Facing the imminent organization of elections by Morocco in the occupied Sahrawi territories, political detainees from the Gdeim Izik group urge the Sahrawi population to execute a widespread boycott. This ballot, labeled a political mockery, aims to disguise the reality of a colonial status quo and validate military annexation just as the UN Security Council prepares to debate the future of Minurso.
These elections occur during a crucial juncture for the Sahrawi cause, weeks away from the debate on the matter at the UN Security Council, where the dossier regarding the future of the UN Mission responsible for organizing a self-determination referendum (Minurso) will be presented, thus placing the international community before its historical and legal obligations.
These elections intend to construct a pseudo-democratic facade, designed for internal consumption and aimed at presenting a misleading electoral and political “truth” to global observers. It primarily serves to legitimize the annexation of Western Sahara and seal off all civil resistance from the Sahrawi people in this territory. Tens of thousands of Moroccan settlers, now illegitimate residents in El-Aaiun, Smara, or Dakhla, along with military personnel stationed in barracks and trenches, are mobilized to infiltrate all territorial structures and permanently alter local political sociology.
Confronting this clumsy tactic, prisoners from the Gdeim Izik group urged the Sahrawi people in the occupied territories of Western Sahara, Saturday, to massively boycott these Moroccan elections. They also urged their compatriots to defend revolutionary awareness, national identity, and the unalienable right to freedom and independence for the Sahrawi people, erecting a civic defense against the occupant’s expansionist ambitions.
According to a release distributed by the Sahrawi Press Agency, Sahrawi detainees characterized the Moroccan elections as a “political maneuver aimed at consolidating the colonial status quo,” asserting that Sahrawi participation in these votes under foreign control would represent a harmful form of validating the occupation and a lasting damage to the Sahrawi national cause.
The brave captives of Gdeim Izik urged a firm rejection of any form of normalization with the institutions of the Moroccan occupation, emphasizing that Sahrawi resistance will remain deeply civil and peaceful, while reaffirming their steadfast devotion to the Polisario Front, the sole legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people acknowledged across international bodies.
It is clear that these elections in the occupied Sahrawi territories will merely be an orchestrated electoral mockery, while the local humanitarian and human rights situation continues to be catastrophic. Serious violations of these rights, alongside systematic police suppression against Sahrawi civilians, are daily recorded and denounced by local activists despite the immense perils involved.
For over ten years, no independent international organization, humanitarian NGO, or UN delegation has been allowed free entry into the Sahrawi territory. Worse, independent journalists and human rights observers have been routinely turned back at the borders during every travel attempt.
The Makhzen has thus converted the Sahrawi territory into a lawless zone under strict blockade, relentlessly pursuing arbitrary arrests, drastic limits on travel and peaceful assemblies, while expanding targeted retaliation against any Sahrawi civilian daring to cooperate or communicate with Minurso personnel or human rights advocates.
This alarming condition has been regularly and vigorously denounced in foreign diplomatic arenas, the most recent taking place in Geneva during the sixty-third session of the UN Human Rights Council.
During these critical proceedings, the coordinator of the Sahrawi Observatory for Natural Resources and Environmental Protection solemnly stated that independent entry to occupied Western Sahara remains tightly restricted for decades to come for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN special rapporteurs, as well as investigative journalists and international monitors.
She firmly highlighted that the complete lack of independent oversight concrete means victims are abandoned in utter isolation, making precise documentation of facts increasingly difficult and proactive prevention of daily abuses extremely complex for the global community.
The Sahrawi activist deeply regretted that Minurso remains to this day the only UN peacekeeping mission lacking any specific mandate regarding human rights monitoring, a legal irregularity that clearly suits Rabat and emboldens it to persist with impunity in its blatant violations of Sahrawi rights and direct attacks on their fundamental freedoms.