Western Sahara: African Union calls for opening of office in Laâyoune and for human rights’ investigations

Moroccan diplomacy has received its first slap within the African Union since it returned to the African fold in January 2017, following the adoption by the African Peace and security Council of a resolution that contradicts everything the Rabat regime has so far defended and promoted.

The African Peace and Security Council, the highest executive body of the African Union, adopted a resolution calling for the reopening of the AU office in Laâyoune as the capital of the Sahrawi Republic, as well as for a field visit to the Western Sahara in the course of 2017 to investigate the facts on the ground notably those related to Sahrawi human rights’ protection.

The resolution, adopted at a meeting not attended by any representative of Morocco, despite the official invitation extended to the latter, called on the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to dispatch a mission to Western Sahara and the refugee camps in Tindouf to assess the human rights’ situation and to put forth relevant recommendations to the Council. 

It also urged the UN Security Council to expand the mandate of the United Nations’ Mission in Western Sahara “MINURSO”.

The AU council further called on “Morocco and the Saharawi Republic, as members of the African Union, to initiate direct and serious negotiations without preconditions.”

The resolution called for a solution to the “question of illegal exploration and exploitation of the natural resources of the region” and exhorted Morocco “not to conclude any agreements for the exploration or exploitation of natural resources in Western Sahara.”

In a reaction to the AU’s latest move, the Sahrawi Council of Ministers, met Sunday under the chairmanship of the President of the Republic, Secretary General of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, and praised the recent decision of the African Union Peace and Security Council on the issue of Western Sahara.

The Council of Ministers in a statement concluding its meeting stressed that the recent decision of the Peace and Security Council in relation to the development of the Saharawi cause is a victory and an achievement for the Saharawi cause.

It considered that the absence of Morocco from the meeting of the AU Peace and Security Council, and marring the holding of the Finance Ministers’ meeting in Dakar, Senegal, under the joint supervision of the United Nations and the African Union, are the first indicator of the true intentions of the Moroccan regime towards the unity and harmony of the African Union. 

Furthermore, the Ambassador of the Sahrawi Democratic Republic (SADR) to Algeria, Bouchraya Hammoudi Bayoune called for his part on the African Union (AU) to invest more in the resolution of the Sahrawi cause, considering that Morocco’s absence from the meeting of the AU Peace and Security Council is “a failure for a first test” following its accession to the African Union.

Mr. Bouchraya Hammoudi Bayoune pointed out to this effect that it is a “failure” for Rabat’s first test following its recent accession to the Pan-African organization, and that this shows the Moroccan regime’s unavailability to cooperate for the resolution of the long-running conflict out of fear of the pressures that the AU could apply.