AFASPA Calls on France to Address Human Rights Violations in Occupied Western Sahara

BY: Dr. Hana Saada  

Algiers, Algeria | October 28th, 2024 — In a compelling appeal to President Emmanuel Macron, the French Association for Friendship and Solidarity with African Peoples (AFASPA) has highlighted the Moroccan authorities’ increasing restrictions on international access to Western Sahara, a non-autonomous territory occupied by Morocco for nearly half a century. The letter, authored by Jean-Paul Escoffier, President of AFASPA, coincides with Macron’s upcoming visit to Morocco, urging France to advocate for human rights monitoring in the disputed region before the UN Security Council.

AFASPA reports that between 2002 and 2013, foreign observers—journalists, human rights defenders, attorneys, and photographers—had access to Western Sahara. However, since January 2014, Morocco has expelled 296 individuals of 21 different nationalities from 4 continents, aiming to investigate the conditions of the last African population that has not yet achieved self-determination. The individuals expelled include representatives from several prominent organizations, such as the Carter Center from the United States, Human Rights Watch, Avocats Sans Frontières ‘Lawyers Without Borders’ from Belgium, and Amnesty International in London, among others.

According to AFASPA’s data, those expelled include 129 Norwegians, 105 Spaniards, nine Swedes, six Italians, and multiple others from countries, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Tunisia, Denmark, and Japan. The organization’s letter highlights that even the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has been denied entry to Western Sahara for the past nine consecutive years, a fact mentioned in the UN Secretary-General’s report on the region, dated October 1, 2024. The report, to be discussed by the Security Council, notes the dire conditions faced by Sahrawi detainees and the pressing need for unrestricted human rights access.

Jean-Paul Escoffier’s letter urges France to act in line with “its historical commitment to human rights, as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted in Paris in 1948.” Citing Article 6 of UN General Assembly Resolution 1514 on the right to independence for colonized peoples, the letter underscores that “any attempt to partially or wholly destroy a nation’s unity and territorial integrity is incompatible with the principles of the UN Charter.” AFASPA calls upon France to propose, or at least not oppose, an extension of MINURSO’s mandate to include human rights monitoring in Western Sahara.

The letter is a stark reminder of the systemic restrictions on access to Western Sahara, designed to prevent international scrutiny of the region’s human rights conditions. AFASPA’s message also serves as a call to action for France to uphold its commitment to global human rights and support a UN mission that includes independent and impartial human rights monitoring in Western Sahara.

Escoffier’s appeal reminds France of its legacy and moral obligations, stating, “France, a beacon of human rights, must advocate for the UN’s responsibility in ensuring a regular, comprehensive, and objective assessment of human rights in Western Sahara to protect all its inhabitants.”

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