Occupied El-Aaiun (Sahrawi Republic), 17 June 2025 (SPS) – The Sahrawi Organ Against the Moroccan Occupation (ISACOM) commemorated the 55th anniversary of the historic Zemla Uprising, on Monday, describing it as a turning point in the national struggle of the Sahrawi people for self-determination and independence, while renewing its condemnation of Spain’s colonial legacy and the ongoing Moroccan occupation.
In a statement released on the occasion, ISACOM recalled that the uprising, which erupted on 17 June 1970 in the Zemla neighborhood of El-Aaiun—then under Spanish colonial rule—was a peaceful popular protest against colonial oppression and a demand for the legitimate rights of the Sahrawi people, chief among them the right to self-determination, as enshrined in UN General Assembly Resolution 1514 of 1960.
The statement pointed out that the demonstration was brutally suppressed by Spanish authorities, resulting in dozens of deaths and injuries among Sahrawi protesters, and the abduction of the leader of the Sahrawi national movement, Sidi Mohamed Basiri, whose fate remains unknown to this day, making him a lasting symbol of Sahrawi civil resistance.
ISACOM added that the Zemla Uprising, and the violent repression that followed it, served as the spark for a new phase of liberation struggle that led to the founding of the Polisario Front in 1973, which launched both armed and diplomatic resistance for the liberation of Western Sahara.
In commemorating the anniversary, the Authority strongly condemned what it described as the continued repression of Sahrawi civilians under Moroccan occupation in the occupied territories, emphasizing the ongoing spirit of resistance from the Zemla Uprising, to the Independence Intifada of 21 May 2005, to the Gdeim Izik protest camp (10 October – 8 November 2010), and the current forms of peaceful struggle.
The Authority also reiterated its categorical rejection of any normalization with the Moroccan occupation and called on the international community to uphold its legal and moral responsibilities regarding the situation in Western Sahara. It urged the implementation of international legality, including enabling the Sahrawi people to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination.
In concluding its statement, ISACOM demanded that Spain, the former colonial power, disclose the fate of Sahrawi leader Sidi Mohamed Basiri. It paid tribute to the martyrs of the Zemla Uprising and all victims of colonialism and neo-colonialism, reaffirming its unwavering commitment to the struggle for the freedom and independence of Western Sahara. (SPS)
090/500/60 (SPS)
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