Brussels, Sept 22, 2016 (SPS) - The European Union (EU) expressed its “concern” over the conflict in Western Sahara and its effects on the security and the respect of human rights in the region, reiterating its support to the process under the aegis of the United Nations to reach a solution enabling the Sahrawi people to exercise their right to self-determination.
“In 2015, as in the previous years, EU expressed on several occasions its concern over the long duration of the conflict and its effects on security, respect of human rights and cooperation in the region,” said EU Council in its report 2015 on human rights and democracy in the world, published on Tuesday.
Recalling that the territory of Western Sahara is listed by the United Nations as a non-self governing territory and that a process is currently underway under the aegis of UN to reach a “fair, lasting and acceptable political solution for the two sides, which will provide for the self-determination of the Sahrawi people,” EU reaffirmed in its report that “it supports this process for several years.”
The resolution 2218 of UN Security Council, adopted in 2015, provides also that the Security Council remains seized of the issue. “For its part, EU will take no initiative likely to undermine the process under the aegis of UN,” underlined, in its report, the EU Council.
Stressing the need to improve the situation of human rights in Western Sahara, EU ensures that it is “closely” following the situation in Morocco and Western Sahara, underlining that the issues relating to human rights are regularly broached with the Moroccan authorities as part of the political dialogue, including within the sub-committee on human rights, democratisation and governance.SPS
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