The European Parliament adopted by 98 votes to 0 with no abstentions a resolution on human rights in Western Sahara.

The resolution had been tabled by the PES, Greens/ALE, EPP-ED, ALDE and GUE/NGL groups.

Parliament is deeply concerned at the latest reports by Amnesty International and the World Organisation Against Torture regarding serious human rights violations by Morocco against the Sahrawi people, noting that the investigations carried out by the Equity and Reconciliation Commission regarding the people who have died in illegal detention centres have led to the discovery of the graves of 57 victims of forcible 'disappearance', 43 of them Sahrawis. It welcomes the release by the Polisario Front of all Moroccan prisoners of war, and calls on the Moroccan authorities to release the human rights supporters, Mrs Aminattou Haidar, Mr Ali Salem Tamek and 35 other Sahrawi political prisoners, and to shed light on the fate of more than 500 missing Sahrawis, including those who disappeared during military campaigns. Morocco and the Polisario Front are asked to cooperate fully with the International Committee of the Red Cross with a view to ascertaining what has happened to the people who have disappeared since the conflict began.

Parliament calls on the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front, the neighbouring states and the European Union to cooperate fully with the United Nations with a view to completing the process of decolonisation of Western Sahara. The Council and Member States are asked to support actively the UN's efforts in calling for the preservation of the natural energy resources of Western Sahara as a non-autonomous territory, the subject of a decolonisation process as stipulated in the legal opinion (2002) by the UN's Deputy Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, Mr Hans Correl. Welcoming the appointment by the UN Secretary-General of his Personal Envoy to Western Sahara, Parliament calls on the UN Secretary-General's new Personal Envoy to report to its Committee on Foreign Affairs and its subcommittees, as well as its Delegation for Relations with the Maghreb countries.

The Moroccan authorities are asked to facilitate access to the territory of Western Sahara for independent observers and representatives of human rights defence organisations and the international press. Parliament deplores in this connection the expulsion of several European delegations. It considers that the visit by its delegation to the region will provide the European Parliament with fresh information regarding the situation there, and is confident that the delegation will be able to carry out its mission unobstructed and on schedule, that is to say in January 2006.

The European Parliament adopted by 98 votes to 0 with no abstentions a resolution on human rights in Western Sahara.

The resolution had been tabled by the PES, Greens/ALE, EPP-ED, ALDE and GUE/NGL groups.

Parliament is deeply concerned at the latest reports by Amnesty International and the World Organisation Against Torture regarding serious human rights violations by Morocco against the Sahrawi people, noting that the investigations carried out by the Equity and Reconciliation Commission regarding the people who have died in illegal detention centres have led to the discovery of the graves of 57 victims of forcible 'disappearance', 43 of them Sahrawis. It welcomes the release by the Polisario Front of all Moroccan prisoners of war, and calls on the Moroccan authorities to release the human rights supporters, Mrs Aminattou Haidar, Mr Ali Salem Tamek and 35 other Sahrawi political prisoners, and to shed light on the fate of more than 500 missing Sahrawis, including those who disappeared during military campaigns. Morocco and the Polisario Front are asked to cooperate fully with the International Committee of the Red Cross with a view to ascertaining what has happened to the people who have disappeared since the conflict began.

Parliament calls on the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front, the neighbouring states and the European Union to cooperate fully with the United Nations with a view to completing the process of decolonisation of Western Sahara. The Council and Member States are asked to support actively the UN's efforts in calling for the preservation of the natural energy resources of Western Sahara as a non-autonomous territory, the subject of a decolonisation process as stipulated in the legal opinion (2002) by the UN's Deputy Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, Mr Hans Correl. Welcoming the appointment by the UN Secretary-General of his Personal Envoy to Western Sahara, Parliament calls on the UN Secretary-General's new Personal Envoy to report to its Committee on Foreign Affairs and its subcommittees, as well as its Delegation for Relations with the Maghreb countries.

The Moroccan authorities are asked to facilitate access to the territory of Western Sahara for independent observers and representatives of human rights defence organisations and the international press. Parliament deplores in this connection the expulsion of several European delegations. It considers that the visit by its delegation to the region will provide the European Parliament with fresh information regarding the situation there, and is confident that the delegation will be able to carry out its mission unobstructed and on schedule, that is to say in January 2006.