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Morocco has responded to Algeria's request to expand MINURSO's mandate to include human rights monitoring in Western Sahara. Majda Moutchou, Morocco's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, denounced the Algerian delegation’s actions as «selective political manipulation» and a «blatant double standard».
The Moroccan diplomat stressed that MINURSO’s mandate «has been clearly defined by the Security Council, and any attempt by the Algerian delegation to distort its role is either misinformed or deliberately misleading».
«We, too, question why the Algerian delegation, displaying a blatant and selective double standard, focuses solely on MINURSO while ignoring other peacekeeping operations», Moutchou argued.
«This is neither a systematic rule nor an exception; it is a decision made on a case-by-case basis», she added, recalling that in October 2024, despite Algeria’s persistent attempts, the Security Council firmly rejected the inclusion of a human rights monitoring mechanism in MINURSO’s mandate. «This rejection was no accident—it reaffirmed that the human rights situation in the Moroccan Sahara does not warrant such a mechanism».
The diplomat also drew attention to the plight of residents in the Tindouf camps, located on Algerian territory, who, she stated, «live under daily oppression, deprived of fundamental rights, and subjected to severe movement restrictions and blatant violations of international law».
Responding to the Algerian ambassador’s reference to the right to self-determination, Moutchou condemned what she called a «troubling contradiction». She pointed out that Algeria uses self-determination «as a political weapon against Morocco’s territorial integrity while conveniently ignoring it when it comes to the legitimate aspirations of other peoples still under foreign occupation and oppression».
«The UN must consider all such aspirations, without exception or selectivity, including in the territories of states that advocate self-determination for others while systematically denying it to oppressed peoples within their own borders», she emphasized, in a veiled reference to Kabylia. This remark also appeared to be a swipe at South Africa, which faces an independence movement in the Cape province. Algiers and Pretoria remain the Polisario’s main allies in Africa.
