Our experts take the floor : Meriem Naïli on YouTube
Understanding the legal battle on the exploitation of Western Sahara’s natural resources (0h27) – 15.05.2020
Link to the video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Yy5KosKrRY&ab_channel=SolidarityRising
Western Sahara is a non-self-governing territory whose natural resources are of great interest to both parties to the conflict. Their exploitation is a major tool in the negotiation process, given its contribution to establishing the authority of one or the other party over the territory in question. Its inclusion in the territorial scope of two major trade and partnership agreements between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco (which controls around 80% of the territory) has recently been the subject of legal action before the Court of Justice of the European Union. The 2016 and 2018 rulings clearly established that Western Sahara and Morocco are two separate territories and that, for the agreements to apply to the former, the consent of the Sahrawi people must be provided.
This online seminar, organized in collaboration with Solidarity Rising, examines the context, content, and impact of these decisions on the broader political process, highlighting the weaknesses of a system ostensibly designed to uphold the rule of law.
Meriem Naïli holds a PhD in Security, Conflict, and Human Rights from the University of Exeter and is a temporary teaching and research assistant (ATER) in Law at the University of Grenoble Alpes. Her work focuses on human rights and conflict resolution in Western Sahara. She is particularly interested in the issue of lack of access to natural resources for a non-autonomous and occupied people, and its impact on the expression of the right to self-determination. She is also a member of the executive committee of the British organization Western Sahara Campaign UK and the steering committee of the International University Observatory for Western Sahara at Paris Cité University.
À lire aussi
“El Tribunal de Justicia de la UE se toma la auto-determinación en serio: reflexiones sobre las sentencias del 04.10.2024” (R.M. Carlos)
As the Polisario Front and Morocco are competing in a legal war through the European institutions, the Court of Justice of the European Union has finally decided to annul the trade agreements on agricultural and fishing products between the Cherifian Kingdom and the...
Saharan Winds – Energy Systems and Aeolian Imaginaries in Western Sahara (J. Allan)
As climate crisis ensues, a transition away from fossil fuels becomes urgent. However, some renewable energy developments are propagating injustices such as landgrabs, colonial dispossession, and environmentally destructive practices. Changing the way we imagine and...
N°28 (2024) of the Spanish Yearbook of International Law – Full version
Several articles of this paper revolve around Western Sahara : - "Morocco, occupying power of Western Sahara: some notes about Spain’s foreign legal policy, the role of the Spanish doctrine and the rule of law in international relations"Jaume Ferrer Lloret - "Is...
International Festival of Geography 2022 in video
Meriem Naïli and Sébastien Boulay's intervention at the International Festival of Geography (FIG)"Un désert très convoité : le Sahara Occidental" (1h20) - 01.10.2022 Link to the video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_gd6fDTZM0 « Western Sahara and the...