Political status and decolonisation
Dated events associated with this case. Each event is a shared record: the same event appears identically wherever it is relevant.
· Legal decision
The International Court of Justice found ties of allegiance and rights between the Territory and Morocco and the Mauritanian entity, but no tie of territorial sovereignty.
Significance here: The Court’s answer to the historical claims and to whether they affected the application of self-determination.
· Other
A Moroccan march into Western Sahara went ahead despite the Security Council’s appeal to halt it; the Council deplored it and called for the participants’ withdrawal.
Significance here: Pressed Morocco’s claim on the eve of Spain’s withdrawal; Morocco commemorates it annually.
· Agreement
Spain, Morocco and Mauritania agreed that Spain’s administration would pass to a temporary tripartite administration and that Spain would leave by February 1976.
Significance here: Transferred administration but, in the UN Legal Counsel’s view, not sovereignty or administering-Power status.
· Administrative change
Spain formally ended its presence and disclaimed further international responsibility for administering the Territory.
Significance here: Left the Territory administered in fact by Morocco and Mauritania, without a new administering Power listed by the UN.
· Recognition
The Organization of African Unity admitted the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, proclaimed in 1976.
Significance here: A recognition record: membership of the OAU and now the African Union, which Morocco rejoined in 2017.
· International resolution
The Security Council created a mission to organise a self-determination referendum; a ceasefire took effect, but the referendum was never held.
Significance here: Began a ceasefire that held until 2020 and a referendum process that stalled over voter identification.
· Negotiation
Morocco proposed autonomy under its sovereignty; the Frente POLISARIO proposed a referendum including independence as an option.
Significance here: Framed the two positions that have defined negotiations since.
· Conflict episode
The Frente POLISARIO announced its withdrawal from the 1991 ceasefire and a return to armed struggle.
Significance here: Ended nearly three decades of ceasefire; low-intensity hostilities have continued since.
· Recognition
The United States recognised Moroccan sovereignty over the whole Territory and endorsed Morocco’s autonomy proposal as the only basis for a solution.
Significance here: A recognition record: one state’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty, reaffirmed in 2025.
· International resolution
The Security Council renewed MINURSO and backed negotiations on the basis of Morocco’s autonomy proposal, with a solution providing for self-determination.
Significance here: Made Morocco’s autonomy proposal the stated basis for negotiations while retaining the language of self-determination.
· Negotiation
US-convened talks brought Morocco, the Frente POLISARIO, Algeria and Mauritania together, with the UN Personal Envoy co-chairing.
Significance here: According to Security Council Report, the first in-person meeting of all four since 2019; no official outcome had been reported by April 2026.
Dates show their real precision. Approximate or uncertain dates are labelled and never converted into an exact day.