Fourth Committee, 5th plenary meeting - General Assembly, 81st session General Assembly Date: 7 October 2026 Language: English Transcript: https://transcripts.un.org/en/ga/c4/81/5 Transcripts available through this tool are created by using automatic speech recognition and are not official records nor official documents of the United Nations. Official records and official documents are available on the Official Document System of the United Nations. --- 4th Committee · Chair [14:48]: Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I call to order the fifth meeting of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee. Before proceeding further, I wish to remind delegations that the deadline for submission of proposals on decolonization items and on the item eradicating colonialism in all its forms and manifestations is today at 6 p.m. Before we continue the hearing of petitioners on the question of Western Sahara, let me once again remind all speakers of the need for decorum. I emphasize again that petitioners are given the floor to provide information through their statements only. Accordingly, no flags or banners should be displayed in the conference room. I request petitioners on my right to please remain silent. I request you to refrain from straying from the item and the territory under the consideration and to respect decorum. Otherwise, I will have to give the floor to the next speaker. I urge all petitioners to respect the time limit of three minutes for their intervention and to pay attention to the light on their microphone, which will begin to flash one minute before the end of the allotted time. The microphone will be automatically cut off once the allotted time has ended. Speakers are reminded to speak at a reasonable speed so that interpretation may be provided properly. Please submit your statements in advance to e-statements@un.org to support the interpreters. Furthermore, Please be advised that only accredited media representatives escorted by a representative of the Department of Global Communications will be permitted to film petitioner statements. In this regard, I recall that the meetings of the Fourth Committee are being webcast. We will now continue to hear petitioners under the question of Western Sahara. Before giving the floor to the first petitioner, May I ask petitioners to press the microphone button only when I call their name. This way the sound engineer can give you the floor. The microphone will turn red when your microphone is activated. I now give the floor. Dr. Lakhilafi Tarek. Petitioner [18:19]: In the name of God, most gracious, most merciful, Mr. Chair, members of the Fourth Committee. It's my honor to deliver the statement today in order to contribute to upholding values of dialogue and transparency. I am here today in order to shed light on an issue that requires intensive diplomatic efforts in order to reach a comprehensive solution. 4th Committee · Chair [18:44]: Please speak at a reasonable speed, because I'm listening to interpretation, says the chair. Thank you. You have the floor again. Petitioner [19:05]: We are here in order to call for a political settlement of this protracted conflict in full respect of international law and the Charter of the United Nations. Upholding a political settlement under UN auspices is not a diplomatic option, but it is rather the only means in order to ensure regional stability in Northern Africa. In this context, We must pursue our efforts to allow the Sahrawis to exercise their legitimate right to self-determination in accordance with agreed-upon democratic principles. This is essential for any just and lasting solution. If we take a look at the situation in the Western Sahara, we realize that we must uphold the state as a territory awaiting decolonization. In this context, we call for refraining from any unilateral measure that is likely to change the status quo or affect peaceful settlement. All economic activities must be aligned with international law and the courts of international court judgment in order to preserve the natural resources of the Western Sahara. In this context, upholding human rights and building bridges of trust among parties are essential for any political progress and diplomatic solution. We must facilitate the work of UN human rights missions in order to uphold transparency, and this to create a climate conducive to bring parties closer in order to create a climate conducive for the stability for all peoples of the region. The legal and political frame of reference is clear and is unwavering in the UN documents. Security Council resolutions and resolutions of the General Assembly have identified the prospects for a peaceful solution. We need to mobilize international will in order to translate these resolutions into practical measures on the ground. And context, I would like to commend the vital role of the Fourth Committee of the General Assembly. Its outcomes and recommendations reflect international consensus on the moral responsibility of the UN towards this issue. If we uphold these outcomes, we will be upholding multilateral action and we will ensure diplomatic efforts. Any efforts that go beyond the auspices of the UN or that overlook historic decisions will only compound the political process. This is why we must support the efforts of the Secretary General and his personal envoy in order to achieve peace. Ladies and gentlemen, our world faces today complex challenges. We must uphold the values of constructive dialogue, not confrontation. The microphone was. Speaker 5 [21:47]: Cut off. 4th Committee · Chair [21:48]: I thank the petitioner. I now give the floor to Jawad Dakaqi. Petitioner [21:56]: Mr. Chair. Ladies and gentlemen, members of the Fourth Committee, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, it's my honor to take this statement on behalf of the Jeanne Chamber International in order to defend an international law principle. There can be no peace without responsibility, and the human rights cannot be upheld without accountability. The Moroccan Sahara cannot be addressed if we do not address the situation of those detained in Tindouf camps. These camps are on Algerian territory. Algeria is the host country, and as such, it cannot overlook the situation in these camps. It cannot deal with this situation as an external issue. UN mechanisms have shown that Polisario is in charge of the situation there. This raises several question marks about how to uphold the fundamental human rights of those people on Algerian territory. This raises a clear question. How can we overlook the responsibility of a state for the protection of those people on its territory at a time when an armed group is exercising de facto situation and control over these people? The Polisario Front is the authority inside camps, and it must not enjoy any political immunity from its acts and practices. Over the years, there has been documented evidence by civil society organizations and international experts about the arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture, and restriction of rights and freedoms in Tindouf camps. We are not issuing prejudice here, but we are calling for an independent investigation to ascertain facts and to identify responsibilities on the basis of the law and evidence. Algeria, as a host country, must be -- must shoulder its responsibility, and the Polisario must be held responsible for its behavior. This is not actually our true objective. Our true objective is to end the plight of the Sahrawi detainees. In this context, we believe that the most realistic and sustainable solution is Morocco's autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty. This can ensure the rights and will help achieve development and uphold human dignity. Autonomy is an opportunity to end the deadlock, opening up the doors for development and regional integration. This is the practical means to end the plight of the people and to resolve the conflict. The time has come move from conflict management into conflict settlement. The plight of the people must be put at the core of the solution. The Sahrawis deserve peace, stability, and development. They also deserve a future free from camps. The only definitive and realistic solution -- Microphone was cut off. 4th Committee · Chair [25:00]: I thank the petitioner. I give the floor to the following speaker, but before I will remind you that only representatives of accredited media accompanied by a representative of the GGC will be permitted to film petitioner statements. In that regard, I recall also that the meetings of the Fourth Committee are being webcast. Petitioners must remain in their seats. I now give the floor to Rota Leon Ramirez. Petitioner [26:04]: Mr. Chair, talking about Tindouf and the humanitarian situation that has been ongoing for more than half a century, five decades during which entire generations have been born and have grown up in camps on Algerian territory, depending largely on international assistance, without the international community ever having been able to put an end to a situation that should never have turned into a permanent one. Recent UN data eloquent and speak for themselves the world World Food Program states that currently 78% of salary refugees face a situation of food insecurity while acute malnutrition affects 11% of children between six months and five years of age and women between 15 and 49 years of age face an alarming 53.5% rate of anaemia. This is the reality that we are seeing in 2026. However, there's an even deeper running question, which is who is ensuring the rights of these people in the camps and protecting them? For years, the Security Council has reiterated its repress request rather to carry out a census over the refugees in the camps and the relevant resolution adopted in October 2025 raises the concern of the international community we're not seeing an exclusively Moroccan demand this is a situation that has been repeatedly be made by the Security Council. For Morocco, this issue is fundamental and it means protecting and halting the situation. This is one of the most protracted refugee crises in the world and the situation remains difficult. It's necessary to do more than just definitively addressing the humanitarian emergency. There needs to be perspectives for the future. That's why the Kingdom of Morocco is defining a pragmatic, lasting solution to autonomy. Our position is based on a simple conviction. No conflict should last for more than a generation. 4th Committee · Chair [29:08]: I thank the petitioner. I thank the petitioner. Before giving the floor to the next speaker, I recall that petitioners must remain in their allocated seats. They must not take the seats of member states or sit behind the seats of member states. If the gentleman sitting in the seat of El Salvador is not a member of the delegation, I now give the floor to David Alejandro. Toro. I give the floor to David Alejandro Toro Ramirez. Congressman [30:24]: Chairman, Vice-Chairs, distinguished delegates, I am extremely grateful for this opportunity to come back to address this Commission again. Since I was elected as a congressman, I have sought to ensure that in Colombia people are aware of Western Sahara and the human beings that live in this corner of the world, who should have the same right as any other people to self-determination. Two years ago, the government of Colombia had the same position. The first international decision of President Gustavo Petro, in fact, was reestablishing diplomatic relations with the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and recognizing the sovereignty of the Sahrawi people over their territory. It really pains me to have to come back to this forum to tell you that the current government of my country, under the leadership of Abelardo de la Espriella, has once again turned its back on the Sahrawi people. From this seat, I express my absolute rejection of the decision taken by President Abdel Nasser to recognise the occupation of Western Sahara, which serves to build an international narrative that legitimises colonisation. It is not a coincidence that, when Gustavo Petro during his presidency stated that it was a sovereign territory that then Abelardo de la Striea put afterwards the Colombian government on the side of oppression and injustice. This decision must be understood from a context of the rise of the far right in Latin America, which is being encouraged by transnational political and economic powers. which human rights are an inconvenience an idea that should be destroyed in order uh to benefit um the vested interests of just a few Peru Bolivia and Chile countries that um have um seen leaders of the cut from the same cloth of in Colombia have also announced this year positions that disregard the Saree sovereignty over their land showing complete alienation and alignment total alignment with the United States on this and other international issues nevertheless Colombia still has people who are opposed strongly to a world where the Sahrawi people are not able to decide on their own destiny. Since the historic agreement, we have expressed our rejection of the position of the current president and our intention for Colombia and the world to recognize the right of the Western Sahara to live free from oppression, violence and injustice. Therefore, I respectfully request that we keep international spaces led by the United Nations. The speaker's microphone was cut off. 4th Committee · Chair [33:32]: I thank the petitioner and I now give the floor to John Jairo Perez Vargas. Petitioner [33:43]: Distinguished president, petitioners, I'm part of the network of investigation on justice for the Latin American Institute of The Hague. When the United Nations was created, the world committed to upholding stability and to respect the self-determination of peoples and to protect human rights. These are principles that remain the raison d'etre of the work of this organization and in particular of this Committee on Decolonization. Western Sahara has been on the list of non-autonomous territories pending decolonisation since 1973, pursuant to the relevant resolution. Since 1991, we have had MINURSO in place to oversee the ceasefire. and a commitment to organize a self-determination referendum. It's obvious that today that there's still a lot of work to be done to fulfill this mandate that has been in place more than three decades. What's more, MINURSO is one of the few UN missions without an explicit human rights monitoring component. The Security Council and other offices like the OHCHR and Human Rights Watch have been asking for years to include this territory, as well as the refugee camps of Tindouf, on their agenda. It is frankly unacceptable that for more than five decades since this mission was created, this has not been followed up on. No procedural argument can justify us closing the door to independent overseeing of the human rights of the Sahrawi people. Given the above, I respectfully request this Assembly to ensure that the United Nations, as far as possible, expand its presence in Western Sahara through its different commissions, delegations, programmes, to ensure that there are independent eyes on the ground, so that we can thereby respect the human rights of the Sahrawi people. Second demand, for this commission to recommend the Security Council to include without delay an independent, permanent, impartial human rights monitoring mechanism within the mandate of MINURSO, as requested by the OHCHR, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Third demand, we should ensure access to mechanisms of protection and complaints before international human rights mechanisms, and this for people on the ground and in the camps. Thank you very much for your attention. 