Norwegian Labour Party: "Time for an independent Western Sahara"
"Western Sahara must now have its independence", stated the congress of the Norwegian Labour Party today.
Published 17 April 2015
The text below was today adopted by the biannual congress of the Norwegian Labour Party.
The text was approved in Norwegian. This is an unofficial English translation made by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara.
In a world where news media conitunously report on terror, new armed conflict and humanitarian crisis, protracted injustice and human sufferings must not be forgotten. Western Sahara is the last colony in Africa and a large part of the country is occupied by Morocco. The population, and particularly the Saharawis in neighbouring Algeria, are living under harsh conditions, and human rights violations are committed regularly. The Moroccan occupation is in violation of international law, and Western Sahara must now have its independence. The Labour Party demands that Norway gets engaged in order to the parties reaching a political solution to the conflict contributing to the Saharawis legitimate right to self-determination and freedom of organisation. Norway must double the humanitarian aid to the Saharawi people. The mandate of MINURSO (The United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara) must be expanded to include the surveillance of the human rights situation in its territory. Norway must advise against Norwegian business engagements in Western Sahara, in line with the trade recommendation issued by the Government Stoltenberg II, and work in other international fora for other countries do the same. The Labour Party demands that Norway continues the practice of excluding companies carrying out exploration and exploitation of natural resources in Western Sahara. The Labour party also demands that civilian sentence in military courts have their new trials, in line with international legal principles. We will take initiatives to put pressure on Spain and France in the question of Western Sahara in relevant fora, such as Party of European Socialists. The Labour Party will work to have Norway recognising Western Sahara as an independent state once the international law criteria have been fulfilled.
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