Abstract

GARRIDO, Rui. The admission of Morocco as African Union member state at the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights: an opportunity or a failure for the peoples' right to self-determination?. AHRY [online]. 2023, vol.7, pp.397-417. ISSN 2663-323X.  http://dx.doi.org/10.29053/2523-1367/2023/v7a18.

In the case of Bernard Anbataayela Mornah v Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Malawi, Tanzania and Tunisia, decided by the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (African Court) in 2022, the applicant alleged that the responding states violated, among other rights, the right of self-determination of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic when these states accepted, at the summit of Heads of State and Government in July 2017, to admit the Kingdom of Morocco as a member of the African Union. This case provided an opportunity for the African Court to rule on one of the most controversial rights in the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights - the right to self-determination. The Court's decision, however, was that the states did not violate the right of self-determination. Despite this, the Court clarified some controversial issues relating to the issue of the Saharawi people. Even though the case was not about the violation of the right of self-determination by Morocco, the Court understood that the occupation of Saharawi territory by Morocco constitutes a violation of Sahrawi people's right to self-determination. This commentary therefore seeks to go beyond this judicial decision and puts it in conversation with other international decisions dealing with this controversy. In conclusion, an assessment is made of the potential that this decision may have for a resolution of the dispute between Western Sahara and the Kingdom of Morocco.

Keywords : Tribunal Africano dos Direitos Humanos; direito de autodeterminação dos Povos; Carta Africana dos Direitos Humanos e dos Povos; Sahara Ocidental; Marrocos.

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