11 August 2007 – Second round of negotiations

El Aaiun , Western Sahara, August 13, 2007. Press Release

On August 11, 2007, the second round of negotiations between the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia El Hamra and Rio de Oro and the Moroccan kingdom in Manhasset, New York, ended after two days’ discussions under the auspices of the United Nations and in accordance with Security Council  Resolution 1754 April 30, 2007 in which both parties to the conflict were asked to enter direct negotiations without preconditions in order to reach a fair political solution that will lead to the Sahrawi people’s self-determination.  As the direct negotiations II have been positively viewed by the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary General to the Western Sahara Mr. Peter Van Walsum, according to his final communiqué, indicating that the negotiations will continue later on in one of the European countries.
And as the Polisario Front and the Moroccan kingdom expressed their desire to continue the direct negotiations process in accordance to the resolution 1754,
 
And as the CODESA secretariat draws attention to the dangerous situation of human rights in the Western Sahara because of the Moroccan state’s resoluteness to commit more violations of human rights, it declares the following :
 
1.It calls on the Moroccan state to respect the international legitimacy and accept the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination.
2.It calls on the international community to create a legal effective way for the respect of the Sahrawi citizens’ rights.
3.It appeals to the UN Secreatary General to publish the UNHCHR report 2006 upon the human rights situation in the Western Sahara.
4.It desires that both parties to the conflict need to have good faith in order to make the next rounds of the direct negotiations successful and that the Moroccan state has to :
        
         a. respect human rights in the Western Sahara.
         b. release all the Saharawi political prisoners without any condition.
         c. lift all the obstacles concerning the family visits process between the Saharawi refugees and their brothers  in the Western Saharan cities supervised by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees over the last few years.
         d. unveil the fate of the Saharawi disappeared.
         e. stop the excessive exploitation and robbery of the Western Sahara natural resources.
         f. clear the Western Sahara from landmines that killed dozens of Sahrawi citizens, resulting in hundreds of victims and still threaten the safety of the inhabitants in the region.