Western Saharan Representative Mouloud Said Says Morocco’s Sovereignty Claims are Illegal at HLS

Ambassador Mouloud Said, the representative of Western Sahara in Washington, disputed Morocco’s claims of sovereignty over the territory at a Harvard Law School event on Monday.

At the Law School event, held four years after President Donald Trump recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, Said said Morocco’s position violates international law. Western Sahara is designated by the United Nations as “non-self-governing territory” and is also claimed by the Polisario Front, a national liberation movement.

“There is not a single document that Morocco can show proving any legitimacy at all,” said Said, who is also a representative of the Polisario Front in Washington. “The issue is an illegal occupation by Morocco of Western Sahara.”

Said was joined on the panel by Bill Fletcher Jr., the co-chair of the U.S. Campaign for Western Sahara, an organization lobbying for Morocco’s withdrawal and recognition for the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic — the partially recognized state governed by the Polisario Front. The event was moderated by HLS lecturer Lisa Dicker.

Western Sahara has been disputed by Morocco and the national liberation movement since the 1970s. After an unsuccessful referendum in 1991, the territory’s legal status remains contentious.

Western Sahara made headlines again in 2020 when the Trump administration recognized Moroccan sovereignty over the region. In October of the same year, the European Court of Justice ruled that trade agreements between the European Commission and Morocco breaches Western Sahara self-determination.

Said referenced multiple international treaties and international documents that he said affirm Western Sahara’s independence, including a UN General Assembly resolution in the 1960s supporting the right to self-determination and independence for all people.

“It has been in the UN agenda since the 60s which stated very clearly that the people of Western Sahara have the right self-determination,” he said. The United Nations, he added, is "still insisting that any solution has to be based on the respect of the right of the people to self-determination, which Morocco, of course, ignores.”

Morocco maintains control over most of Western Sahara and has been denounced by the UN Secretary General for allegations of human rights violations.

Said said there is a “double standard” in international law — aided by U.S. and French support of Morocco — that prevents the ECJ’s ruling from taking effect. France recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara in June 2024.

“The real problem we have in the region, the number one problem we have, are the French,” Said said.

Fletcher said the international rulings in favor of Western Saharan independence still lay the groundwork for further political efforts by the Polisario Front.

“These international decisions are ideologically important and demonstrate that we are on the right side of history,” Fletcher said. “We need popular movements in France and in the United States that are going to insist — just like we did around South Africa, when people said nothing could happen.”

He also added that lack of awareness about the region’s dispute is a major obstacle for independence.

“In the United States, very few people even know of the existence of Western Sahara,” Fletcher said. “They think it’s a geographic reference, like the western part of the Sahara Desert, right? So very few people understand the background, and we’ve got to make a change there.”

During a question and answer session following the panel, Mehdi Boulon — a regular attendee of public events about Western Sahara — criticized the lack of Moroccan representation at the event, which he said made for a “one-sided” conversation.

“I wish we have a balanced panel,” Boulon said. “This way, we won’t just go one way.”

—Staff writer Claire Jiang can be reached at claire.jiang@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @_clairejiang_.