Abuja Conference calls UN to accelerate organization of self-determination referendum

ABUJA (Nigeria)June 10, 2015 (SPS)- The participants in the Abuja International conference called the United Nations (UN) to accelerate the organization of a self-determination referendum of the people of Western Sahara.

In a statement that concluded the works of the conference on the decolonization of Western Sahara, held from 2 to 4 June under the theme “Towards the Liberation of The Last Colony In Africa,” the participants called to “organize, as soon as possible, the self-determination referendum of the people of Western Sahara, in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations and the African Union (AU), demanding the expansion of the powers of the MINURSO in order to monitor and protect human rights in the occupied Sahrawi territories.”

They recalled that Spain remains the administering power of Western Sahara “therefore it is always accountable to the UN and the Sahrawi people until the fulfillment of its responsibilities relating to the decolonization of the territory, in accordance with the United Nations’ relevant resolutions.”

In addition, the participants condemned the “shameful role” played by France at the UN Security Council “by supporting the expansionism of Morocco in Western Sahara and by opposing all the initiatives aimed at resolving the conflict on the basis of international legality, in violation of article 24 of the United Nations Charter.”(SPS)