The session aims to debate the historical context and the current situation of Western Sahara, in the light of human rights and claims for territorial independence. With Yaguta El-mokhtar, Mamin Cheij Malainin and José Manual Pureza (comments).

Session in English included in the Welcome Week for students of the CES-UC Doctoral Programmes.

Bio notes
Yaguta El-mokhtar Moulay | Director of the Sahrawi Observatory for Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, where she leads efforts to monitor, document, and defend the cause against the exploitation of natural resources in Western Sahara. International Coordinator of UJSARIO, Moulay represents the Sahrawi youth movement in global forums. In addition, she serves as Coordinator of Civil Society and International NGOs for Western Sahara at the United Nations Human Rights Council, facilitating joint advocacy and engagement with UN mechanisms. She is a member of the Geneva Working Group on Human Rights in Western Sahara, contributing to high-level strategic coordination on human rights issues related to the ongoing occupation and the rights of the Sahrawi people.

Mamina Cheij Malainin has lived in Sahrawi refugee camps (Algeria), as well as Mauritania, Spain and Switzerland. Since 2010, he has been dedicated to defending the Sahrawi cause, participating in demonstrations, lectures and awareness campaigns. Since the beginning of his university career as a translator and interpreter, Malainin has worked to create several student associations and platforms in support of the Sahrawi people: in 2014, a group of students created SAG (Sahara Granada Action) and, in 2017, he participated in the creation of APESORS (Association for the Support of Deaf Sahrawis). In 2020, he joined UESARIO (Union of Students of Saguia El Hamra and Rio de Oro). In 2022, he participated in the 16th Congress of the POLISARIO Front and, in the same year, he also joined the Sahrawi Ecosocial Network. Mamina Cheij Malaini has also been actively involved with Sahrawi community associations in different locations in Mauritania, Spain and Switzerland.