Socorro Gomes: In solidarity with the Saharawi people, we condemn the Moroccan repression that killed a young woman and injured several demonstrators

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

We received with great consternation and revolt the news of the death of the 24-year-old Sabah Othman Ahmadida (Injourni), who was struck by a Moroccan police car during the brutal repression of a demonstration in the capital of occupied Western Sahara, El Aaiun, on July 20.

Shocking reports and images of the crackdown with which demonstrations were answered by the Moroccan authorities include the use of lethal ammunition, beatings and trampling, such as what struck Sabah. In addition, Saharawis said that the young woman did not receive urgent medical attention and only some time after the event was taken to the hospital where she died.

The violation of the human rights of Saharawis under Moroccan occupation is repeatedly denounced, without effect, by the Saharawi people and by solidarity organizations from all over the world. This violation begins with the non-implementation of their right to self-determination, so that Saharawis decide freely on their political destiny.

The territory and its people have for decades been pending decolonization by Spain and was occupied by Morocco in 1975. The United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) has been on the ground since 1991 and has not been able to fulfill its role to carry out the consultation for the self-determination of the Saharawi people. In addition, it has been prevented, mainly by France, an ally of Morocco, from including in its mandate the monitoring of the human rights situation of the Saharawis, despite repeated appeals from the people, their leaders and international solidarity entities.

The Saharawis are struggling for the fulfillment of the self-determination promise under the brutal Moroccan occupation and colonization, in the refuge in the Algerian desert, or in exile.

Therefore, the World Peace Council, an anticolonialist organization in solidarity with the peoples in struggle against domination, condemns in the strongest terms the human rights violations that are daily in occupied territory. We appeal to the urgent action for the protection of the Saharawis and join the countless entities in firm solidarity with the Saharawi people in a just struggle for the liberation of their country, demanding the holding of the referendum now!

Socorro Gomes
President of the World Peace Council