Meeting held to discuss release of Sahrawi people from Morocco
President of the Sahrawi Republic and Secretary-General of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, chaired a meeting on supporting the rights of Sahrawi political prisoners being held in Moroccan prisons.
According to AL News 24, the meeting took place at the Sahrawi National Committee for Human Rights and discussed the possibility of securing the release of political prisoners.
Efforts to coordinate a release deal at both the international and national level were assessed and the need to have a joint action plan was stressed.
Along with members of the Polisario Front, representatives from human rights institutions and organisations were also present at the meeting.
Ghali used his speech as an opportunity to urge greater solidarity with the Sahrawi people who are living under the oppressive rule of Morocco.
The Secretary-General of the Polisario Front highlighted the importance of exposing what he called Morocco’s occupation of the Western Sahara and their use of repressive policies.
Despite the rights of the Sahrawi people, Morocco has garnered widespread international support for their claims to autonomy over the Western Saharan region.
Maghrebi reported on February 27th that French Senate Speaker Gerard Larcher told reporters that: “The present and future of the Western Sahara can only be envisaged within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty.”
Spain has also supported Morocco’s claims however Spanish Basque Party politicians were deported from Morocco due to their support for the rights of the Sahrawi people earlier this year.
The Polisario Front formed in 1973 just a few years before Morocco gained independence from its former colonising power, Spain.
They have represented the rights of the native Sahrawi people in the Western Sahara throughout a period of decolonisation which has seen their rights and claims to territory repeatedly ignored by the regional and international community.
Algeria has been a supporter of their claims to territory in the Western Sahara however that hasn’t been able to prevent Morocco making further encroachments in the region.
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