4th Committee · Chair [36:37]: I thank the petitioner. I now give the floor to Martha Chavez Cossio. Petitioner [36:47]: Chair, the question of the Sahara cannot be analyzed solely based on misleading data that seeks to pretend to be the truth. They need to be analyzed based on fact and observed realities. And these realities are very different. Resolution 2735 of the Security Council puts the Moroccan question at the heart of negotiation and establishes that an autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty represents the most viable solution. This is in perfect harmony with the concrete reality that exists in the cities of the Moroccan Sahara that enjoy palpable developments, progress, and whose populations elect their local, regional, and national representatives. That reality includes a concrete economic and diplomatic momentum. More than 30 countries from four continents have opened general consulates in cities of the Moroccan Sahara, and others, such as Peru, have announced that they plan to do so. Such a significant consular presence represents political and economic recognition of the sovereignty of Morocco over its southern provinces, as well as a clear message of trust in the stability, development, and economic opportunities that the Kingdom offers, in particular for the Moroccan Sahara, which has turned into an increasingly attractive area for trade, investment, and regional cooperation. This auspicious reality stands in contrast with the dark situation of the Tindouf camps, where No official census of the population has yet been carried out. The census is not just a mere administrative formality. It is fundamental to identify needs, protect persons, and guarantee transparency in humanitarian assistance. Indeed, how can we guarantee that humanitarian assistance effectively reaches those it is destined to reach when there is no individual census of the population of the camps. The European Office of Fighting Against Fraud has identified cases of diversion of humanitarian aid in these camps. The host country cannot shirk its responsibilities for the camps located on its territory. They must ensure transparency of assistance in line with norms of applicable international law. The future must be built on the basis of realistic, sustainable solutions that are in line with the aspirations of affected populations, as is done by the autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty. This is the only solution on the negotiating table and the only prospect to end this artificial conflict that has lasted too long. Thank you very much. 4th Committee · Chair [39:45]: I thank the petitioner. I now give the floor to Harold Koch. Expert [39:53]: Mr. Chair, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Harald Troch, expert on ethnic minorities, self-administration and autonomy. I'm historian, former MP and human rights spokesman of the Austrian Parliament. Time is ready for peace and the solution of the Western Sahara conflict. More than ever before, the autonomy of the Western Sahara has come into the focus of the political debate. The road of the United Nations is clear and outspoken. The resolution 2797 of 2025, adopted by the Security Council a year ago is clear in its direction. This resolution acknowledges the support of so many member states for Morocco's autonomy proposal presented in 2007 as a basis for a just, lasting, and mutually acceptable solution to the dispute, recognizing the genuine autonomy and the Moroccan sovereignty should be considered as the most feasible solution. So let us base our discussion realistic grounds and open and concrete debate here and now for the framework of the genuine autonomy that is best to exercise the internal self-administration. The Austrian government considers this autonomy plan by Morocco as a serious, credible to the United nations that political process and as a basis for a solution agreed upon by the all the parties. Autonomy models do work. Let me present the autonomy model of South Tyrol. South Tyrol in the heart of Europe, once a bloody battleground in World War One between Austria and Italy, now a province in Italy with its own rule and rights, with internal self-determination and autonomy. Can we learn from the South Tyrol? Because it was a long political road with bloody conflicts, but the conflict parties were ready to compromise. The autonomy is a success because it is A, a compromise, and B, due to international guarantees. Let me present a very personal experience visiting Dakhla in the Western Sahara. I met local people like construction workers and engineers at the future Atlantic deepwater port, the most impressive project. I met Sahara people from clans and tribes. My impressions? I found developing education and training, creating jobs and future for tens of thousands of people. My conclusions? The Maghreb region and Sahel needs peace, stability and development. Put an end to instability, to terrorism and wars. Put an end to inhuman and harsh conditions in refugee camps like Tindouf. As an expert for human rights, ethnic minorities, I call the autonomy plan presented by Morocco as a compromise and solution consistent with international law. This realistic autonomy plan enjoys growing support. Give autonomy a chance is to give peace a chance. Thank you. 4th Committee · Chair [42:54]: I thank the speaker. I recall that petitioners are not allowed to display banners or flags in the meeting room. This will lead to interruptions. I now give the floor to Jamal Kamal. Petitioner [43:14]: Mr. Chair, ladies and gentlemen, your excellencies, at the beginning of my intervention, I want to express my pleasure to attend the Fourth Committee that works on decolonization. I am honored to speak to you today to assure you that the autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty is the only real, serious, and sustainable method to reach a final political settlement for this fabricated regional conflict. Mr. Chair, 18 years after Morocco presented its proposal in 2007, there is now increasing international consensus that this plan is the only possible solution. Why? First, because it is realistic and viable, unlike the separatist proposals, which have been proven to be a failure over 50 years. Autonomy comes from reality, from the historic agreement, and from the legal links that were approved by the ICJ in 1975, and from the approach that is applied by Morocco successfully everywhere. Second, because it is serious and Morocco presented a project that gives the people of the Moroccan Sahara vast autonomy to work on their own local affairs, legislation, economy, culture, education, and health. The Moroccan Kingdom maintains sovereignty such as defense, external relationships, and territorial integrity. This is a balance that ensures dignity for people and maintains the unity of the state. Third, because it is sustainable. This solution guarantees stability and security in the Sahel and North Africa and guarantees development. The southern regions have major development programs in Africa, such as ports, renewable energy, and investments that have gone beyond $8 billion. This is because of the stability and security provided by Morocco. Mr. Chair, the Fourth Committee knows that the solution can only be consensual, through consensus and political, and the autonomy proposal is the only one that has the support of more than 100 states, and more than 28 consulates have been opened in Al-Ayun and Al-Dakhla, including the Kingdom of Bahrain, and with the recognition of the United States of America of the sovereignty of Morocco over its Sahara. As for the attempts to impede the political path and to detain people in the Tindouf camps in inhumane conditions and deprive them of their right to express, this is what prolongs the conflict. In conclusion, I call on this committee to support the efforts of the personal personal representative of the Secretary General, and to encourage all parties to go into roundtables based on this proposal. Peace begins when we select realistic solutions and unity of people. Thank you. 4th Committee · Chair [46:17]: I thank the petitioner, and I now give the floor to Mahmoud or Rahman Anwar. International human rights consultant [46:25]: Mr. Chair, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Anwar, international human rights consultant based in Switzerland. I would like to address the situation of the Sahrawi refugee camps around Tindouf, particularly the question of representativeness and accountability of Polisario Front and the human rights situation of those living under the administration. According to the United Nations, numerous Sahrawi refugees live in five camps around Tindouf. UN agencies, including UNHCR, WFP, UNICEF, and WHO, together with humanitarian partners, provide essential assistance to the population. We are talking about the large number of people who have lived for decades in highly vulnerable situation. But there is an important question that deserves greater international attention. The camps are administered through a system in which Sahrawi refugees leaders exercise substantial authority. The U.S. Department of the State has reported that the five camps are administered by the Polisario Front, and their remote location and lack of government presence have resulted in limited access to police and the courts. More importantly, the UN Human Rights Committee has expressed concern about the effective delegation of authority to the Polisario Front, particularly the judicial authority. It specifically noted concern that the victims of violations in Tindouf camps may not have access to an effective remedy through Algerian courts. There are also documented cases concerning individuals who challenge the authority of the Polisario leadership. Amnesty International has likewise called the situation in Tindouf camps "opaque," noting limited access to the information about the human rights conditions and stating that the Polisario had failed to adequately address accountability of past abuses. Humanitarian assistance must never replace the human rights accountability. The international should therefore ensure that the huge population of those living in those camps have their voices heard independently of any political organization claiming to represent them. I propose the following. First, independent and sustained international human rights monitoring should have meaningful access to the Tindouf camps. Second, the international community should ensure the ordinary Sahrawis, including those who disagree with the Polisario leadership, can express their political views freely and participate meaningfully in decision concerning their future. Issue is not about choosing one political side another. It is about putting individuals in the center. These are many people who are not simply a political statistics. They are many human beings entitled to dignity, freedom, justice, and voice. I thank you. 4th Committee · Chair [49:24]: I thank the petitioner. I now give the floor to Henry Ramirez Soler. Speaker 23 [49:33]: Good afternoon, honorable chair, delegates. I make this statement before this distinguished assembly to defend the right to self-determination of the people of Western Sahara. The 40th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development offers an opportunity to once again place this right at the center of the international agenda. Adopted in 1986, the declaration recognizes development as an inalienable human right and establishes that all peoples are entitled to participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic, social, cultural, and political development in which all human rights can be fully realized. It also explicitly links the right to development with the rights of peoples to self-determination and sovereignty over their natural wealth and resources. This principle is deeply connected to the 2030 agenda and its sustainable development goals. There can be no sustainable development without justice, participation, equality, and respect for human rights. Nor can genuine development take hold where conflict, occupation, exclusion, and the denial of the rights of peoples persist. There can be no development without peace, just as there can be no lasting peace without justice and without conditions that allow peoples to freely decide their own future. In this context, the situation in Western Sahara reminds us that the right to development is inseparable from the right to self-determination. Creating the conditions for the people of Western Sahara To freely exercise this right and to move towards a political solution in accordance with international law also means creating the conditions for their social, economic, cultural, and political development. The 40th anniversary, therefore, invites us to reaffirm that development cannot be reduced to economic growth. It is above all the right of peoples to build their own future with freedom, dignity, participation, peace, and justice. Chair, distinguished delegates, it is imperative to continue pursuing African unity by recognizing the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as a-- 4th Committee · Chair [52:31]: the speaker. Speaker 25 [52:33]: Has been cut off. Chair [52:35]: I thank the petitioner. And I give the floor to Henri Diedrich. Petitioner [52:43]: Chairman, Excellencies, my work with many peoples has led me to a belief that sometimes diplomacy is not enough. The right of a people cannot be boiled down to borders, but rather affiliation, genealogy, or memory. rituals, the roads traveled by their ancestors. It's through this prism that the case of the Sahara deserves to be examined today. Well before the colonial borders were drawn, the Sahari tribes were led to the Moroccan Sultanate by the Bayah, renewed through centuries since the expeditions of the Sultan Ismail to the religious and administrative missions. Never was this a relationship of conquest. It was a situation of reciprocal obligations, protection, religious authorities from the sultanates, the loyalty of tribes who saw themselves as part of the same social and spiritual fabric, the same Trans-Saharan trade routes, the same caravans of pilgrims to Mecca under the protection of the sultan. And as you know, the International Court of Justice in 1975 recognized the real legal links between the Saori tribes and the successive Moroccan sultans. There's now a new political expression from this resolution 17. 97 of the Security Council, adopted and supported by 130 States in October 2025, recognizes the autonomy and Moroccan sovereignty as the most credible foundation for a lasting solution. Furthermore, 40 States have welcomed the commitment of Morocco to the UN human rights system, opening consulates in Doha and Laom. are not just symbolic gestures but rather instruments of investment and development shared by the communities whose ancestors have sworn to. Chairman, when history and diplomacy come together like this, we must pay particular attention to it. The rights of a people must be honored, not by imposing frameworks that are foreign to their history, but rather by recognizing their cultural, spiritual, and ancestral links that have always linked them. This is the definition of self-determination. In the case of the Sahara, it is not an invention, but simply recognizing its Moroccan nature. Thank you. Chair [55:44]: I thank the petitioner and give the floor to Amal Jabour. Petitioner [55:53]: Mr. Chair, after about half a century of conflict, I think the question is no longer about why it continues, but about the cost of its continuation. There are whole generations in Tindouf that only know waiting and relying on assistance and the absence of a clear political horizon. There are still questions that are being asked regarding statistics and census and the freedom of expression and transport and the protection of women and children. On the other hand, reality has changed on the ground. During my visit to the southern regions of the Moroccan Kingdom, I saw a new economic reality and infrastructure and ports and energy and investments and a connection to the African region. The region is changing into a strategic and economic system that is connected to the Atlantic Ocean and to Africa. It is difficult for the political discussion to continue as if this change has not happened. This experience has increased my conviction that the Moroccan Sahara is not waiting. It is advancing. It is building its future. And on the other side, the people of the Tindouf camps are still stuck in an area that has security risks and increasing threats, especially concerns regarding possible links between Polisario and terrorist networks working in the Sahel region. This caused a number of people of U.S. Congress to ask to have Polisario designated as a terrorist organization. For this reason, I see that the resolution should not should not be used as a tool. What we need to do is to use this situation as an opportunity that should not be missed to redirect the path. The Moroccan autonomy proposal under Moroccan sovereignty provides a realistic political option that places the interest of the people and their suffering in the forefront and provides a realistic and viable proposal to open a new page called interest and development and regional integration. For this We do not need to manage a conflict. What we need is a decision to end it. Time is not neutral. Reality is changing. Risks are increasing. In conclusion, it is a common responsibility and the international community must must dismantle the Tandoof camps and enable people to realize their rights and to push the political path towards a realistic path, which is the Moroccan proposal, which opens up a horizon of peace and development and stability for the region. Thank you, Mr. Chair. 