In 1975, the International Court of Justice recognized the Saharawi people’s right to self-determination, and found no ties of territorial sovereignty between Morocco and the territory of Western Sahara. Yet Morocco has been allowed to continue illegally occupying Western Sahara for over four decades.
BIR LEHLU, WESTERN SAHARA – When Western Sahara was annexed by Morocco in 1975, it had been under Spanish control for nearly a century. But Spain’s grip on the territory had weakened in the dying days of Francisco Franco’s dictatorship. And rather than allowing a process of decolonization, Spain signed the tripartite “Madrid Accords” with Morocco and Mauritania, both of which subsequently moved in to annex the territory. Mauritania relinquished its claim in 1979, but Morocco never left.
BIR LEHLU, WESTERN SAHARA – When Western Sahara was annexed by Morocco in 1975, it had been under Spanish control for nearly a century. But Spain’s grip on the territory had weakened in the dying days of Francisco Franco’s dictatorship. And rather than allowing a process of decolonization, Spain signed the tripartite “Madrid Accords” with Morocco and Mauritania, both of which subsequently moved in to annex the territory. Mauritania relinquished its claim in 1979, but Morocco never left.