New York (United Nations), 22 December 2025 (SPS) - Member of the National Secretariat, Representative of the Frente POLISARIO at the United Nations and Coordinator with MINURSO, Dr Sidi Mohamed Omar, addressed today a letter to Ambassador Samuel Žbogar, Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the United Nations and current President of the UN Security Council, in which he rebutted, with documented evidence, the deceptive claims recently propagated by Morocco, the occupying state, regarding Security Council Resolution 2797 (2025).
The following is the full text of the letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Sahara Press Service (SPS):
New York, 22 December 2025
H.E. Mr Samuel Žbogar
Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the United Nations
President of the Security Council
Your Excellency,
I would like first to congratulate you on assuming the presidency of the Security Council for the month of December and to wish you every success in your mission.
During the high-level plenary meeting held recently by the General Assembly to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the “Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples”, a representative from Morocco, the occupying state, in a futile attempt to mislead Member States, twisted the content of Security Council Resolution 2797 (2025) on the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), which was adopted on 31 October 2025.
In the interest of truth and to set the record straight, we will demonstrate that his claims regarding the issue of “sovereignty” and the Moroccan expansionist “proposal” are totally false and deceptive.
First, Security Council Resolution 2797 (2025) does not recognise any Moroccan “sovereignty” over Occupied Western Sahara. Several Member States made this point explicitly in their explanations of vote. For example, Denmark and Slovenia underlined that their vote in favour of the resolution did not amount to recognition of “Moroccan sovereignty” over Western Sahara and that the adopted text could not be interpreted as a decision on sovereignty (S/PV.10030; pages 6-7).
Moreover, Resolution 2797 (2025) cannot be inconsistent with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and with the established positions of relevant UN organs, particularly the General Assembly and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Since Western Sahara was inscribed on the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories in 1963, the General Assembly and its subsidiary bodies have consistently addressed it as a decolonisation issue under Chapter XI of the Charter, affirming the inalienable right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination and independence, in accordance with General Assembly Resolution 1514 (XV) and other relevant resolutions.
In its Advisory Opinion on Western Sahara, issued on 16 October 1975, the ICJ concluded that there was not “any tie of territorial sovereignty between the territory of Western Sahara and the Kingdom of Morocco”. The Court affirmed the applicability of General Assembly Resolution 1514 (XV) to the decolonisation of Western Sahara through the free and genuine expression of the will of the people of the Territory.
Second, regarding the Moroccan expansionist “proposal”, Resolution 2797 (2025) does not establish the “proposal” as the only basis for negotiations. It is referred to as “basis” – not the basis – for the discussions, the ultimate aim of which—according to the resolution itself—is to achieve “a final and mutually acceptable political solution that provides for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara” (OP 3). It is noteworthy that an earlier language in the US zero-draft referring to a solution providing for “a genuine autonomy” was removed during the consultations.
What is even more important is that the Moroccan expansionist “proposal” can never constitute the basis—let alone the only basis—for a just and lasting solution to the decolonisation of Western Sahara that is consistent with the UN Charter and the inalienable right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination, for at least five reasons:
- Morocco, the occupying state, does not exercise any sovereignty or possess an administering mandate over Western Sahara. It is considered an occupying power in line with General Assembly Resolutions 34/37 of 21 November 1979 and 35/19 of 11 November 1980, among others. Therefore, Morocco, as an occupying power, cannot grant “autonomy” or any “territorial status” to Western Sahara without violating the international status of the Territory and relevant UN decolonisation resolutions.
- The expansionist “proposal” undermines the inalienable right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination by predetermining the outcome and limiting it to a single option: “autonomy”. This effectively would amount to Morocco, the occupying state, deciding for the Sahrawi people, which is incompatible with the right to self-determination as recognised in international law and UN resolutions.
- The expansionist “proposal” excludes the option of independence, which is both a legitimate aspiration of the Sahrawi people, led by the Frente POLISARIO, and one of the options envisaged in General Assembly Resolutions 1514 (XV), 1541 (XV), and 2625 (XXV).
- The expansionist “proposal” is extremely dangerous because it would reward Morocco, the occupying state, for the unlawful use of force to occupy Western Sahara, in flagrant violation of the UN Charter and the Constitutive Act of the African Union. Accepting such a proposal would therefore set a dangerous precedent in Africa and beyond.
- The Charter (Article 24 (2)) requires the Security Council to act in accordance with the purposes and principles of the United Nations, including the principle of self-determination of peoples (1 (2)), and its decisions cannot derogate from peremptory norms (jus cogens) of international law, including the right to self-determination as explicitly recognised by the ICJ (2024).
In conclusion, pursuant to General Assembly Resolution 2625 (XXV), among others, every State has the duty to promote the realisation of the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to refrain from any forcible action which deprives peoples of their right to self-determination, freedom and independence. Therefore, States should condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the Moroccan expansionist “proposal” because it aims to forcibly deprive the Sahrawi people of their inalienable right to self-determination and independence and “legitimise” Morocco’s unlawful occupation and annexation of parts of Western Sahara, which is still subject to a decolonisation process.
I would be most grateful if you would bring the present letter to the attention of the members of the Security Council.
Please accept, Your Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.
Dr Sidi M. Omar,
Representative of the Frente POLISARIO at the United Nations and Coordinator with MINURSO
Related blogs