4th Committee · Chair [58:40]: I thank the petitioner, and I give the floor to Ismail Abouy Bouchanan. Petitioner [58:49]: Mr. President, well, some in this, Morocco's process is advancing. The province is seeing an ongoing investment, socioeconomic transformation, contrast between the constantly evolving situation on the ground and the situation that's been condemned for decades. There's a continuation of arming the separatist groups and a question of foreign policy and we all know the answer. I'm sure that you all have it in your mind. I don't need to call it out. A country that claims that they are an observer and at the same time a stakeholder but whose political and military involvement is obvious. They claim to be an observer. Mr. President, the African continent doesn't need more separatists or fragmentation. It needs stability and cooperation, because each division takes us further from the goal of peace and development. And that's why, here in this room, we must focus on this great day, the 30th of October 2025, where the world came together to take a step to help the Maghreb turn the page. The credibility of the United Nations requires coherence. the Security Council resolution several elements need to be taken into account today more than 130 countries support Moroccan sovereignty and its autonomy plan including the European Union on behalf of its 27 member states and three permanent members of the Security Council bearing in mind that more than 30 countries from four continents today have representatives there this committee cannot ignore this. It's necessary to look at these evolutions and to be aware about the consequences. The separatists here choose to close their eyes. Sahara, those who claim that Sahara is not Moroccan, I ask you, well, the host country of Tindouf, the host country is turning its back on and the speaker's. Speaker 32 [1:01:48]: Microphone was cut off. 4th Committee · Chair [1:01:52]: I thank the petitioner and I give the floor to Eric Cameron. Petitioner [1:01:57]: Mr. President, Resolution 2797 marks a major political turning point, but it also requires us to put human beings back at the centre of this artificial conflict over Moroccan Sahara. In the Tindouf camps, we are facing a situation that is exceptional in terms of its duration and human consequences. Human rights are not an abstraction. They begin with values as fundamental as the right to live with dignity and to freely choose one's future. Yet, it is precisely this human dignity that seems to have been sidelined for decades by the host country. The contrast is striking. On the one hand, the indefinite prolongation of a situation of enslavement affecting thousands of women and children. On the other, an unprecedented dynamic of development and openness in the Moroccan Sahara. One cannot both be a participant in the conflict and a spectator of its consequences. The United Nations Human Rights Committee has reiterated that this state must ensure the liberty and the security of persons on its territory, including those in the Tindouf camps. Allegations of serious human rights violations are regularly reported, including arbitrary detentions, acts of torture, and restrictions targeting individuals who peacefully express support for Morocco's autonomy plan. The UN Human Rights Committee itself has expressed concerns regarding the de facto devolution of judicial powers to the Polisario in the Tindouf camps. No political calculations can justify indefinitely suspending the rights of the populations held in these camps. The host country, which participated in the negotiations in Washington and Madrid, based on the autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty, must also assume its responsibility by reaching out to the population in the Tindouf camps and allow them to choose freely. Either to join the unprecedented wave of development taking shape in the Moroccan Sahara, or to remain condemned to endure the hell of the Tindouf camps. 4th Committee · Chair [1:04:47]: I thank the petitioner, and I give the floor to Leila El Adfani. Petitioner [1:04:56]: Mr. Chair, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, based on my work on women's empowerment, I would like to address the question of the Sahara from a fundamental perspective. The Sahrawi mother and woman and her role in building peace and development and decision making. Empowering women not only means acknowledging their rights, but also to be an effective partner in political decision, economic development, social and institutional life. In the southern regions of the Moroccan Kingdom, the Sahrawi woman is now present in public life through participating in elected institutions, collective work, community work, and economic and social initiatives. And here is the main point. Women are not only benefiting development. They must be a partner in making development and to have a voice in identifying the priorities. In return, or in contrast, the situation in the Tindouf camps poses humanitarian, economic, and social challenges and makes the provision of stability, opportunities, and development a basic issue for the future of women. In this context, I see that the Moroccan autonomy initiative under Moroccan sovereignty proposes a practical framework to link political solution to participation and development. So for me, the solution is not just measured by ending a political conflict, but also by what can be provided to people and to women particularly, safety, dignity, education, opportunity, and participation. I believe that the Sahrawi women must not be merely beneficiaries to this solution, but also a main partner in building it and in building peace and development. Autonomy is a practical framework that combines political solution, development, and women's empowerment. Sustained peace begins when women become a partner, partners in building their future. In conclusion, I want to say we cannot build sustained peace without empowering women, women, and we cannot fully empower women without having them be a partner in decision making. Sahrawi women are not just part of the solution. They are a main part of building peace and development. Thank you. 4th Committee · Chair [1:07:22]: Thank the petitioner and give the floor to Cynthia Bassinet. Petitioner [1:07:28]: Excellencies, my name is Cynthia Bassinet, and like many of us addressing this committee, have made the pilgrimage for over two decades. We continually hear what is decided best for the Sahrawi and their life in the camp or in an occupied state. Nobody chooses to live in the most inhospitable region in the world for the heck of it. Nobody chooses to have no choice. Instead, we have once again autocracy deciding self-autonomy. If under the king of Morocco, everything was so great, why did 70,000 youth, mostly male, escape their country and pass through within a weekend? Most importantly, the fate of the self-determined being displaced around the world because lands... 4th Committee · Chair [1:08:16]: I give the floor to Morocco for a point of order. Morocco, please. Morocco [1:08:22]: Thank you, Mr. Chair, and good afternoon, Mr. Chair and colleagues in the room. And as you could notice so far, the deliberations were going smoothly with due respect to member states, with due respect to their institutions, with no qualifiers, with no attacks and no insults. The speaker just now is using a word which is an insult to a Member State. This is the Kingdom of Morocco and cannot be called by any other name aside from that. And with that, Mr. Chair, And we will have to say it, unfortunately, as long as some of the petitioners do not respect the decorum of this assembly, we will be obliged to interrupt some of them till they know how to show respect to member states, just like we are showing respect to them. and giving them this very unique opportunity to come and share their opinion, because this is also an opportunity that they should take and seize and use it in the best way and most respectful way possible. Thank you. 4th Committee · Chair [1:10:01]: I thank the delegation of Morocco. I'd like to request that the speaker please respect the decorum of the committee. I'll give you the floor back. You have 2 minutes, 10 seconds left. Petitioner [1:10:19]: Extreme division of wealth and power, aiding climate change and war can be attributed to one thing, and this one thing has turned the world's population into an era of cotton gin, insatiable demand with AI, war, inequality, climate change, the benefactor, without renumeration and with enormous costs. There are enormous costs to a celebrity culture because they are the foot soldiers for corporate greed. Corporations that are using tactics which have been defined by UNESCO as weapons of war. TFGVB, this is electronic surveillance, misinformation, impersonation, employing AI, sexualization, bullying, and doxxing. These weapons of war that have been used to peddle a celebrity culture with information derived from electronic surveillance, aiding Fortune 500 companies while retrieved without renumeration. Again, you can interrupt me. You can tell me this has nothing to do with the security, safety, and future of the Sahrawi and people and world at large when this has everything to do with future safety and security. Let us be reminded by my quote, displaced societies are a value. Their issues are our issues. From my first address before this committee in 2005, we are merely canaries in the coal mine, empowering billionaires thanks to the lack of protection over intellectual property and an endless appetite for anything filling our data centers. This Wild West, anything goes, has destroyed democracy, creativity, civility, diversity, and now, of course, ecology filling our data centers. So we can hear once again the same stories about the refugee camps for most who have never been there when I was boots on the ground 25 years ago. Our outgoing general counsel framed the world's primary challenges around the four major tests, AI, climate change, ongoing wars, and rising inequality. There is one answer, ban TFGBV, weapons of war, no different than landmines used against civilian and children empowering royals and billionaires. Thank you for your time and understanding. 4th Committee · Chair [1:12:25]: I thank the petitioner, and I give the floor to Alfredo Gonzalez Castro. Speaker 44 [1:12:33]: Distinguished delegates, please receive our warmest regards. In October 2025, the Security Council of the United Nations adopted resolution 2797. marking an inflection point, a decisive one, in the dealing of the situation of Moroccan Sahara. Following decades of diplomatic efforts, this opened a new step towards achieving a definitive political solution that was realistic, pragmatic, and lasting, prioritizing dialogue, commitment, and viability. In this framework, the Moroccan autonomy initiative was delivered as the basis for the negotiations presented by Morocco in 2007 and granted in the respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom. It provides a solution that enables a guaranteeing of the populations of the provinces of the south, broad competencies for dealing with their own affairs within a stable national framework. This is a proposal for the future by way of its own democratic institutions, economic, social and cultural policies. The populations of the provinces of the South would have initiatives to be able to participate in their development and to safeguard its essence as part of the wealth and plurality of Moroccan identity. This dynamic, what's more, benefits from growing international support. The United States, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Germany, among others, have expressed their supports to the Moroccan autonomy initiative in different ways, recognizing its credibility, seriousness, viability. to move towards a solution. This international agreement is a step in the right direction towards concrete results and commitment. Resolution 2027 provides clarity to the political solution with Algeria being considered a stakeholder. Their constructive participation is essential element to be able to support the new dynamic. heralded by the Security Council and to contribute to the common goal of achieving a definitive political solution under the auspices of the United Nations. Closing this will strengthen the integration of the Maghreb and ward off threats coming from the Sahel, making the region more connected and prosperous. I conclude by underscoring that Resolution 2797 is an historic opportunity to advance towards a definitive solution. The Moroccan initiative is a way to turn this diplomatic situation into a situation of stability and shared prosperity in the southern provinces and across the whole of the Maghreb region. Thank you for your attention. 4th Committee · Chair [1:15:35]: I thank the petitioner, and I give the floor to Mohamed Abadi. Petitioner [1:15:48]: Mr. Chair, distinguished members of the committee, thank you for this opportunity. It is truly disappointing for me and for many Sahrawi youth to return before this esteemed committee year after year, delivering speeches that bring no change to our reality under the Moroccan occupation, marked by oppression, marginalization, unemployment, and systemic impoverishment. Mr. Chair, distinguished representatives, I'm not speaking from a vacuum. I have lived this reality personally and know its details well. A wide segment of Sahrawi youth suffer from intentional unemployment and impoverishment. This is not because our land lacks resources, but because the Moroccan occupation used starvation to subjugate our people. You will certainly hear Moroccan claims about development and investments, but let us consider a simple example which was raised in yesterday's session regarding water. Let someone who grew up there tell you the truth to give you a clear picture of this so-called development. Imagine living in a city in the occupied territory in 2026, where if you can't afford to buy a water tank for your rooftop to keep water, as is the case for many Sahrawis, you have to wake up every day before sunrise to store a few gallons in containers, or you spend your days asking neighbors for some water. That's because water is available only at a specific frame times, not all day long. And by the way, this water is only for daily use, not even a drinkable water. This demonstrates that the occupation cares nothing for the people living in this land. The project and infrastructure, it invest and serve only to facilitate the plundering of the people resources. Take another example. The highway between occupied Dakhla and Tiznit, recently named after President Trump, is it anything other than a corridor for Moroccan trucks to load Sahrawi fish and products, exporting them abroad falsely as Moroccan? And by the way, I don't miss this opportunity to remind the Moroccan occupation that naming, building cities, or even roads after President Trump or any other president will not guarantee it any legitimacy. The land belongs to the Sahrawis, and they will alone decide its fate sooner or later. Mr. Chair, the dignity of Sahrawi youth and their fair benefit from their homeland wealth are intrinsically linked to enabling them to exercise their inalienable rights to self-determination in accordance with United Nations resolution. Sahrawi youth are not asking for charity or temporary fixes. They demand only to let them exercise the right to self-determination. In conclusion, we reaffirm our state commitment to the Polisario Front, the sole legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people. I thank you, Mr. Chair. 