HIBAPRESS
Prominent experts and interveners in international law and conflict resolution, before the Fourth Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, affirmed the merit of the Moroccan initiative for autonomy, considering it a "solution of realism and consensus" to bring a final end to the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara.
During his intervention before the committee, Ismail Abuy Boucannan, a lecturer at the University of Rwanda, affirmed that the realism characterizing the Moroccan proposal has today earned it the support of more than 130 countries, "including the European Union, in the name of its 27 member states, and three permanent members of the UN Security Council," noting that, for the same reasons, "more than 30 countries from four continents have consular representations in the cities of the Moroccan Sahara."
In the same context, Professor of Law Christophe Boutan expressed his regret over the continuation of the status quo, which has led to "no legal settlement, no lasting solution, and no common horizon," calling for the implementation of the Moroccan initiative for autonomy, which "imposes itself as the only possible path to consensus," and provides the concerned population with a democratic framework to manage their own affairs.
For his part, lawyer and professor of law, Hubert Sejan, affirmed that Security Council Resolution 2797, which enshrined the Moroccan autonomy plan as a reference basis for reaching a solution to the conflict, "directs the settlement of the dispute towards a realistic, practical, and sustainable solution."
He added that this resolution "constitutes long-awaited historical justice, and brings a final end to an approach that has, for far too long, caused the perpetuation of the status quo."
Speaking about the artificial nature of the dispute over the Moroccan Sahara, Eric Cameron, president of the NGO "World Action for Refugees," also stressed the need for a realistic solution, calling on the host country of the Tindouf camps to allow the population confined there for decades to freely choose their future.
He said, in this regard, "Either join the unprecedented momentum of development witnessed by the Moroccan Sahara, or endure the hell of the Tindouf camps for another half-century."
During his intervention before the committee, Jérôme Besnard, professor of law at the University of Paris-City, affirmed that "realism and a practical approach impose themselves as the only criteria for a final settlement," adding that "time no longer allows for procrastination."
The French academic noted, in this regard, that the international community has taken its responsibilities through Resolution 2797, which "clarified the objective of the political process and recalled the role and responsibilities of the parties to the conflict, particularly the responsibilities of the host country of the Tindouf camps."
For his part, Alfredo González Castro, editor-in-chief of the Mexican newspaper "El Heraldo," highlighted that the Security Council resolution "opens a new phase aimed at reaching a final, realistic, pragmatic, and sustainable political solution, while prioritizing dialogue, consensus, and the feasibility of the solution."
He affirmed that the Moroccan initiative for autonomy specifically meets these criteria, emphasizing the growing support it enjoys from influential countries, "which recognize its seriousness, credibility, realism, and applicability, allowing for progress towards a solution."
For his part, Jamal Kamal, representative of the Arab Union for Artificial Intelligence and Programming, pointed out that the Moroccan autonomy plan, unlike secessionist theses that have proven their failure over the past fifty years, "is based on reality and on firm ties that have been strengthened over centuries between the Sahara and the Kings of Morocco."
After expressing regret that the countries of the Global South have witnessed "many protracted conflicts and many solutions formulated from afar," Luis Alfonso Ramírez Cario, a professor at the Autonomous University of the State of Yucatán in Mexico, concluded that "the future of the Sahara must be built on the basis of peace, development, stability, and a realistic political solution," enabling the construction of schools, the creation of jobs and opportunities, and allowing the population to live with dignity.
