territory, MINURSO, is the only UN mission in the world, established since 1980, that does not have the mandate to monitor human rights.
Urgent action is needed immediately. Join us in calling on the United Nations Security Council to live up to its legal and moral commitments - to establish a permanent body to monitor human rights abuses in the territory, accountable to the Security Council and with the mandate to access all areas of Western Sahara unconditionally.
Join the conversation on Twitter, using #WesternSahara
KEY POINTS •The United Nations is legally obliged to protect human rights in Western Sahara •MINURSO is the only UN peacekeeping mission without the mandate to monitor human rights violations •Current efforts to tackle the issue have proved wholly inadequate, with human rights violations worsening •Any human rights monitoring body in the Western Sahara must be based on the three following principles:
-Permanence – ad hoc missions cannot establish an adequately accurate picture of the nature of the violations across the entire territory -Reciprocity – any human rights monitoring body must have access to refugee camps administered by POLISARIO, as well as the area occupied by Morocco -Accountability – any human rights monitoring presence must be obliged to report findings to the UN Security Council
EDM That this House notes the concerns raised by Amnesty International and other organisations over the trial and sentencing of 24 civilian Saharawi human rights activists by a military tribunal; further notes the increasing human rights abuses in the Western Sahara; acknowledges the need for Minurso to be given a human rights monitoring mandate and calls on the Government, to make representation to the Moroccan Government to revoke the politically motivated and unjust sentences against the 24 Saharawi human rights activists, to release all Saharawi political prisoners in Moroccan jails and to allow access to the Saharawi territories under Morocco’s occupation by independent observers and international media.
WESTERN SAHARA CAMPAIGN UK
The Western Sahara Campaign works in solidarity with the Saharawi people to generate political support in order to advance their right to self-determination and to promote their human rights.
Our role is to lobby the UK Government and the EU. You can help us to ensure the UK does not ignore the voice of the Saharawi people.
Follow the news about EU's illegal fisheries in Western Sahara
