Algiers, 25 August 2025 (SPS) - Participants in the Diplomatic Forum of Solidarity with the Sahrawi People, held Monday in Algiers, urged the United Nations to fully assume its responsibilities in decolonizing Western Sahara, calling for an "urgent" and "in-depth" investigation into human rights violations in the occupied territory.
In the final statement concluding the meeting of the Diplomatic Forum, which includes 21 African countries, in its seventh edition held at the headquarters of the South African Embassy in Algiers, participants expressed their satisfaction with the content of the report to be presented by the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, during the 80th session of the General Assembly, which remains a fundamental reference in the decolonization of Western Sahara.
They emphasized the necessity of continuing to consider the situation of Western Sahara as a non-self-governing territory that must be decolonized.
The final statement also welcomed the "steadfast position of the African Union, which is redoubling its efforts to ensure the Sahrawi people's exercise of their right to self-determination," recalling that this right is enshrined in Article 20 of its Constitutive Act, which calls for concrete measures to ensure this right, particularly through support provided to oppressed peoples in their struggle for freedom, like the Sahrawi people.
The Forum expressed its satisfaction with the participation of a high-level delegation from the Sahrawi Republic in the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) held from August 20 to 22 in Yokohama, Japan, despite multiple Moroccan attempts to obstruct it, praising the enhanced protection and reception provided by the Japanese authorities to the Sahrawi delegation.
The Forum also welcomed the content of the final statement from the Heads of State and Government at the recent summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) held in Madagascar, which renewed solidarity with the Sahrawi people in their just struggle for their right to self-determination, in addition to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between SADC and the Sahrawi Republic.
In this context, the Forum expressed its satisfaction with the signing of the mentioned Memorandum, stressing the importance of coordinating its implementation with the UN process and all initiatives led by the African Union.
On this occasion, the Diplomatic Forum expressed its gratitude and thanks to Algeria for its firm and steadfast position in favor of just causes and oppressed peoples struggling for their freedom and independence, foremost among them the Sahrawi and Palestinian peoples, and to all countries that recognize the Sahrawi Republic.
In a statement to the press, the South African Ambassador to Algeria, Mr Ndumiso Ndima Ntshinga, confirmed the Forum's continuation in mobilizing support and providing assistance to the Sahrawi people in their endeavor to secure their right to self-determination.
For his part, the Ambassador of the Sahrawi Republic to Algeria, Mr Khatri Adouh, reviewed the diplomatic victories recently achieved by the Sahrawi cause at both African and international levels, highlighting in this context the importance of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by SADC with his country.
The Sahrawi diplomat also noted the participation of the Sahrawi Republic in the ninth edition of the TICAD summit, which confirms that it is "a reality not only at the African level but also at the international level."
Referring to the recent report by the UN Secretary-General, in which he expressed his belief in the possibility of reaching a "just and lasting political solution that provides for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara," the diplomat emphasized that the Sahrawi issue today receives the attention of the international community, "which obliges the Moroccan regime to comply with international legitimacy."
Finally, Mr Khatri Adouh called for the next session of the UN General Assembly to be an occasion to affirm the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination, asserting that "all Morocco's attempts to bypass international legitimacy are doomed to abject failure, because the Sahrawi people, who have faced the maneuvers of the occupation for 50 years, have proven that the Sahrawi Republic is a continental and international reality."
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