Observations and Topics to be Included in the List of Issues
From a legal standpoint, the Sahrawi people are unequivocally entitled to determine their political future through a referendum on self-determination. The United Nations General Assembly, the International Court of Justice, and the Organization of African Unity have all affirmed that Morocco cannot exercise sovereignty over the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara and have called for a referendum so that the Sahrawi people can decide their political status. This report seeks to highlight several violations by the Kingdom of Morocco of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara.
Cold War Technologies, Global Fertilizers, and the Fate of Western Sahara
When, after years of geological and geophysical exploration, a phosphate mine was discovered at Bu-Craa in 1964, Western Sahara received renewed geopolitical attention. Several countries competing for the control of the world fertilizer market, including Morocco, Spain, France, and the United States, developed diverging strategies to gain control of the mineral.
Western Sahara, resources, and international accountability
The illegality of facilitating the exploitation of natural resources by an occupying power in nonself-governing territories is well-established in international law.
The taking of the Sahara: the role of natural resources in the continuing occupation of Western Sahara
The role of natural resources in the continuing ‘question’ of Western Sahara is not fully understood. In recent years, the development of the territory’s resources has been at issue in efforts to arrive at self-determination for the Saharawi people.
We are Rebels
In one of the most hostile regions to human life across the planet, the Saharawi people live deprived for fundamental right to have a own land: Western Sahara is the last remaining colony in Africa still waiting for its independence. This is the story of the Saharawi struggle for freedom.