4th Committee · Chair [1:18:51]: I thank this petitioner. I would also ask the petitioners to deliver their statements at a reasonable speed in order to allow for interpretation to be properly rendered. I now give the floor to Hamdi Mayup. Petitioner [1:19:20]: Chair, delegates, I don't think three minutes are sufficient to talk about the decolonization of a people who has been waiting 50 years for it. Fidel Castro spoke here for four hours and no one stopped him. The delegation of Morocco has repeatedly interrupted some of the participants here, alleging rules of decorum, rules of procedure, matters of substance. I ask the-- 4th Committee · Chair [1:19:51]: there is a point of order. There is a point of order. I see that. Cuba and Morocco are asking for the floor. Cuba [1:20:05]: Thank you very much, Chairman. Our delegation request you kindly to call the petitioner to order and to stick to the situation of Western Sahara, which is what is under discussion today, and avoid expressing opinions about leaders of other states. in a disrespectful way. We therefore request that you call the petitioner to order, for the petitioner to uphold the decorum and respect required in this room of the General Assembly and avoid comments of this type about political figures from member states of the United Nations. Thank you very much. 4th Committee · Chair [1:20:50]: I thank the distinguished representative of Cuba. I now give the floor to Morocco. Morocco [1:20:59]: Thank you, Mr. Chair, and apologies for taking the floor. But let me also join my sister from Cuba to really support what she said, because I didn't want, on purpose, just to help you, Mr. Chair, go smoothly with this session. I didn't want to interrupt the previous speaker, because first of all, he was fast, especially in the introduction. So I didn't get where he comes from, the Tindouf camps or the Moroccan Sahara for the question of the water. I'm still lost in there because if it's from Morocco, then he came freely to here and he will go back freely. This is number one. Number two, naming cities or naming avenues, that's not the discussion under consideration today. Number three, to really avoid commenting the the procedures of member states the way member states conduct also from their national perspective the the the examination of the the point because taking the floor and dedicating a whole introduction to qualify how a diplomat is exercising their right of going forward with the procedures in this committee is not acceptable, and especially not acceptable from a petitioner invited here. Taking this opportunity to petition is not having a window to insult or criticize member states. So they rather stick to this very respectful and beautiful opportunity that the UN is giving them to concentrate on the subject matter. I thank you, Mr. Chair. 4th Committee · Chair [1:22:57]: I thank the delegations of Cuba and Morocco. I also wish to specify to petitioners that they need to limit themselves to the topic of the agenda item under discussion and respect decorum. in order to continue benefiting from the time allotted to them. And I return the floor back to the petitioner, who has 2 minutes and 24 seconds remaining. You have the floor. Petitioner [1:23:26]: Excelencia. I appear before this assembly as a Sahrawi who was born and raised in the Sahrawi refugee camps, but also as a European lawyer. I have the conviction that the United Nations was born with the purpose of preserving peace, protecting human rights, and promoting the sovereign equality of nations. Therefore, we cannot remain indifferent to the peoples and territories that are waiting for a just solution. Decolonization is not a question of the past. It is a urgent responsibility of the present. Excellencies, the UN maintains this because it means that abandoning this would be rupturing decades of consensus on decolonization and self-determination. Autonomy cannot be imposed as if it were an internal conflict. If it was our internal, we would not be here in the Decolonization Commission. We are those who have defended this land from Spanish colonialism, and we're also defending it from Moroccan invasion. We will not give up. We will only bow down to God to pray, resisting for 50 years of injustice so that Morocco then offers us a autonomy and a booklet of 43 pages that they claim will guarantee peace, stability, and progress. This has neither logic nor any sense. A country from which more than 80,000 people are fleeing to a neighboring country, Spain, and those who are in the country flee, whereas those who are outside the country remain outside. Morocco [1:25:37]: Mr. Chair, again, and thank you for giving me the floor. Again, I think that the petitioner is mixing a courtroom with a rhetorical place where he can repeat baseless rhetoric. The question now here is the Moroccan Sahara, not what's going on here or there or elsewhere. I'm not going to name anything, any place, any situation. But I'm sure that the excitement in the courtroom is maybe missed by the petitioner and is mixing the rooms here. This room is dedicated to the Moroccan Sahara only. I thank you. 4th Committee · Chair [1:26:23]: I thank the distinguished representative of Morocco. I now give the floor to Jesus Nadia Sanchez. Petitioner [1:26:38]: Chair, distinguished members of the fourth committee. There are paths that the wind tries to erase, but memory remains. After 50 years, the Sarawak people continue to fight for their freedom. The conflict of the Western Sahara is one of the worst failures of the United Nations, of international law and diplomacy. I would particularly like to point to my country, Spain. Spain had the opportunity to launch a decolonization process in 1975. It failed to do so, and not only did it fail to do so, but They were complicit in permitting the occupation of part of the territory by the Kingdom of Morocco, knowing that some days before, the International Court of Justice, pursuant to a request by the General Assembly, had decided that there was no Moroccan sovereignty over that territory. Despite all this, Spain largely abandoned the population of Western Sahara. governments have failed to address, redress this grave error. Recent decisions of the Spanish Parliament, such as the adoption of a nationality law for Sahrawis are trying to find a last-minute solution. But what is really important is to conclude the decolonization process with a self-determination referendum for Western Sahara. Because of all of these reasons, I would like to recall to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Morocco these facts and these circumstances. The Polisario Front is the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people. They are not terrorists, and I have evidence of this, a recent letter sent by Mr. Ibrahim Kaye, President, to the President of the Security Council. a letter in which he states that the Polisario Front reiterates its full availability for good faith direct negotiations with the Kingdom of Morocco under the auspices of the United Nations in order to achieve a just, peaceful, lasting, and definitive solution. Is this really state terrorism? No, it is the Kingdom of Morocco that is imposing such terrorism. with its cruel carceral system. This has been confirmed by outside observers. There have been completely false accusations, inhumane treatments in various prisons, deprivation of access to health care, lack of communication, frequent hunger strikes by detainees. These are the only means they have of claiming their rights. 4th Committee · Chair [1:29:41]: I thank the petitioner. I thank the petitioner, and I now give the floor to Yafri Ben Zerga. Petitioner [1:30:00]: Chair, ladies and gentlemen, since 1963, Western Sahara has been on the list of non-self-governing territories of this assembly since 1975, the International Court of Justice has decided that no link existed before colonization. And then 36 years on, the settlement plan is still awaiting a referendum. This is decades of waiting for an entire generation that was born, grew up, and lived in exile in the refugee camps of Tindouf while waiting for this organization to honor its own charter. Throughout this time in the occupied Sahrawi territory, Morocco is pillaging the resources of that territory. It is negotiating trade agreements while those who are meant to benefit from them live under surveillance pressure and many of them in prison simply for having been grown up under the wrong flag. I turn to Europe, in particular to Spain, France, and also the US. You invoke international law. Every day, when borders are violated in Eastern Europe, you speak of democracy, human rights, self-determination as a non-negotiable principle. Where is that principle for Sahara when it is occupied by an ally? There can be no double standards depending on the victim's nationality. History will remember all this. I also wish to express and reaffirm before this committee a truth that time cannot erase and that diplomatic calculations also cannot erase. The Sahrawi people have a legitimate representative and only one that has been recognized by history itself, and that is the Polisario Front. No agreement that is signed, no administration that is imposed, and no arrangements made with the occupying power can replace it. It is the only voice of the Sahrawi people. Chair, this committee was based on the promise that no peoples would remain eternally colonized. The Sahrawi people are not expecting charity from the international community. They are expecting the justice that is due to them, the holding of a self-determination referendum that was promised, an end to the pillaging of its resources, and for the international community to shoulder its historic responsibility with respect to this conflict that every day continues to affect young Sahrawis in order to defend their dignity and the promise made to them by the United Nations Security Council in 1991, the security self-determination through a free referendum. I thank you. 4th Committee · Chair [1:32:45]: I thank the petitioner, and I now give the floor to Maria de los Angeles Ramos Guillen. Petitioner [1:32:58]: Chair, ladies and gentlemen, The true diplomatic courage is not offering a utopic solution, but rather building a realistic, sustainable solution that is in line with international law. This was demonstrated by Morocco when they proposed their autonomy initiative. And that is the wisdom that led to Resolution 2797 of the United Nations Security Council of October 2025, which states that the Moroccan autonomy initiative is the best solution to this conflict, as it represents the most viable result. The utopian approach is the separatist approach that claims that self-determination is only possible through violating territorial integrity. resolution 2729 of the general or rather a previous resolution contemplates various forms of exercising self-determination free association with another state or any other political status that is freely decided upon by the peoples in question that resolution does not recognize and automatic right to accession. On the contrary, it recalls that no provision can be interpreted in the sense that it authorizes or promotes the fragmentation or diminishment of the territorial integrity of a sovereign state. The Moroccan autonomy initiative in this context is a real opportunity for autonomy and integration for the whole region, providing broad autonomy with proper institutions and powers in the context of the kingdom's sovereignty. The free determination of people is not being denied. It is being applied within the kingdom of Morocco. Therefore, two-thirds of UN members, including three permanent members of the Security Council and the EU with its 27 member states, today support this plan. The world, and Africa in particular, does not need more division or separatism. Separatism continues to weaken the continent and jeopardizing its developments. We need to learn from the Organization of African Union when the process of autonomy first opened. This is something that the UN must correct through the Security Council with the Moroccan autonomy initiative as the basis for negotiations. This committee must contribute to this historic effort and contribute to stability and development in the face of separatism. That is true diplomatic value to be bold enough to opt for a diplomatic solution in line with international law. Speaker 62 [1:36:01]: I. 4th Committee · Chair [1:36:02]: Thank the petitioner. I now give the floor to Rafael Jorge Esparza Machin. Petitioner [1:36:14]: Chair, the government of my country, Spain and the Canaries, maintains that Morocco is a strategic partner. Morocco suffered occupation that radically mutilated its territory. Aware of this, the two governments of Spain and France contributed to repairing this injustice by supporting Moroccan sovereignty and the autonomy initiative as the only way to resolve this. The EU supports this autonomy initiative, and indeed, many States have decided to expand their ties with Morocco's southern provinces and encourage investment in order to participate in this new model of development, which has a billion of more than $10 million. Chair, the host country of the Tindouf camps cannot continue to shirk its responsibilities. The Security Council has decided that it is a party to the conflict. Likewise, the majority of UN member states decisively support a Moroccan autonomy initiative, and the rare countries that recognize the Polisario Front are in the process of formally withdrawing that recognition in order to join international consensus on this issue. Among the nations that have usually rejoined this movement is Peru, Panama, Bolivia, Ghana, Mali, Azan, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Syria, Greece, Zambia, Armenia, among many others. Chair, Resolution 2797 is a historic one. It calls for the host country of the Tindouf camps to dismantle them. This Emir and his feasts, the current Emir, were members of the Polisario. They were raised in these camps and the host country. The international community exercise pressure on Algeria so that it negotiates with Morocco on the autonomy initiative in order to finally resolve this and turn the page for the population who is lacking hope and a dignified future in these camps. These new negotiations should allow to relaunch a unified Arab Maghreb for the prosperity of the region. Thank you. 4th Committee · Chair [1:39:15]: I thank the petitioner. I understand that Spain has a point of order. You have the floor. Spain [1:39:21]: Thank you very much, Chairman. Over the last two days, there's been a lot of talking about Spain. I think it's good to have a debate, but I think it's also good for all the petitioners to be able to express their opinions. Spain has no issue with that. There is one thing, and it's not regarding any particular statement, but we would like to make this very clear. and understood the only delegation that can talk on behalf of the government of Spain is my delegation myself nobody else I thank you very much for your interest in the positions of the government of Spain but we are the only delegation that can express what the position of the Spanish government is on any given issue there's been a lot of statements that have attributed certain things to us and I think it's very important to clarify this matter thank you 4th Committee · Chair [1:40:13]: I thank the distinguished. 4th Committee · Chair [1:40:14]: Representative of Spain. I now give the floor to Belar Aliu Hajarra. Petitioner [1:40:30]: Chair, populations don't live on slogans. They live through peace, development, and prospects for the future. And that is what two-thirds of UN members, as well as the Security Council and the EU, have understood by supporting the Moroccan autonomy initiative. This is a political development that is part of a momentum of withdrawing of the recognition for the separatist entity. Faced with these developments, one question raises, How many more years will the residents of the Tindouf camps be used as a political instrument from generation to generation? That's why I address myself to the host country of the Tindouf camps and the population that have been instrumentalized. Wake up before it's too late. If the momentum launched by the Security Council is not sufficient to lead you to reconsider your approach, then you must at least look clear-eyed at the consequences of this policy on your own environment and the regional environment. In April 2026, my country, Mali, withdrew its recognition for the separatist entity and announced its support for the Moroccan initiative plan. We also stressed the impact of this issue on regional peace and security. This reflects a simple reality. The states of the region have understood that this conflict is a factor that affects stability of the Sahel Magreb region and jeopardizes development and prosperity on the African continent yes chair the world is aware that a new reality was imposed by resolution 2797 of the Security Council who called on the parties to engage in discussions yet without preconditions taking in the Moroccan autonomy initiative as its basis this un reality, rather, in-- there are major development issues, development efforts currently underway in the area, including the building of roads and other connections with significant funding and part of a broader project for the region. Together, this will strengthen the trade logistical capacities of the region and open it up towards Eastern Africa. Yes, this is all thanks to the wisdom of the kings of Morocco. Geography, which was once considered a constraint, has now become a driver of prosperity. This is the purpose of the royal initiative to open up access to the Atlantic and markets and value chains. This is of particular importance because Fighting trafficking and terrorism cannot be separated from the creation of economic opportunities. Speaker 70 [1:43:30]: The speaker has been cut off. 4th Committee · Chair [1:43:33]: I thank the petitioner. I give the. Floor to Carl-Gustav Yatinas. Petitioner [1:44:04]: Mr. Chair, thank you for the opportunity to share observations from our visit to the southern Morocco. Today, I'll talk about the international cooperation and regional security, the stabilization role of the southern provinces in the Sahelo-Atlantic space. