MOROCCO SHITTING ON INTERNATIONAL LAW - FRANCE SO AS GERMANY AND THE E.U. WIPE ITS ASS! Because the United Nations Security Council starts today tuesday 26/04 the discussion about the mandate of the MINURSO (UN-Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara) to decide on thursday, we, the group "Sahara libre!", carried out a symbolical action in front of the Moroccan embassy in Berlin on Friday 22nd april 2016:
a caricature of Mohammed VI, King of Morocco, sits on top of a pile of shit, with the inscription "Morocco shitting on international law" and holding French flag toilet paper - see pictures.
Our intention was to draw attention to the following issue:
In early March 2016, UN General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon visited Western Sahara and commented on its "occupation" by Morocco, as reported in the media.
Indeed, Western Sahara has been occupied by Morocco – against international law – since 1975! The International Court of Justice decided in the verdict of 16 October 1975: "there is no legal historical tie of territorial sovereignty between the territory of Western Sahara an the Kingdom of Morocco that would justify their territorial claim". After this sentence, parts of the territory were occupied illegally, and large parts of the civil population were displaced.
The Moroccan King and his government used Ban Ki-Moon’s justified statement as a motive a pretext to trigger escalation: The civil personnel of the MINURSO were expelled. What is more, MINURSO’s mandate should be stripped of its link with an upcoming referendum.
In 1991, the Sahrawi liberation force "Polisario" decided to end the armed struggle against the Moroccon occupation, since Morocco had agreed to sign a Peace Plan proposed by the UN and the African Union. This Peace Plan stipulates that a referendum on self-determination should be held within a few months. The Sahrawis have been waiting for it for 25 years now!
Morocco tramples Human Rights Law and International Law under foot for decades. They react with massive violence against any protest within the occupied territories. Only last week the young unionist Brahim Saika died as a result of torture by Moroccan police. Natural resources are being plundered. More than 150,000 refugees live in extremely harsh conditions in exile.
And yet, MINURSO is the only UN-mission in Africa without a mandate of human rights monitoring. And yet, the UN Security Council does not force Morocco to meet the Peace Plan, to realize its resolutions or even simply to respect the UN General Secretary!
Why? Amongst other things, because France views its former colony as a historical partner and threatens to veto any such resolution in the Security Council. EU states such as France and Germany prioritize economical interests over human or international law (*) and prefer to stick to the myth of a "safe country of origin".
That's why we demand:
- that the French government end its unconditional support for Morocco’s sabotage of the Sahrawi people’s self-determination process, for human rights violation and for the looting of natural resources,
- that the German government stop sacrificing human rights in the occupied territories (and within Morocco) to economic interests and strategic alliances,
- that the UN Security Council extend the mandate for MINURSO in its entirety with additional human rights monitoring and to enable at long last the referendum on self-determination. (**)
The last colony of Africa must finally be free!
Group "Sahara libre!" (sahara.libre@riseup.net)
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(*) after the verdict of the European Court of Justice in December 2015 to end trade agreements between the EU and the Kingdom of Morocco on account of the looting of Western Sahara, the German government promised Morocco to completely support their objection.
(**) Have also a look at the international petition: www.westernsahara-referendum.org
