The Swiss organisation, the Crans Montana Forum, is planning to hold its 2017 annual session in the city of Dajla (Dakhla) in the Moroccan-occupied territories of Western Sahara on 16-21 March 2017.
The holding of this forum is clearly contrary to the rights and interests of the Sahrawi people and to the relevant principles of international law applicable to Western Sahara as a Non-Self-Governing Territory.
Western Sahara has never been part of Morocco that continues to occupy illegally large parts of the Territory since 31 October 1975. As an occupying power, Morocco has no right whatsoever to deal with third parties concerning the Non-Self-Governing Territory of Western Sahara.
Together with its obstructionist attitude towards the UN-led peace process in Western Sahara, Morocco continues to violate systematically human rights in the Sahrawi territories under its illegal occupation. It persists in plundering illegally the natural resources of the Sahrawi people including fisheries and phosphates often in complicity with foreign entities.
Morocco also still maintains operative its 2,720 km long military wall, which divides Western Sahara and its people. The 7 million anti-personnel and anti-tank mines buried along the wall continue to take a heavy toll on Sahrawi civilians on both sides of the wall.
The International Campaign against the Wall of Moroccan Occupation in Western Sahara denounces the holding of this the event, which will only encourage and embolden Morocco to persist in its illegal occupation of Western Sahara and to continue violating the basic human rights of the Sahrawi people.
It calls on all organisations and institutions that intend to participate in this Forum to refrain from doing so because it is not in their interest to support an illegal and brutal occupation that persists in violating fundamental human rights and denying an entire people their inalienable right to self-determination and freedom