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, investment in infrastructure, renewable energy, ports, logistics, and youth training is transforming Morocco's southern provinces into a hub linked to the Atlantic Africa as well as the Sahel. In the Moroccan Sahara's evolving political context, Security Council Resolution 2797 renews negotiation based on Morocco's autonomy proposal towards a just, lasting, and mutually acceptable solution. The southern provinces are not waiting. Development is already underway. Over the past decade, the development model launched in 2015 under His Majesty King Mohammed VI's vision, initially funded with more than 77 billion dirhams, has invested in roads, ports, renewable energy, water industry, education, and training. projects like the Tiznit-Dakhla Expressway, Dakhla Atlantic Port, and desalinization facilities. These investments create jobs and youth opportunities while making the southern provinces a gateway between Morocco and the Atlantic Africa. The challenge is to accelerate and deepen development while Broadening participation. This requires vocational training, entrepreneurship, and innovation across agriculture, fisheries, logistics, renewable energy, and the digital economy. People long confined to the Tindouf camps should return to their homeland, the Kingdom of Morocco, and reconnect with the opportunity and development. The train of development is moving. No generation should remain outside it. We must build on the progress with more investment, more jobs, more local entrepreneurship, and more youth participation. The Moroccan autonomy plan can secure a stable future in which development benefits communities across the region. The southern provinces can model infrastructure investment, human development, innovation, and regional integration. Our responsibility is to turn today's progress into greater opportunities for future generations. Thank you, Mr. Chair. 4th Committee · Chair [1:46:57]: I thank the petitioner. And I give the floor to Mohamed Oukli. Petitioner [1:47:05]: Mr. President, 40 years. Mr. Chair, October 24, 1945, marks the founding of the United Nations. The Charter of the UN is the founding document of the UN. Among the UN's principal objectives are the maintenance of international peace and security, equal rights, and self-determination of peoples. It was against this backdrop that Resolution 1514 was adopted in 1960. In 1963, the UN placed the territory then known as Spanish Sahara on the list of non-self-governing territories. In 1975, the ICJ issued its unequivocal opinion. It concluded that the future of the territory should be determined in accordance with the free and genuine will of its population. Then came Resolution 690 with its settlement plan. Despite the array of UN resolutions, the UN has failed to complete the decolonization process for the occupied territory of Western Sahara. Has the principle of self-determination failed, or is it the international political system that has failed to translate this principle into concrete results. There is a real gap between the principles proclaimed by the UN, namely equal rights and self-determination, and its ability to implement them when they clash with the interests of major powers and power dynamics outside the framework of international law. For five decades, the Sahrawis have endured the yoke of an illegitimate and illegal Moroccan occupation, which has spawned grave and systematic human rights violations, including forced demographic change, arbitrary arrests, displacement of populations, and the abusive exploitation of natural resources used as an economic weapon and a means of pressure to coerce more states into legitimizing Morocco's presence in the occupied Sahrawi territories. This is considered by the Fourth Committee as a non-self-governing territory subject to decolonization. My country supports the efforts of the United Nations and of Mr. Staffan de Mistura, the personal envoy of the Secretary General for Western Sahara. We also support the MINURSO. We also call for the expansion of its mandate to include monitoring the human rights situation in the occupied territories of Western Sahara. My country's position on the question of Western Sahara is based on the principles of international legality in accordance with the doctrine of the United Nations and the African Union. We welcome direct negotiations between Morocco and Polisario Front, the only legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people. These negotiations must take place without preconditions that could hinder The political process must be conducted in good faith and free from any logic of dictates and horse-trading. It must lead to a free and fair referendum organized and supervised by the United Nations, one that will guarantee the Sahrawis' inalienable right to their determination, to self-determination in accordance with international law. Speaker 75 [1:50:04]: Thank you. I thank the petitioner. 4th Committee · Chair [1:50:07]: And I give the floor to Adel Gabouli. Surgeon [1:50:12]: In the name of God, most. Gracious, most merciful, Mr. Chair, members of the committee, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I deliver my statement today as a doctor, as a surgeon who has long endured and experienced the case of Western Sahara over the past years. Imagine A Sahrawi child in a refugee camp on the territory of Algeria, the country of values and principles. He knows by heart the names of cities he has not visited. He has learned the names from his parents. These are generations that are learning about these cities but haven't visited them. And the question is, when will they return to the Western Sahara? Who can answer the child's question? I come here to defend a people who have long-awaited their return. I'm here to defend a right that was inscribed in UN resolution. Our people are still waiting a solution. How many more resolutions must be adopted to respect the will of the Sahrawi people? How many more generations have to wait so that they can exercise their right to freedom and independence? Waiting has a price, and people are paying this price. Families have been separated, torn apart, and refugees have been languishing in refugee camps. The youth want to build their future on their land, on their territory. Despite this, the Sahrawis have upheld their identity, and they have repeatedly called for the diplomatically and peacefully to exercise their rights. We want to reach an end. to the colonization of the Western Sahara so that the Sahrawis can exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and to independence. They have the right to the protection of their rights and fundamental freedom. Their rights must be respected, including their right to their natural resources. The free will of the Sahrawi people must be at the core of any solution. No one can choose their future on their behalf. Any lasting solution that is grounded on peace must respect the free will of the people. One day we will go back and history will judge us on what we have done today, on what the UN has done when generations after generations have waited to exercise their rights enshrined in the Charter and the principles of the United Nations. Your responsibility today is to ensure that the Sahrawi people do not keep in waiting. You cannot erase people if they do not return back to their territory. Justice will remain alive, and it will not wait for the balance of powers. Listen to the people of the Sahara. 4th Committee · Chair [1:53:15]: I thank the petitioner. I take it that there is a delegation who wants to take the floor. The Syrian Arab Republic, you have the floor. Syrian Arab Republic [1:53:33]: Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to refer to the petitioner number 1881 on the list, mainly Rafael Jorge. My colleague from Spain has already commented on his petition. The petitioner mentioned a series of countries that supported an initiative. Among the countries he mentioned, he mentioned Syria. Syria is the only party that makes official statements, and we are not responsible for any mention of our country in any petitioner statements. I say this in order to absolve my responsibility and for accuracy. Thank you. 4th Committee · Chair [1:54:24]: I thank the distinguished representative of the Syrian Arab Republic. And I give the floor now to Hamza Ahmed Baba. Petitioner [1:54:42]: I deliver the statement on behalf of the Sahrawi Workers Union. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I deliver this statement in order to draw your attention to the human rights situation in my country, Western Sahara. This territory is still inscribed on the UN's list of non-self-governing territories. Our glorious for 50 years have been waiting their legitimate right to self-determination and independence. Decolonizing Western Sahara cannot be separated from respecting the Sahrawi's right to freedom, dignity, and security. The current situation in my territory--. Morocco [1:55:24]: Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. And first of all, just in the introduction of the petitioner now, and it's still going on in the statements, he's referring to some unrecognized entities by the United Nations, this same United Nations that is offering an opportunity for that petitioner to express his views. So we kindly request the petitioner to refrain from using words or terminology that is not agreed by member states. Here we're talking about the Kingdom of Morocco as a whole, but also about a region of the Kingdom of Morocco, which is the Moroccan Sahara. There is no other thing as another entity, as he stated twice or three times in his statement. I thank you. 4th Committee · Chair [1:56:19]: I thank the distinguished. Delegate to Morocco, and I give the floor back to the petitioner. You have two minutes, 17 seconds left. I give the floor to Morocco. Morocco [1:56:38]: Let me first correct his statement he did without having the microphone. He said, "Thanks, God, we are in the United States." First, this is the United Nations, and New York, yes, is in the United States. And second, we kindly request the petitioners to refrain from using any remarks or exclamatory statements aside from the statements they're having in front of them. Because the obvious is clear, and we're not here to undermine the intelligence of member states. I thank you. 4th Committee · Chair [1:57:27]: I give the floor back to the petitioner. Petitioner [1:57:30]: In my country, Western Sahara, the people of Western Sahara suffer a catastrophic situation in the occupied part of SADR. Detentions continue. Morocco [1:57:46]: Mr. Chair, the petitioner is not being cooperative, and he is repeating the same attacks using terminology that is not accepted by the United Nations. So we either, through you, Mr. Chair, if the petitioner respects the quorum of this committee, or we move past this petitioner. I thank you. 4th Committee · Chair [1:58:10]: I'd just like to clarify that you need to let me hear from the petitioner. I'm sorry I wasn't able to hear the petitioner. I need to be able to hear what they have to say. Thank you. I'll give you the floor back. I give the floor to Morocco. Morocco [1:58:37]: Mr. President, with my full respect, I know your p- I don't know if you're listening to French or English, and there's a, um, lag between the two. The petitioner… has already spoken so it's just to make a procedural point of order I'm not challenging your authority in any way chairman you're here to conduct the chair the debates of this assembly we trust you but as a member state I heard a different word and I heard a word three times so chairman please ask the petitioners to abstain from using terminology that is not accepted by the United Nations and also ask the petitioners not to challenge member states. Thank you. 4th Committee · Chair [1:59:36]: Thank you. I give the floor to the petitioner by clarifying that he must respect decorum as I have said. Petitioner [1:59:48]: I am here to say the truth, nothing more, nothing less. Detentions continue, arrests continue on a daily basis. Harsh judgments are issued against many young men, and those who are not arrested have been prosecuted by the people. Morocco [2:00:09]: Mr. President. Chairman. I think we're in quite a difficult situation because the petitioner keeps using the same terminology. Here at the United Nations, we have a well-defined list of member states, and they must respect the official names of member states and stop creating new things, entities that don't exist, and this through their messages to the Fourth Committee. you need to refer to the situation using its proper name. That is the name on the agenda that we're dealing with this afternoon, the agenda item that we're dealing with. And if the petitioner was in the wrong room or the wrong place, well, that's another matter. But, Chairman, through you, I'd just like to clarify that we're being challenged by a petitioner, and I'm wondering if he's in the wrong room. Thank you. 4th Committee · Chair [2:01:14]: I give the floor to the petitioner by clarifying once again that he must respect decorum. Petitioner [2:01:27]: So I would like to mention the case of a young man who was killed by the Moroccan police and police officers. This is a crime. This is a fully fledged crime. For three years, ladies and gentlemen, I have recalling the case of a Sahrawi merchant or trader who went missing. Our territory is occupied. My message is one. I still call on the Moroccan government to determine the fate of my son. I keep asking this question, and it remains unanswered. As I have already mentioned, detentions continue, arrests continue, and this is documented. The situation in the Moroccan prison is harrowing. There, they face forced coerced confession. They have no communication with their family. They are subject to torture. Now they are on open hunger strike in order to ensure that their demands are respected. They only want the chance to talk to their families and their lawyers. Once again, from this forum, I call on you to send independent missions so that they can talk to the detainees and confirm this information. Regarding the resources of the Western Sahara, these resources are unlawfully exploited. Long live our glorious people. Long live the Sahrawi Arab Democratic the public free and independent. Thank you. 4th Committee · Chair [2:03:03]: I thank the petitioner. And I give the floor to Morocco. Morocco [2:03:08]: Mr. President, this is a point of order. The delegation of Morocco must object to the language just used, but also and especially to the symbols used in this room. This is a dangerous red line. that the procedures of the United Nations here forbid. It is a symbol. So through you, Mr. President, we ask you that the petitioner who did not respect the decorum of this committee be out of the list for the next year. Thank you. 4th Committee · Chair [2:03:47]: I thank the distinguished. Representative of Morocco, and I've taken due note of your request. I give the floor to Marilyn Carol Stanton. Neurologist [2:04:02]: Your Excellency, Chair of the Fourth Committee, distinguished members and guests. As a neurologist, I offer observations and recommendations on health care in the Sahrawi refugee camps near Tindouf, Algeria. I commend the humanitarian agencies, NGOs, and Saharawi health workers for creating a healthcare delivery system for the population across five camps in a harsh desert. A small medical center manages cases and neighborhood clinics provide basic care. Community workers support maternal and child health while local physicians and visiting teams offer limited specialty services. A makeshift pharmacy distributes medical supplies and a pharmaceutical production laboratory produces a few medicines. Yet local production meets only 5% of need, while about 30% of pharmaceutical requirements remain unmet. Medicines for diabetes, hypertension, epilepsy, and mental illness are scarce, and there are shortages of personnel, supplies, and medical equipment. Malnutrition and anemia remain the most pervasive threats after decades of inadequate food and clean water. A 2025 survey found 14% global acute malnutrition among young children, anemia in 54 to 65% of children under five, stunting in nearly 30%, and anemia in 69% of women of reproductive age. In 2024, 64% of households were moderately or severely food insecure. Donated staples are carbohydrate heavy and access to protein, fruit, vegetables, vitamins, minerals, and fiber is limited. I recommend providing ready to use therapeutic food to malnourished children and women of childbearing age. A generic shelf stable formula can be made from peanut paste, powdered milk, vegetable oil, sugar, potassium, magnesium, vitamins, and minerals. It requires no added water and is safe for home use. Generic RUTF could be imported or produced in the pharmaceutical production and laboratory if ingredients, staff, and facilities are funded, then distributed through hospitals, clinics, and schools. Multivitamins with iron would also be a cost-effective intervention to treat anemia in women and children. A recent 40% decline in humanitarian funding has further weakened care, and the UNHCR warns that conditions in the camps are deteriorating. Beyond immediate relief, I recommend a safe, phased, five-year camp closure, beginning with medically vulnerable Tindouf camps, with refugees returning to Western Sahara under the Moroccan autonomy plan. Each transition should preserve Sahrawi health facilities and personnel, expand access to Morocco's health system, continue food, water, medicines, and nutritional support, and permit UN agencies and NGOs to operate in the camps, helping to make the transition safe, humane, and sustainable. I thank you for allowing me to speak today. 