Western Sahara and the territorial integrity of Morocco

The Charter of the United Nations (1945), to which the 193 States of the planet are party, establishes in Article 2.1 that its members “shall refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity” of States”.

It is, therefore, the immutable right of countries to have their national territory preserved intact against any external threat (aggression, invasion, conspiracy, etc.) that seeks to impact the aforementioned territorial integrity, whose national boundaries are established by delimitations (measurement with geographical coordinates) and demarcations (placement of landmarks or physical signs in situ on the ground), and which, in the case of Morocco, includes ipso iure the southernmost part of its territory, that is to say, Western Sahara. 

Thanks to this unique and immutable reality, the Alaouite kingdom's southernmost neighbour is Mauritania. Just four years after Morocco's independence (1956), the UN General Assembly issued Resolution 1514 (XV) of 1960, paragraph 6 of which states: “Any attempt aimed at the social or partial disruption of the national unity and territorial integrity of a country is incompatible with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”

It was a true universal endorsement of the sovereignty of states, one of the greatest legacies of the historic Peace of Westphalia of 1648, which enshrined, precisely, the principle of state sovereignty over its territory, one of the three constituent elements of states - the other two being population and government - in its capacity as a subject of international law, that is to say, an actor with rights and duties, or if you prefer, apprehensible of international responsibility, a position held by the Moroccan State, which, in addition to being a member of the UN, is also a member of the African Union and the Arab League. 

Let us bear in mind that under no circumstances is the territorial integrity of a State negotiable. It would be to abandon it to the realms of uncertainty or to leave it in the darkness of instability. 

The geography and geopolitics of a country are assumed to be immutable and the basis of the national interest. This is how Morocco sees the integrity of its territory, which includes the Sahara, and with it, its history and its destiny as a state in relation to the world. 

Read it from King Mohammed VI himself: “The Sahara issue is the prism through which Morocco looks at the world”,which explains the proposal for autonomy, which is not a political but an administrative quality, presented by the king at the UN in 2007, and which, to date, has won overwhelming support as it is considered realistic, serious and credible. 

With the doctrine, as a source of international law, on Morocco's side, I quote: “There was no talk of independence at all, but there was talk of developing self-government, taking into account the aspirations and circumstances of the people” (In REMIRO BROTÓNS, Antonio. “Derecho Internacional”. McGraw-Hill, Madrid, 1997, p. 108), the inclusive Moroccan proposal to the Saharawis is understood, preserving the non-negotiable territorial integrity of the kingdom.

Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Mackay . Former Foreign Minister of Peru and Internationalist

Article published in the Diario expreso of Peru