Press Release From the Sahrawi Community in USA

March 17, 2006

An Appeal to the United Nations for the Self Determination for Sahrawis


Self determination is not a de stabilizing concept. Self determination and democracy go hand in hand. If democracy means the rule of the people, by the people, for the people, then the principle of self determination secures that no one people may rule another - and herein lies its enduring appeal. Therefore, sahrawis are no exception to this especially that they are a minority in North Africa.
All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development, Article 1.1, The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966
the principle and fundamental right of self-determination is firmly established in international law..." Barcelona UNESCO Conference 1998.
The belief that each nation has a right to constitute an independent state and determine its own government is an essential and an instrumental element in the world stability. Sahrawis have long dreamt of an independent country where their children can grow freely and build their own country.

What exactly is a nation? A ‘nation’ is a group of people who share a significant number (but by means necessarily all) of the following attributes: history, language, ethnic origin, religion, political belief, fear of the same adversaries. In short, a nation may be defined as ‘a community that is, or wishes to be, a state. Western Sahara is a solid example, and sahrawis believe strongly that they have all the potentials to be a nation state with sovereignty over their own land. Restrictions on self-determination threaten not only democracy itself but the state which seeks its legitimation in democracy.

The appeal of the principle of national self-determination is simple, for it is surely better that nations should determine their own destinies than that someone else should do it for them. The concept of national self-determination appears to express the idea of democracy, according to which the people are presumed to be best qualified to govern themselves. International law also appears to recognize the right to national self-determination unreservedly.

Therefore, all Sahrawis urge the United Nations and the whole world to come to the rescue of the sahrawis and to condemn the illegal occupation of Western Sahara by Morocco. We, the Sahrawis, demand that we should be given the right of self-determination and to be enabled to express ourselves freely and to be given the right to decide our fate within the international legitimacy and according the United Nations chart.

The Sahrawis Community in USA.