4th Committee · Chair [2:07:00]: I thank the petitioner, and I give the floor to Jimmy Alisa Zuluaga Guerra. Petitioner [2:07:12]: Chairman, distinguished delegates, One year ago, I appeared before this Commission to call for the Sahrawi people to finally be allowed to exercise their right to self-determination. Today, I return to note with deep concern that paralysis and silence persist. Moreover, last October, the Security Council adopted resolution 2797, which gives preference to one of the proposals on the table without the Sahrawi people being able to have a say on it. For that reason, the committee has a huge responsibility to recall that the status of a non-self-governing territory cannot be determined without its people. As an urban planner and architect, I view territory as the space in which a community's dignity, memory and future are built. It is not reasonable to build a provisional settlement for it to be there for 50 years. However, this is what the international community has consented to. An entire people are still in these camps in very bad conditions while their territory remains occupied without their consent. They are denied the right to plan their own development, destiny, and the way they live. We cannot demand that successive generations that were born, grew up and aged here to stay patient while they wait for international law to be respected. MINURSO was not created to administer exile indefinitely, but rather to organize a fair and binding referendum. The Sahrawi people are not asking for concessions. No, they are demanding compliance with the United Nations Charter. Distinguished members, Let us not allow another year to be added to the statistics of indifference. I urge this committee, with the utmost urgency, respect to reaffirm without ambiguity the inalienable right of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination and to call for the referendum to be held without further delay. Thank you very much. 4th Committee · Chair [2:09:44]: I thank the petitioner and give the floor to Marta Esther Guerra Munoz. Speaker 102 [2:09:50]: Excellencies, members of the committee, I'm an academic and I come from the Universidad Popular del Cesar. I want to tell you that I was a victim of the armed conflict in my country when I was a child and during my youth and I know what it know what it's like to grow up in fear far from home without any guarantees that is why I speak today without any type of political or religious Dogma I speak to you as a human being, to tell you that self-determination is an inalienable right recognised by the United Nations, and a referendum is the democratic means through which a people can freely choose its future. Mr. President, children cannot keep waiting. UNICEF has warned of serious shortcomings in healthcare, nutrition and education in the refugee camps. Added to this is the daily risk posed by landmines. and by explosive remnants of war. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, particularly articles 3, 6, 19 and 22, protect their best interests, their right to life and development, and their protection from violence as refugees. In the camps, women, mothers, teachers and community leaders have borne the responsibility of caring for and educating children while also defending their people's right to determine their own future. That's why we very respectfully call upon you, the United Nations and its agencies, to do the following: maintain continuous monitoring of the rights of children, guarantee their access to healthcare, nutrition and quality, inclusive education. develop a mental health and psychosocial support strategy to address trauma, anxiety and depression, strengthen demining efforts and mine risk education programs, like in my country, enhance coordination between UNICEF, UNHCR, WHO and UNMAS. Chairman, we're not just asking for children to be able to survive We're calling upon this Commission to reaffirm the right to self-determination so that children may heal, learn and grow with dignity and freedom and on their own lands. Caring for a child today is caring for the world. Thank you very much, Chairman. 4th Committee · Chair [2:12:20]: I thank the petitioner and I give the floor to Salem Mokhtar Bashir. Lawyer [2:12:29]: President a to present this were chairman. Ladies and gentlemen a very good afternoon I'm Salem Mokhtar Bashir and I'm a lawyer in the sorry refugee camps this committee is a unique one dealing with decolonization and the goal of promoting the independence and self-determination of peoples under military occupation, which is the case of Western Sahara, which is a very clear and obvious case of this phenomenon. That's why autonomy is required by the law. There was a referendum for a referendum, a peace plan that was accepted mutually by both parties, the Polisario Front and Morocco. Since then, Morocco has not complied with its promise. MINURSO has had bases on its territory since 1991 and still has them. In international law, it's not possible to accept the methods used by Morocco, defamation, slander, and a propaganda campaign to discredit the Sahrawi people. Their only legitimate representative is the Polisario Front. These practices are not considered valid or legitimate for a legal decolonization process but rather they are a weapon of oppression of the victim which is the sorry people to reinstate legitimacy and popular movement that was founded in 1973 against Spanish colonialism Morocco's occupation of Western Sahara is destroying our social fabric it's exploiting our wealth with billions and billions of dollars being extracted every year in addition to the actions in the city of Dakhla. We, the Sahrawi people, are determined to continue to fight for self-determination, for our rights, so that they are not transferred or given up under any political or military pressure. Currently, the Moroccan occupiers have over 250,000 soldiers and police officers stationed and hundreds of thousands of settlers who are trying to bring about a change. The speaker's microphone was cut off. 4th Committee · Chair [2:15:37]: I thank the petitioner. I now give the floor to Francesco Bastagli. Thank you, Chair. Petitioner [2:15:47]: Today, once again, the Fourth Committee discusses Western Sahara under an item unequivocally entitled "Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples". And yet, 50 years after Spain left the territory, this Committee has made no contribution towards the fulfilment of the Sahrawi's paramount right to self-determination. neocolonialism, gunboat diplomacy, realpolitik, different disguises for the same intent of ignoring international legality. Thus, I ask, aren't you troubled by the role of this fourth committee in this treason? Don't you believe that the Sahrawis have suffered enough wars, exile, occupation, human rights violations, Isn't it time for them to be allowed to freely determine their own future? And did you ever consider that any plan, I repeat, any plan, that does not include an option for the independence of Western Sahara is a mockery of international law and of the basic principles of the UN Charter? To date, the failures of the Fourth Committee have been big. It failed to champion a real self-determination for the Sahrawis. It failed, pending self-determination, to fulfill the obligations assumed in Chapter 11 of the Charter. The absence of an administering power was a flimsy excuse for it. The Fourth Committee should have advocated for the needs and expectations of a non-self-governing nation. Instead, too many members chose either indifference or politicization, turning the outcomes of the Fourth Committee into a big, great version of Security Council deliberations. Mr. Chairman, in the coming days, each one of you will be called to act in good conscience. This means striving to grant freedom to a people that for decades has paid a high price for UN inaction. It also means abiding by fundamental principles of international law. Choosing what is politically expedient over what is right would only contribute to the further erosion of that bedrock of norms that is the best guarantee of our peace and security. This is a big responsibility. The decision is yours. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 4th Committee · Chair [2:18:32]: I thank the petitioner. I now give the floor to Abdul Basit Pattnatar. Humanitarian [2:18:40]: Mr. Chair, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen. When a people have lived too long beneath the shadow of conflict, peace must become more than an aspiration. It must become their inheritance. I stand before this committee today as a humanitarian, voice concern not only with the welfare of the Sahrawi population, but with the wider consequences that prolonged separatist conflicts can create for peace, security, and human dignity. Over the years, I have addressed this committee on the humanitarian concerns affecting Sahrawi communities, particularly the vulnerability of women and children, the importance of humanitarian assistance, and the responsibility of the international community to protect civilian populations. Today, I wish to address another dimension that deserves greater international attention, the interaction between terrorism and separatist movement in fragile regions. Separatism and terrorism are not synonymous. Political grievances must be addressed through peaceful political process. But when conflicts become prolonged, armed networks, extremist organizations and criminal groups such as Polisario can exploit instability, poverty, displacement and political grievances. the consequences rarely remain confined to one community. They can spread across borders through radicalization, trafficking, organized crime, illegal arms, networks, and violent extremism. At the same time, we should recognize what peace, stability, and development can make possible. Under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI and through the efforts of the Moroccan government, significant development have taken place in Morocco's southern provinces, including infrastructure, education, healthcare, renewable energy, connectivity, and economic investment. These developments are creating greater opportunities for young people and strengthening the conditions for a secure, dignified future. For many Sahrawi families living in these communities, stability, education, and economic opportunity are increasingly becoming tangible parts of everyday life. But security alone cannot deliver lasting peace. Peace requires dignity, peace requires development, peace requires opportunity, and above all, peace requires dialogue. The international community must ensure that humanitarian space remain protected from militarization, exploitation, and extremist influence of Polisario, while humanitarian assistance reaches the Sahrawi population for whom it is intended. The true measure of peace is not the silence of weapons, but the sound of children growing up without fear. Let us work to so that the next generation of Sahrawi children inherits not the conflicts of yesterday, but the school, opportunities, prosperity, and peace built by the Kingdom of Morocco under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI for a peaceful tomorrow. Thank you, Mr. Chair. 4th Committee · Chair [2:21:39]: I thank the petitioner. I now give the floor to Zazim Alphonse Tamekanta. Petitioner [2:21:49]: Thank you, Chair. My name is Zazim Alfonso Tamet, a student from Cameroon. The true cost of this dispute is not only measured in lost years within the UN, it's measured in integration that has been prevented, closed borders, investment that is delayed, and regional cooperation that has been sacrificed. Resolution 2799 opens up the path to a change of paradigm by putting the autonomy initiative under Moroccan sovereignty at the heart of the discussion and allowed to move towards settling the dispute. I have been to the provinces of the south, and I can testify to the broad investments that are being made to modernize infrastructure and improve connectivity of this area with the rest of Africa. The Atlantic port of Dakhla, gas pipelines, and other infrastructure reflect this reality. Facilitation of exchanges, integration into Western Africa and the Sahel, this is all happening. After years of African conflict, it is clear that separatism continues to hold our continents back from its development and prosperity priorities. We cannot build lasting peace by subjecting a region to fragmentation. Peace means shared interests, interests and exchange of common perspectives. And this has been understood by international partners, many including the US, France and the UK have opened and encouraged investments in the southern provinces, attracted by the infrastructure, stability, and economic opportunities in the region. Yet, there is a contradiction that remains, Chair. As this momentum of openness and integration progresses, the country east of Morocco persists in its approach of fragmentation and is using the separatist entity as a tool of its regional policy, depriving the Maghreb region of all that it needs. We see this in reality with fragmented markets, limited in changes, hampered investments, and a lack of responses to the challenges of the Sahel. How long will the entire region have to pay the price for this? How long will of the citizens of the region suffer the consequences of this conflict. So their security requires that it ends. The autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty will put an end to this logic of blockade. It will consolidate progress made. Chair, I will repeat once again, this is no longer a matter of administrating a dispute, but it's choosing between regional fragmentation and Speaker 111 [2:24:48]: the speaker has been cut off. 4th Committee · Chair [2:24:50]: I thank the petitioner and I give the floor to Mohamed Ben Baha. Petitioner [2:24:54]: Mr. Chair, I address you today not just about a group of detainees, but also about an ongoing humanitarian suffering experienced by the Sahrawi people in the occupied areas of Western Sahara. I would like to draw your urgent attention to the health and humanitarian situation of the Issic prisoners. Since 23 September 2026, nine detainees, including the human rights defender Naama Asfari, have been on an open-ended hunger strike, demanding respect for their rights and the implementation of commitments that were reached following their previous hunger strike. Previously, Hama Asfari conducted a hunger strike that lasted 46 days in June and July 2026 before suspending it within the framework of a dialogue with the Moroccan prison administration. According to published information, demands relating