SAINT JOHN (Dominica)- Grave violations are committed against western Sahara people, Algeria’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Sofiane Mimouni, said Thursday, calling on the Special Committee on Decolonization to protect the population in the occupied Sahrawi territories.

Algeria calls on the Committee to “use all the tools at its disposal, including field visits, to ensure the protection of the political, economic, social and cultural rights of Western Sahara people, especially in the context of the COVID19 -pandemic, and to support the success of the decolonization process,” Sofiane Mimouni said in an address at the regional seminar of the Special Committee on Decolonization, held in Dominica.

“The question of Western Sahara has been on the agenda of the Committee of 24 (Special Committee on Decolonization) since it was included on the agenda of the General Assembly 58 years ago.”

“Unfortunately, the United Nations, like this august committee, has made very little progress in the process of holding a free referendum to allow the people of this non-autonomous territory to exercise their right to self-determination,” the Algerian ambassador said.

“There were many obstacles to this process and a clear desire to move it away from the objective set for it.”

The Algerian representative to the UN deplored that “decades of inaction have led to a significant deterioration of the situation on the ground with the break-up of the ceasefire, the resumption of hostilities, the lack of prospect for the peace process and the vacancy of the post of Personal Envoy (of the UN Secretary-General) for more than two years.”