German and Irish law organisations demand that Messe Berlin ceases to accept the controversial French tomato producer Azura.
The Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), based in Ireland, and the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) released on, 6 September 2019, an open letter to Messe Berlin GmbH, the organiser of the leading Fruit Logistica trade show, and its Ombudsperson.
The letter addresses allegations of illegal conduct by one of the show’s exhibitors and Messe’s responsibilities under the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights (UNGP) in relation to their hosting of this business.
The French company ‘Azura Group’ exports tomatoes from occupied Western Sahara to Europe.
GLAN and ECCHR write in a release that Messe Berlin had responded poorly to a request earlier this year to make the fair stop promoting Azura, and that the two groups therefore proceeded to publish the correspondence.
In one of his final statements as UN Secretary-General, António Guterres has made an unequivocal point: the end of MINURSO does not extinguish the inalienable right of the Saharawi people to self-determination. It is a reminder that Morocco cannot declare the Western Sahara question closed simply because the UN mission is leaving.
Moroccan budget documents released in late October reveal that the kingdom allocated tens of thousands of hectares of land in occupied Western Sahara to investment projects.
Our analysis of yesterday's UN Security Council vote on Western Sahara reveals a striking gap between what some governments said about the Saharawi people's right to self-determination and the resolution they voted to support.
In an extraordinary confrontation, both permanent members blocked each other’s proposals on Western Sahara. With no resolution adopted, the UN mission faces an imminent expiry of its mandate.