South-African women groups call for end of Morocco's occupation

outh-African women's groups PAWO-SARO have called, in a petition to the secretary-general of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, for a an end to the illegal occupation of Western Sahara by Morocco and human rights violations perpetrated by Moroccan occupation forces.

The petition signatories demand that referendum on Western Sahara people's self-determination be held in February 2017, to allow Saharawis to decide freely on their own fate.

The pan-African organization of women's groups has staged a rally outside the United Nations offices in Windhoek, Namibia, and handed over the petition to UN representative Kiki Gbeho

The organization called for an "end to the complicity of some EU countries in the illegal and shameful exploitation of Western Sahara's natural resources," Saharawi news agency SPS reported Monday.

Speaking on that occasion, the executive secretary of Pawo-Saro, Mildred Nontobeko Jantjies, strongly demanded "to put an end to Morocco's illegal occupation of Western Sahara."

"We call for a halt to human rights abuses committed by Morocco in Western Sahara and an immediate release of all political Saharawi prisoners, especially the Gdeiml Izik group."

Nontobeko Jantjies also condemned Morocco's contempt for the decision of the International court of Justice and the various resolutions of the African Union.