to transfers closer to families and improvements in visitation and communication conditions have not been implemented. Mr. Chair, the case of the Gdeim Izik prisoners is not merely a matter of political narrative. There are international decisions and findings regarding their situation. In Opinion No. 23/2023, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded that the deprivation of 18 Gidim Izik prisoners was arbitrary because of serious violations of their right to a fair trial. It emphasized the necessity of respecting the dignity of persons deprived of liberty and complying with UN standards concerning detention conditions, healthcare, and communication with the outside world. The UN Committee Against Torture, in the case of NAMA Asfari, found violations of the Convention Against Torture. It called for compensation and rehabilitation and a comprehensive and impartial investigation. Morocco [2:26:49]: Thank you, Mr. Chair. And the title here of the meeting of today is the situation in the Moroccan Sahara. Now, again, to reiterate, maybe the petitioner was absent from the session of yesterday. And to clarify the situation, the individuals that are being mentioned in the petitioner now, in the statements of the petitioner now, were not prosecuted for political opinion. They were prosecuted for acts of violence, grave violence, extreme violence, even the pictures on different social media, not even to mention some of them. They ban those images and pictures of extreme violence. Now, that violence was targeting the police, and 11 police officers have been dead because of that violence. Now, the prosecution, the proceedings, the judicial proceeding is going on because we're having a independent judicial proceeding. Now, I have a question to the petitioner. Could you think also the other way around to the families of those dead police officers or members of the forces, Moroccan forces, who went there just to install, I mean, the calm. Are you thinking of their families, their daughters, their sons, their moms, their wives, their children? So this is just to bring back the petitioner. I know that this is a substance, but a procedural in a way, because the discussion today is about the Sahara and what is going on in the procedure. We cannot, through a petitioner or anyone, put any pressure on an independent judicial proceeding. So I don't know if, Mr. Chair, just for you, I had to react to that because it's not the title of the meeting today. The place for that is somewhere else. And also there is an international procedure that is being observed by international observers themselves. So let's not dupe the intelligence of this committee. Speaker 115 [2:29:49]: Here. 4th Committee · Chair [2:29:53]: I thank the distinguished representative of Morocco, and I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Algeria. Algeria [2:30:00]: Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I will explain yesterday, that my delegation does not intend to raise to the point of order repeatedly unless it is necessary. I think that we all witnessed how our distinguished colleague from the Kingdom of Morocco has interrupted four times, maybe more, one of the petitioners because he was not using, according to her, the right terminology. And now She is engaging in an abundant way in a substance. And to be honest, Mr. Chair, it is a blatant disregard to the rules of procedure. And we urge you, Mr. Chair, this is not a right of reply. The rules are clear, and rule 113 is clear. No one here, no delegation has the right to violate it. If she cannot bear what are these petitioners saying, I exposed yesterday what alternative she has. I can add another one, but I will keep it for myself for the moment. And asking people and petitioners to use terminology when she herself is not respecting our today's meeting on is on Western Sahara Moroccan Sahara is not under colonial rule and there is no interest for this committee to discuss anything about Moroccan Sahara we are speaking about Western Sahara and these interruptions are politically motivated. Both petitioners, the one that was cut four times and this one, they were cut because they can testify exactly what's happening on the ground. And this is what we need in this committee. And this is why this part of the work of this committee was established. I thank you, Mr. Chair. 4th Committee · Chair [2:32:34]: I thank the distinguished representative and remind petitioners that applauding in the room is prohibited and I ask that you respect these requirements. I ask that petitioners respect decorum in this room. You do not have the floor, and I will not give you the floor. Again. I ask security to take the necessary measures to avoid further insults. Distinguished representative of Morocco, it will be handled. I have asked security to take care of it. I remind petitioners that I remind the petitioner that they have one minute, 15 seconds remaining. Distinguished petitioner, you have-- please wait one moment. Morocco, you have the floor. Morocco [2:33:57]: Chair, I thank you, and I genuinely apologize for the manner in which certain persons that are politically motivated are using this. 4th Committee · Chair [2:34:11]: Are you making a motion? Morocco [2:34:13]: It is to respond to the delegation of Algeria. 4th Committee · Chair [2:34:15]: So it's a right of reply to a statement. Morocco [2:34:21]: And this is just to react to the delegation of Algeria. 4th Committee · Chair [2:34:25]: Excuse me. Excuse me? If it is a right of reply, please reply at the end. Rights of reply will be dealt with at the end. Morocco [2:34:44]: Well, the delegation of Algeria mentioned Morocco, therefore, I am compelled to respond. I am obliged to respond. 4th Committee · Chair [2:34:52]: You have a right of reply. The rights of reply will be at the end of the meeting. Morocco [2:34:57]: No, Chair, you have not-- 4th Committee · Chair [2:34:59]: I do understand, the Chair. But if it is a point of order, I give you the floor. Morocco [2:35:03]: It is a point of order, says Morocco. It is also a point of order. Go ahead. Chair. We have been qualified by the delegation of Algeria as being someone who is disturbing the committee. Between yesterday and today, we're having a group of people in this room. reacting outside the elementary basic sense of respect. And number three, I will not react to everything that Algeria, the delegation of Algeria, just said now, because the statement of Algeria proves that it is a principal party to the conflict. So all the statement that said Algeria now confirms once again that it is party principal party blattened disregard I will not accept this word from the delegation of Algeria no one can qualify the wording of another member states because up to now I never qualified the speech of Algeria I can use all kind of adjectives as well number two I will give him the delegation of Algeria my dear brother specifically some kind of pardon because of maybe English is not the first language of my dear brother but he has to try to at least check the wordings without before uttering them Number three, he talked about, "My statements are being politicized," or political, that's his wording. Well, this is called a special political and decolonization committee, so there is the political aspect of it. 4th Committee · Chair [2:36:56]: I thank you. Morocco [2:36:56]: I'm being interrupted. 4th Committee · Chair [2:37:01]: Just a couple of-- I remind petitioner. Morocco [2:37:05]: This is a fourth committee. 4th Committee · Chair [2:37:08]: Distinguished delegate, you have exhausted your time. Morocco [2:37:23]: Clowns, if I may use the word since I'm being qualified since yesterday, to applaud and to disturb the process. 4th Committee · Chair [2:37:30]: You don't have the floor. You don't have the floor. I now give the floor to. Morocco [2:37:47]: Mr. Chair, I ask security to escort those petitioners who are applauding. 4th Committee · Chair [2:38:05]: I ask security to accompany those who applauded out of this room. I have asked security to ensure that they leave the room. I'm not talking about that person. Please, please take your seats. Take your seat, please. It is not up to her. Excuse me. Excuse me, excuse me, dear officer. Dear officer. Security officers, you must follow my instructions, please. I will speak to security later. I call on our distinguished Moroccan and Algerian colleagues to allow us to continue our work. I know that these are sensitive issues, but we are all here to discuss them in a climate of calm. And I also ask petitioners for the last time to abstain from applauding. If not, I will be forced to make you leave the room and I give the floor back to the petitioner who had it previously. Morocco · President of the municipality of Dakhla [2:40:24]: Mr. Chair, I would like to present to you the experience of the city of Dakhla, the second largest city in Morocco's Saharan provinces. I have the honor of presiding over the municipal council, it has become a promising economic hub and an Atlantic gateway open to the world. I am speaking about a development path born from a vision based on openness, investment, and investment in people and linking local development with international partnerships. In my capacity as president of the municipality of Dakhla, I oversee on a daily basis the development of the city's potential. It has become a destination attracting tourists, investors, businesses, and partnerships, and a model of success whose influence extends beyond national borders. Today, Dakhla is directly connected to Paris, Madrid, and other European cities through air routes operated by major international airlines. We have recorded a 32% increase in the number of tourists visiting the city. During the first 10 months of 2025, 2,605 businesses were established. During January and February of this year alone, 247 new enterprises were created, in addition to the approval of six major investment projects. 35 new agricultural projects were launched over an area exceeding 1,000 hectares as part of a border irrigation project based on seawater desalination powered by wind energy. This is the result of a vision founded on an approach that brings together the state, elected institutions, the private sector, and civil society. The Dakar Atlantic port is of great strategic importance. It will strengthen the city's position within African, Atlantic, and international trade, logistics, and energy networks. Construction progress has so far exceeded 60% with a total investment of approximately $1.36 billion. Mr. Chair, this is the type of development we seek, investment that creates value and job opportunities while preserving water, energy, and natural environment. It transforms the challenges of the desert into opportunities for innovation and for building a more sustainable economy. This is only one of the success stories experienced today in the Saharan provinces. It is the best response to those who seek to keep Sahrawis captive to narratives formulated during the era of the Cold War that see nothing in our region except conflict and division. The Sahrawis whom we know and represent today do not want to live on the margins of the world, nor do they want the future of their children to remain hostage to a dispute created by forces that fail to understand the values of democracy and development. We have chosen to move forward and to build our future through active and constructive participation. We will not accept having our present or the future reduced to a conflict that Algeria wishes to perpetrate as a tool to stifle our hopes for a dignified life. Thank you. 4th Committee · Chair [2:43:21]: I thank the speaker and I give the floor to. Apologies, I believe you just spoke already. You have the floor. Morocco · Member of Parliament [2:43:35]: In the name of God, Mr. Chair, I am Mufida Ouddad, a member of parliament representing the region of Laayoune-Saakia-Alhambra. I stand before you today only a few weeks after being elected for the first time to the Moroccan House of Representatives as a young woman from the southern provinces who chose to engage in political life and assume her responsibility through participation in the management of public affairs in a context of political pluralism through elections to which participated several political parties with a broad participation and under national and international observation. I was born and raised in the Moroccan Sahara. I represent a generation of Sahrawi women whose participation in public life has moved beyond the discourse of women's empowerment to become a tangible reality within elected institutions and decision-making bodies. My experience is not an exception. Mr. Chairman, the results of the recent legislative elections clearly demonstrate the level of political participation in Morocco's southern provinces. Voting turnout exceeded 77% in the region of Laayoune-Sakia Al-Hamra, while participation in the city of Laayoune surpassed 80%. In the city of Oujda, the turnout rate was close to 80%. These elections allowed for an important women representation. And today, women represent a large portion of the members of the parliament. These figures mean that the voters were present in the political process, and they were able to choose their representatives, and they discussed their performance. And when the time for re-election comes, they can renew their trust in those representatives or deny it to them. Representative legitimacy is neither founded on mere claims nor granted indefinitely. Today, I carry a mandate whose source is clear and whose duration is defined. And I fully understand the value of the trust placed in me by the citizens. From this perspective, the distinction becomes evident between representation based on free and periodic choice of voters and claims of representation. Mr. Chair, while discussing the legitimacy of representation, The initiative of Morocco acquires all its importance for me because it is an initiative that focuses on the self -- on the autonomy of the people, and it is based on democratic principles. The microphone was cut off. 4th Committee · Chair [2:46:35]: I thank the petitioner. I now give the floor to the next speaker. And I ask the petitioners to please respect the rules of decorum. And I remind the ones that do not respect this that the security guards are here and you will be escorted out of the room if you do not respect the rules and decorum. I give the floor now to Souleymane Sateyi Sidibe. Petitioner [2:47:06]: Thank you, Chair. The current legislative dynamic in the American Congress marks a turning point in the way in which the international community deals with the Polisario militia and the fact that terrorists can no longer be hidden. This is a process in both houses of Congress, where there are Republican and Democrat representatives There's been several bills put forward to classify the Polisario Front as a terrorist group that were then met with the support of several influential members of Congress. This is unprecedented and was brought forward by 20 prominent members of the House and the Senate, clarifying that Polisario Front is responsible for terrorist acts. and destabilization of sovereign states in the Middle East. On the 9th of August 2018, they were included, one of the members, one of the leaders of the Polisario Front was included in UN sanctions. I'm talking about Abane Aboulayes Al-Saori. who was directly involved in the murder on the 4th of October 2017 in Mali of four American soldiers and five Nigerian soldiers, and was affiliated with Daesh before they were defeated by the French army. The Tindouf camp is not only a great resource for terrorist recruitment, but also a supply base for other terrorist groups active in the Sahel. The Tindouf camps have therefore become a real sanctuary to hide from the activities carried out by the Malian army, participating in terrorist actions in areas in the Moroccan Sahara, including a recent one targeting a mosque in a residential area. In terms of the Polisario Front's terrorist actions in North Africa, they are truly destabilizing their southern neighbors and pose a threat to the whole Afro-Mediterranean region. Thank you. 4th Committee · Chair [2:49:47]: I thank the petitioner and give the floor to Subai Hamid. Petitioner [2:49:54]: Mr. Chair, I have the honor to speak before you alongside my colleagues, members of the parliament and elected councils and the Sahrawi provinces. We were chosen by the voters to represent them, to express their aspirations, and defend their interests. We are before you today to extend this legitimacy and to bear this responsibility vis-a-vis the inhabitants of the southern provinces. We live in Alayoun, Dakhla, Smara, Boujour, in Kefaloud, and Marsa, and we are fully aware of the changes that occurred thanks to the new roads and expressways that were built. We have also witnessed the building of new centers, medical centers, university centers. And I would like to mention here the expressway between Tiznit and Dakhla. Cities were enlarged from within. and new neighborhoods have appeared. The city of Al-Ayun, for instance, hosts a faculty of medicine and pharmacy and a university medical center with 500 beds. The city also has higher education institutions with faculties of engineering, trade, and other specializations. Mr. Chair, I am mentioning all these changes as an elected member of one of the universities in that province. Our university is part of a technological pole that was created in order to promote scientific research and to develop capabilities and welcome economic initiatives. In this context, We also have the African Center for Sustainable Agriculture Research, and researchers from various parts of the world work in that center. Mr. Chair, what we are witnessing today in the Moroccan Sahara proves that investing in the infrastructure and in the human capital is an investment in human dignity. the dignity which we want for our brothers in the Tindouf camps. Those found themselves prisoners of an artificial, provoked conflict for too long without having the opportunity for a dignified return to their homeland, Morocco. All this because a country named Algeria wants to keep them as hostages to serve its own interests. Thank you, Chair. 