The Western Sahara Question and International Law: Recognition Doctrine and Self-Determination
If one accepts the ICJ’s conclusion that the right to self-determination isvested in the Sahrawi people as a matter of international law, it follows thatMorocco’s subsequent occupation of Western Sahara, in violation of the peremptory norms concerning the prohibition on the use of force and the rightto self-determination, has generated erga omnes obligations for third Statesand International Organisations (IOs), which are under a duty to withholdrecognition of Morocco’s assertion of sovereignty and to refrain from dealing with it vis-à-vis Western Sahara.