HRC 57th session: 40 Countries Reaffirm Support for Morocco’s Full Sovereignty over its Sahara

Some forty countries reaffirmed on Tuesday their support for Morocco’s full sovereignty over its Sahara during the 57th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC), held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. This group of countries expressed support for Morocco’s territorial integrity in a statement delivered on its behalf by Ambassador Hector Virgilio Alcántara, Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic, during the general debate on the annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights in the world. In this respect, the group highlighted Morocco’s “constructive, voluntary, and profound” interaction with the UN human rights system. “Morocco has for many years engaged in constructive, voluntary, and profound interaction with the United Nations human rights system, in particular the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), for the promotion and respect of human rights throughout its territory,” said Mr. Virgilio Alcántara in this statement under Item 2 of the session’s agenda. In its resolutions on the Sahara dispute, he recalled, the UN Security Council welcomed the role played by the National and Regional Human Rights Commissions in Dakhla and Laâyoune and the interaction between Morocco and the special procedures of the United Nations Human Rights Council. In its statement, the group also welcomed the opening by many countries of Consulates General in the cities of Dakhla and Laâyoune, which represent “a lever for strengthening economic cooperation and investment, to the benefit of local populations and regional and continental development.” “The Sahara issue is a political dispute dealt with by the Security Council, which recognizes the preeminence of the autonomy initiative presented by Morocco as a credible and serious option for a definitive political solution to the regional dispute over the Sahara,” he added. In this respect, the group affirms its support for efforts aimed at relaunching the exclusively UN-based political process on the basis of the format established at the two Geneva round tables, in accordance with Security Council resolutions, notably the latest resolution 2703 of October 30, 2023, aimed at achieving a realistic, pragmatic, and lasting political compromise-based solution to this regional dispute. “The resolution of this regional dispute will contribute to realizing the legitimate aspirations of the African and Arab peoples for integration and development, an objective that Morocco continues to aim for and for which it is making sincere and ongoing efforts,” the Dominican ambassador concluded.