Udenrigsudvalget 2015-16
URU Alm.del Bilag 63
Offentligt
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AIDE-MEMOIR
ON THE HOLDING OF THE ANNUAL SESSION OF CRANS MONTANA FORUM IN THE
OCCUPIED CITY OF DAJLA IN WESTERN SAHARA IN MARCH 2016
The Swiss-registered organisation, the Crans Montana Forum, based in the
Principality of Monaco, is planning to hold for the second time its annual session in
the city of Dajla (Dakhla) in the Moroccan-occupied territories of Western
Sahara on 17-22 March 2016.
Western Sahara is still on the UN agenda as a Non-Self-Governing Territory
pending decolonisation. It has never been part of Morocco that continues to
occupy illegally large parts of the Territory since 31 October 1975.
In its historic advisory opinion on Western Sahara, issued on 16 October 1975,
the International Court of Justice clearly established that there never existed any
tie of territorial sovereignty between Western Sahara and Morocco or
Mauritania. In 2002, the UN Under-Secretary for legal Affairs, Hans Corell,
issued an advisory opinion at the request of the UN Security Council in which he
reaffirmed unequivocally that Morocco does not exercise any sovereignty or
administering power over Western Sahara.
The United Nations, the Organisation of African Unity (now the African Union)
and the international community as a whole have never approved Morocco’s
occupation of Western Sahara or recognised the legality of its forceful
annexation of the Territory.
In accordance with its doctrine of not recognising as legal any territorial
acquisition resulting from the use of force, the UN General Assembly has clearly
described Morocco’s presence in Western Sahara as an act of occupation by
force (res. 34/37 of 21 November 1979 and res. 35/19 of 11 November
1980).
Following the action brought on 19 November 2012 by the Frente POLISARIO
against the EU Council’s decision 2012/497/EU of 8 March 2012 on the
conclusion of an agreement between the EU and Morocco over reciprocal
liberalisation measures on agricultural and fishery products, the General Court of
the European Union in Luxembourg delivered its judgment, on 10 December
2015, granting the annulment of the contested decision insofar as it approves the
application to Western Sahara of the agreement referred therein (para. 251.1).
The judgment also recalled that Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara is
not recognised by the European Union and its Member States or by the United
Nations, while noting the absence of any international mandate that may justify
the Moroccan presence in this Territory (para. 241).
As an occupying power, Morocco thus has no right whatsoever to deal with third
parties concerning the Non-Self-Governing Territory of Western Sahara.
Together with its obstructionist attitude towards the UN-led peace process in
Western Sahara, Morocco continues to violate systematically human rights and
international humanitarian law in the territories of Western Sahara under its
illegal occupation. Moreover, Morocco persists in plundering illegally the natural
resources of the occupied Territory often in complicity with foreign entities and in
blatant violation of the permanent sovereignty of the Sahrawi people over their
natural resources.
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 URU, Alm.del - 2015-16 - Bilag 63: Afholdelsen af Crans Montana Forums årsmøde i Dakhla, Vestsahara, i marts 2016
The decision taken by the Crans Montana Forum to hold again its annual session
in the occupied city of Dajla is clearly contrary to the rights and interests of the
Sahrawi people and to the relevant principles of international law applicable to
Western Sahara as a Non-Self-Governing Territory.
The Sahrawi Government and the leadership of the Frente POLISARIO have
officially expressed once again to the Crans Montana Forum their deep concern
about the planned meeting, which is another provocative move that may have
adverse consequences on the current developments of the question of Western
Sahara.
Deeply concerned about the Crans Montana’s decision to hold its 2015 Forum in
the occupied Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa, the African Union, of
which the Sahrawi Republic is a founding Member State, unanimously adopted an
important declaration, on 31 January 2015, urging the Swiss organisation and
all organisers to cancel that meeting, as it would be a grave violation of the
International Law. It further called upon the AU Member States, African civil
society and all organisations not to participate in the meeting.
In its latest summit held in Addis Ababa on 30-31 January 2016, the Assembly of
the African Union reiterated its declaration adopted at its 24
th
session regarding
the convening by the Crans Montana Forum of a meeting in the occupied city of
Dakhla, in Western Sahara. In view of the intention of this entity to convene a
similar event in the Territory in 2016, the Assembly called on Crans Montana to
desist from this activity and appealed to all Member States, African civil society
organisations and other relevant actors to boycott any such event.
Following press reports of an alleged high-level United Nations presence in the
2015 meeting in the occupied city of Dajla, the spokesperson of the UN
Secretary-General issued a note to correspondents on 14 March 2014 indicating
that the Secretary-General had not delegated anyone to represent him or the
United Nations in that meeting. He further noted that the definitive status of
Western Sahara was the object of a negotiating process being conducted under
the auspices of the Secretary-General in accordance with the relevant United
Nations resolutions.
In view of the strong opposition and denunciation expressed last year by the
African Union and many governments, personalities and NGOs around the world,
holding an event of such nature in the occupied city of Dajla is clearly to play
into the hands of Morocco’s colonialist policy in Western Sahara in a way that
will only complicate the situation on the ground and fuel more tension in the
region.
All necessary representations should therefore be made towards the Crans
Montana Forum and its associated partners and sponsors to urge them to refrain
from holding its 2016 session in the occupied city of Dajla.
It is also crucial that national organisations and institutions that intend to
participate in this Forum are urged to refrain from taking part in this event. They
should be made aware that it is not in their interest to be associated with any
acts that may lend legitimacy to an illegal and brutal occupation that persists in
violating fundamental human rights and denying an entire people their
inalienable right to self-determination and freedom.
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