4th Committee · Chair [2:52:45]: I thank the petitioner. I now give the floor to Smail Debash. Petitioner [2:52:59]: My intervention is entitled Morocco Recognizes That the Western Sahara is Not Moroccan. Mr. President, regardless of the reality, history, and identity, which recognizes that the Western Sahara is has is not associated to Morocco. Morocco has recognized that the Western Sahara is not Moroccan. First, the borders of Morocco have been registered legally in 1956 outside of the Western Sahara, which was under Spanish colonialism. Two, Morocco is occupying the Western Sahara under what is called the Madrid Convention, and it recognizes that this Sahara is not Moroccan, but shared with Mauritania. Three, if the Western Sahara is Moroccan, why did Morocco build a wall of 2,800 kilometers? Four, Morocco recognizes that the airspace of the Western Sahara is under the sovereignty of Spain. Six, Morocco recognizes the Arab Democratic Sahrawi Republic since it joined the African Union in 2017. And this is the official gazette of the Kingdom of Morocco, number 6539 of the 31st of January, 2017. Mr. Chair, what they call autonomy is a non-realistic project. grounded in several factors. The Western Sahara is non-self-governing since 1963, and autonomy is not a solution, but it consecrates colonialization. We have to learn from history and to understand that previous similar experiences have failed. Let's take the example of Eritrea, when the United Nations decided in 1952 to grant autonomy to that region, which was under colonialism. Three, self-government comes after 48 years of struggle for independence in that region. To conclude, Mr. President, the decolonization in the Western Sahara is witnessing a major shift today, and the Sahrawi people 4th Committee · Chair [2:55:49]: -- I give the floor to Morocco. Morocco [2:55:56]: Mr. Chair, the petitioner has said that Morocco recognizes such and such, and as a representative of the Kingdom of Morocco, I would like to mention here that I, as a representative of the Kingdom of Morocco in this committee, We do not recognize, and I do not recognize, any word and any letter that the petitioner has given before this committee. Thank you. 4th Committee · Chair [2:56:28]: I thank the distinguished representative of Morocco. And I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Algeria. Algeria [2:56:37]: Thank you, Mr. Chair. We respectfully recall rule 113 that confine the point of orders to procedural matters. What we have heard right now from the distinguished colleague is again a blatant disregard to this rule. I thank you, Mr. Chair. 4th Committee · Chair [2:57:08]: I remind delegates to please respect the quorum. And I recall article 113 to avoid us delaying our work. Thank you. I give the floor to Morocco. Morocco [2:57:26]: Thank you, Mr. Chair. And again, as a quick reaction to my dear distinguished colleague from Algeria, two things. The petitioner, first of all, and this is a procedural, purely procedural matter. The petitioner mentioned a situation outside of the situation under examination. In this case, if Algeria missed that, refer to Eritrea. Second thing, the petitioner spoke on behalf of my delegation, saying that my delegation and the Kingdom of Morocco itself admits this, this, and that. So out of procedures, again, we are taking the floor to say that No one is speaking on behalf of the delegation of Morocco except the one sitting in this seat and no one else. I thank you. 4th Committee · Chair [2:58:11]: I thank the distinguished. Representative of Morocco, and I give the floor to Mohammed Ziad Al-Jarabi. You have the floor. Petitioner [2:58:30]: Mr. Chair, Excellencies, representatives of the Member States, I speak before you today of a grave issue that goes beyond the political conflict and touches upon stability and security in the Maghreb and Sahel region and international stability as a whole. We are not dealing with a political difference, but with a campaign launched by the Polisario to hide the effective transfer of their elements and leadership to terrorist groups that operate in the region. And among the undeniable proofs I mention, Adnan Abul Walid al-Sahrawi and Security Council documents document that he was trained by the Polisario, and he used to speak on behalf of Al-Tawhid and Jihad movement in Western Africa, then joined the before announcing in 2015 that he is joining terrorist Daesh. And the Security Council designated him officially on the sanctions list affiliated to Daesh and al-Qaeda after the group he used to lead launched bloody attacks and kidnapping operations against security and international forces in the region. which shows and the Security Council proved that Daesh in the Western Sahara was created in 2015 by this leader. And those threats are not confined to historical reports. They are embodied today on the field. Hence, the terrorist attack in Mali recently with a participation by Polisario elements And this is yet another proof that these militias have become a direct agent in the armed conflicts in the Sahel. And this assassination and terrorist attack against Mali and international supply chain proves the linkages between separatist groups and extremist organizations destabilizing the Sahel region. Terrorist groups and organized criminals are today exploiting this vacuum. And those militias are using the current vacuum, and they are also exploiting the Tindouf camps and the suffering of civilians. They are recruiting children and youth to serve their terrorist agendas. This proves the safe haven that the Polisario is providing. The mic was cut off. 4th Committee · Chair [3:01:32]: I give the floor to Sherry Erb. Petitioner [3:01:35]: Your Excellency, Chairman of the Fourth Committee, distinguished members and guests. For years, the international community has sounded the alarm over the recruitment and militarization of children by the Polisario Front in the Tindouf camps. These concerns are not speculative. They have been raised in this assembly at the UNHCR in Geneva and supported by credible NGO testimony at the 60th session of the UN Human Rights Council, documenting the forced recruitment of minors as child soldiers. One of the most alarming examples is Adnan Abu Walid al-Sarari, once a child soldier trained in the Tindouf camps, who later became the leader of ISIS in the greater Sahara. His trajectory from indoctrinated youth to terrorist commander illustrates the dangerous consequences of militarizing children. A Washington Post investigation published in April of 2025 reported that hundreds of Polisario militants and child soldiers were captured by new authorities in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. Many trace their origins back to the Tindouf camps, demonstrating how decades of radicalization have produced far-reaching instability. The Movement of Saharis for Peace in Madrid continues to document worsening conditions inside the Polisario-controlled camps, their reports highlighting escalating violence, widespread disorder, corruption, and criminal activity. Armed gangs and traffickers have destabilized security, including an April 2025 incident in the Layun camp where heavily armed traffickers exchanged gunfire, forcing residents to hide in their homes. In the same camp, violent confrontations have also destroyed property and vehicles. Credible allegations implicate Policero members in drug trafficking, smuggling, and livestock theft, often in coordination with organized criminal networks. Economic hardship and mismanagement leave many, especially youth, without employment or basic service. These documented conditions paint a bleak reality. The continued marginalization of Sahari youth leaves them vulnerable to exploitation and radicalization. I thank this committee for adopting Morocco's autonomy plan. Now is the time to move to the next phase and help Saharis in the Tindouf camps to return to Western Sahara. Thank you for today. 4th Committee · Chair [3:04:04]: I thank the petitioner. Now I give the floor to Owey Lakhemfa. Petitioner [3:04:14]: Nigeria, the truth about Western Sahara stands naked, but powerful forces prefer to have it clothed in bulldoze. As a very classic case of colonization, decolonization, and an attempt to recolonize an independent country, the ICJ and in 1975 found that Morocco's claims to Western Sahara are false. Therefore, the UN Security Council in Resolution 690 directed the referendum should be held. And that referendum was supposed to have been held in 1992, that is 34 years ago. Today, 11 of the 15 members of the United Nations Security Council Charged by humanity to right the wrongs against Western Sahara, I resolved to decolonize that country by handing it over to an unelected Moroccan king, Mohammed, under a dubious autonomy plan. While Morocco is an unrepentant monarchy, the Saharais prefer freedom and democracy. 4th Committee · Chair [3:05:35]: I give the floor to Morocco. Morocco [3:05:40]: Thank you, Mr. Chair. And first of all, we kindly ask the petitioners to respect the chair. When the chair takes the floor to lead this committee, the petitioners need to listen and to respect each other here. Second, the petitioner is mentioning one of the symbols of the Kingdom of Morocco. It is the extreme symbol, is the highest symbol, His Majesty King Mohammed VI. I don't understand why the petitioner from the Nigeria movement for the liberation of whatever the Moroccan Sahara liberation from what it's part of them if Morocco is dwelling into things that have nothing to do with the the point under examination So I kindly ask through you, Mr. Chair, that you instruct the petitioner not to mention the head of states, not to use this podium to insult member states, their symbols, their head of states, or their constitutional institutions. I thank you. 4th Committee · Chair [3:06:49]: I thank the distinguished representative of Morocco. You don't have the floor yet. Thank you. I'd like to remind the petitioners of the need to respect decorum and the rules here in this room to avoid being cut off yourselves and also to allow the committee to finish its work on time. I give the floor to the petitioner. Petitioner [3:07:22]: Also, the European Union is committed to the decolonization of Western Sahara because the European Court of Justice has had seven rulings telling its members that they cannot exploit the resources of Western Sahara without the consent of the people. Ladies and gentlemen, if indeed Western Sahara is part of Morocco, why did it support the splitting of the territory between itself and Mauritania? Why was it ecstatic and happy when President Donald Trump on December 4, 2020, issued a declaration purportedly donating Western Sahara to Morocco? If in truth, the Sahrawi people are Moroccan citizens, why did Rabat expel the Sahrawi feminist, Aminatou Haidar, from Morocco to Spain? Western Sahara is the 55th independent country of Africa. And it was so declared on February 22, 1982, by the Organization of African Trade Union Unity. Also, when the AU was formed in 2000, Western Sahara was a founding member, and Morocco was not. If the African people's leaders and countries have collectively resolved an internal issue, such as the sovereignty of Western Sahara, the least other countries should do is concur, not to seek reversing it. If the UN Security Council and the UN and other powerful forces do not allow the independence of Morocco now, we'll be spending another 50 years talking about the same thing. Morocco is a monarchy. Morocco [3:09:01]: The Western Sahara-- 4th Committee · Chair [3:09:06]: I thank the petitioner. I give the floor to Matt Mayer. IPRA · SG Emeritus [3:09:13]: Thank you. My name is Matt Meier. I'm the Secretary General Emeritus of the International Peace Research Association, the world's largest, oldest, and highly respected consortium of university and college-based peace and conflict resolution departments, institutes, think tanks, individual professors, researchers, students, and some collaborating community-based organizations. With a warm relationship with UNESCO, special consultative status with ECOSOC, IPRI's sole operational objective is to review the most effective means of preventing, decreasing, and eliminating violent conflict and the causes of such disputes. And we say unequivocally before this body today that our findings concur with the growing consensus that all forms of colonialism can be considered crimes against humanity. sometimes constituting a form of slow genocide which deprives people of their culture, decision-making powers, and basic human rights. As a UN-designated non-self-governing territory, the status of Western Sahara cannot be rightfully debated in this Fourth Committee, working closely as it does with the Decolonization Committee. We can discuss the nature of the status, the updated conditions, and the best methods forward for decolonization and peace. But Western Sahara remains a colony of Morocco in dire need of a decolonization process, which does more than simply defer and acquiesce to the wishes of the colonizer. To do so would make a mockery of everything the UN has stood for these substantive 50-plus years. I testify here as someone who in the past years has visited both Morocco as well as the refugee camps in the far western region of Algeria. And though tragically, in our reviews of still occupied peoples, such as those involved in the burgeoning network Occupied Peoples Forum, the conditions faced in occupied regions of Western Sahara under Moroccan military control and the conditions in the camps are not the worst we see in the world today, they are nonetheless far from ideal. They are far from what we think of when we speak of sustainable development. They are far from freedom. And to suggest either that these colonial conditions are somehow fictional accounts made-up by the Saharis or the fault of the Sahari leadership are gross accusations devoid of factual merit, though they fit right in a time when truth plays second fiddle to the screams of the loudest bully in the room. In many ways, as an academic born and raised in the US, I can well understand the desire of Morocco to be exceptionalized as the US is exceptionalized, however, Without an end to all colonialism, which includes the freedom and self-determination of Western Sahara, there can and will be no peace. Thank you. 4th Committee · Chair [3:12:13]: I thank the petitioner. We have heard the last petitioner for today. Given the significant number of petitioners that we still need to hear from, We might not be able to hear from all of the petitioners before the end of the meeting tomorrow. We have the general debate on decolonisation, items 52 to 56, so I would like to propose that we resume the general debate then tomorrow, immediately after the conclusion of the petitioners' hearing, if there is time left before 6pm. Hearing no objection, it is so decided. I invite. All petitioners who did not take the floor today to come back tomorrow so that the committee can hear from. Them. The meeting is adjourned.