El Frente Polisario   celebrará este el lunes, el 40 º aniversario del desencadenamiento  de la lucha armada  por la independencia del Sahara Occidental  en la ciudad de Tifariti liberado. Las ceremonias de celebración  de este aniversario contarán con  varios desfiles  militares de las unidades  del ejército  saharaui, desfiles deportivos, veladas culturales, también se han planeado  otras activadas para honrar a tan importante fecha. El  acto central  por el 40º aniversario  del inicio de la lucha armada contará con la presencia del Secretario General del Frente  Polisario  y Presidente  de la República, Sr. Mohamed Abdelaziz, miembros del gobierno saharaui, personalidades  invitadas, delegaciones de las provincias y de las instituciones nacionales saharaui y  medios de prensa nacionales y extranjeros.  El pueblo saharaui celebra estos 40 años  con un balance de los éxitos y logros alcanzados en los campos de la educación, salud y  a nivel diplomático   durante estas cuatro  décadas.


El Polisario también goza del  status  de  representante  único y  legítimo  del pueblo saharaui y como socio en el mantenimiento  de la paz en la región reconocido  por las Naciones Unidas. En estos 40 años hay reiteradas resoluciones de la ONU que reconocen el derecho del pueblo saharaui  a la  autodeterminación, y más de 80 países reconocen jurídica y políticamente a la RASD, mientras  que ningún país reconoce la soberanía marroquí sobre el territorio  saharaui. El Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguia el Hamra y Río de Oro (Frente Polisario), fundado un 10 de mayo de 1973,  inició el  20 de Mayo de 1973, la primera acción armada llevada a cabo por los primeros combatientes del Ejército Popular de Liberación Saharaui contra el colonialismo español,  así quedaba demostrado que el  pueblo del Sáhara Occidental,  existía como tal y que estaba dispuesto a sacrificarlo todo para alcanzar su ansiada independencia.SPS

04 March 2013, OR Tambo Building, Pretoria

 

Ladies and gentlemen of the media,

In our briefing today, we will focus on the situation concerning Saharawi prisoners in Morocco,

 

The situation concerning Saharawi prisoners

The Government of the Republic of South Africa condemns the sentencing of the 25 Saharawi human rights activists on 17 February 2013 by a Moroccan military tribunal following 27 months of detention.

The activists had participated in a protest camp in the Western Sahara town of Gdeim Izik in November 2010 against the continued systematic repression of the Saharawi people by the Moroccan regime. This protest camp was brutally dismantled by the Moroccan security forces resulting in the deaths of several Saharawi people and leaving scores injured.

In terms of international law, a Moroccan military court does not have the jurisdiction to prosecute acts and events taking place in Western Sahara, which is regarded as a non-self governing territory by the United Nations.

We also urge the Kingdom of Morocco to release all political and prisoners of conscience as a means to begin meaningful negotiations with the POLISARIO Front.

The continuous gross human rights violations by Morocco in the Western Sahara occupied territories necessitate that the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum of Western Sahara (MINURSO) be expanded to incorporate a human rights monitoring mechanism. To date, MINURSO remains one of the few United Nations Missions without a human rights monitoring component.

It is our view that these acts of repression in the illegally occupied territories are a direct consequence of the non-resolution of the issue of Western Sahara, which we regard as the last case of decolonization on the African continent. The continued non-resolution of the question of Western Sahara serves as an extension of the difficulties experienced by the Saharawi people, the majority of whom have been in the refugee camps for over three decades.

South Africa calls on the UN to expedite the resolution of the issue of Western Sahara, by taking all the necessary measures for the organization of a referendum for self-determination of the people of Western Sahara in accordance with the relevant African Union decisions and United Nations Resolutions.

In his recent State of the Nation Address, delivered on 14 February 2013, President Jacob Zuma reiterated that “the right of self-determination for the people of Western Sahara has to be realised”. The right to self-determination was the basis upon which a democratic South Africa was founded. Accordingly, South Africa will continue to stand side by side with the sister people of Western Sahara until this inalienable right is achieved.