Banjul (The Gambia), May 19, 2026 (SPS) – The Sahrawi National Human Rights Committee (CONASADH) called on the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to condemn the illegal exploitation of Sahrawi natural resources by the occupying State.
This came during the interactive discussion on the report of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations/Communities, Extractive Industries, Environment and Human Rights Violations in Africa, which addressed the close links between the exploitation of natural resources, environmental degradation, and the systematic violations of human and peoples’ rights across Africa.
CONASADH member Hassan Amelid drew the Commission’s urgent attention to the specific situation in Western Sahara (the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic), a territory occupied by Morocco, where the natural resources of Western Sahara — including phosphates, fisheries resources, sand, and potential renewable energy resources — are being exploited without the free consent of the Sahrawi people, who hold the legitimate right to self-determination and permanent sovereignty over their resources.
The Sahrawi National Human Rights Committee also submitted several recommendations to the African Commission, calling for the condemnation of the illegal exploitation of Western Sahara’s natural resources, the reaffirmation of the Sahrawi people’s permanent sovereignty over their wealth, and the inclusion of the situation in Western Sahara in the future work of the Working Group as well as in the declaration issued by the continental forum on extractive industries.
At the conclusion of the discussions, the Commissioner of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Dr. Solomon Dersso, welcomed the observations presented by CONASADH concerning the illegal exploitation of natural resources by the Moroccan occupation and the resulting violations of international and African law, as well as the sovereign rights of the Sahrawi people.
