Adala UK expresses its profound concern regarding the official visit of the Ambassador of the United States of America to the occupied city of Laayoune in Western Sahara, and the participation of United States officials in the promotion of investment projects within the occupied Territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As an independent London-based organisation committed to the promotion of international law, the rule of law, and the protection of human rights, Adala UK considers these developments to be incompatible with the legal status of Western Sahara under international law and inconsistent with the obligations incumbent upon third States in relation to situations of occupation and unresolved processes of decolonisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Western Sahara remains a Non-Self-Governing Territory<\/strong> under Chapter XI of the Charter of the United Nations and continues to appear on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories. The Territory remains under the consideration of the United Nations Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization Committee)<\/strong>, reflecting the international community’s continued recognition that the process of decolonisation has not yet been completed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Furthermore, the United Nations has never recognised Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. Rather, the Territory remains the subject of an ongoing United Nations-led political process intended to enable the Sahrawi people to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination, in accordance with international law and the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Against this legal background, the official visit of the United States Ambassador to Laayoune and the public endorsement of investment initiatives in the occupied Territory give rise to serious legal and diplomatic concerns. Such actions risk creating the appearance of recognising, legitimising or consolidating the exercise of authority by the Moroccan occupying Power<\/strong> over a Territory whose legal status remains unresolved under international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These concerns are particularly significant given the prominent role played by the United States in the Western Sahara file. As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and an influential actor within the UN-led political process, the United States bears a heightened responsibility to ensure that its conduct remains consistent with the principles of neutrality, good faith and respect for international law. Diplomatic engagement should not create the perception that the outcome of an unfinished process of decolonisation has been predetermined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the standpoint of international law, several established legal principles are directly applicable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Right to Self-Determination<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination is guaranteed by Articles 1(2) and 55 of the Charter of the United Nations and reaffirmed by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1514 (XV) on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In its 1975 Advisory Opinion on Western Sahara, the International Court of Justice concluded that no ties of territorial sovereignty existed that could affect the application of the principle of self-determination through the free and genuine expression of the will of the people of the Territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Legal Status of Western Sahara<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Western Sahara enjoys a legal status separate and distinct from that of the Kingdom of Morocco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This principle has been repeatedly affirmed by the Court of Justice of the European Union, including in Council v Front Polisario<\/em> and subsequent judgments, which held that agreements concluded with Morocco cannot lawfully apply to Western Sahara without the consent of the people of the Territory, precisely because Western Sahara is legally separate and distinct from Morocco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1803 (XVII) recognises the permanent sovereignty of peoples over their natural resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This principle was authoritatively interpreted in the 2002 Legal Opinion of the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, Hans Corell, who concluded that resource-related activities undertaken in Western Sahara would be contrary to international law if conducted in disregard of the wishes and interests of the people of the Territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Accordingly, the promotion of foreign investment in occupied Western Sahara cannot be viewed as legally neutral where such activities proceed in the absence of the consent of the Sahrawi people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Obligations of Third States<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Under Article 41 of the International Law Commission’s Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts, States are under an obligation not to recognise as lawful situations created through serious breaches of peremptory norms of international law, nor to render aid or assistance in maintaining such situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, the principle of the non-recognition of unlawful territorial acquisition, reflected in the Charter of the United Nations and reaffirmed in consistent international practice, requires third States to refrain from conduct capable of implying recognition of sovereignty over territories whose status remains unresolved under international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this context, official diplomatic visits by senior representatives of third States to occupied Western Sahara, particularly where accompanied by support for investment initiatives or public endorsement of projects implemented under the authority of the occupying Power, risk undermining these well-established principles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adala UK therefore respectfully urges the Government of the United States to ensure that its diplomatic and economic engagement concerning Western Sahara is fully consistent with international law, the Charter of the United Nations, and the Territory’s internationally recognised legal status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We further call upon all Member States of the United Nations to refrain from any action that could prejudice the unfinished process of decolonisation of Western Sahara or undermine the integrity, impartiality and credibility of the United Nations-led political process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The credibility of the rules-based international order depends upon the consistent application of international law. The unresolved status of Western Sahara cannot be altered through diplomatic practice, economic investment or political declarations, but only through the exercise by the Sahrawi people of their inalienable right to self-determination in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the relevant resolutions of the United Nations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Adala UK expresses its profound concern regarding the official visit of the Ambassador of the United States of America to the occupied city of Laayoune in Western Sahara, and the participation of United States officials in the promotion of investment projects within the occupied Territory. As an independent London-based organisation committed to the promotion of international law, the rule of law, and the protection of human rights, Adala UK considers these developments to be incompatible with the legal status of Western Sahara under international law and inconsistent with the obligations incumbent upon third States in relation to situations of occupation and unresolved processes of decolonisation. Western Sahara remains a Non-Self-Governing Territory under Chapter XI of the Charter of the United Nations and continues to appear on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories. The Territory remains under the consideration of the United Nations Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization Committee), reflecting the international community’s continued recognition that the process of decolonisation has not yet been completed. Furthermore, the United Nations has never recognised Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. Rather, the Territory remains the subject of an ongoing United Nations-led political process intended to enable the Sahrawi people to exercise their inalienable right to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6275,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93,1,95],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adalauk.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6274"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adalauk.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adalauk.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adalauk.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adalauk.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6274"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/adalauk.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6276,"href":"https:\/\/adalauk.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6274\/revisions\/6276"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adalauk.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adalauk.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adalauk.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adalauk.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}