WSRW correspondence with Palacio y Asociados, February 2015
Published 06 March 2015


Ms Ana Palacio, head of the law firm Palacio y Asociados, sent the below reply-email to WSRW on 19 February 2015. Palacio y Asociados has co-produced a legal opinion for the Moroccan state-owned phosphate company OCP, purportedly stating that OCP's exports of occupied Western Sahara's phosphates is permissible under international law as it accrues benefits to the "local people". Read WSRW's initial letter, asking whether the firm would share its legal opinion with the Saharawi people, here.

REPLY BY PALACIO Y ASOCIADOS, 19 February 2015

Dear Ms. Eyckmans,

I received yesterday afternoon an email attaching your letter dated February 18. In this letter you conclude posing "a single question for your firm: Will Palacio y Asociados kindly share its legal opinion on the Western Sahara phosphate trade with the Saharawi people who were, we note, the original inhabitants of the territory prior to Morocco's invasion in 1975?" With regard to this request, any legal opinion is protected by legal privilege. Therefore, I cannot satisfy your demand.

Your request is preceded by an argumentation on Western Sahara with statements I do not share. Having said that, Western Sahara has been and continues to be a focus of my professional activity in the field of international law, and in that context I am always interested in a legally anchored and forthright personal exchange.

You copy your letter to Messrs Levine and Rains, HE Ambassador Ross, and HE Bolduc. I would greatly appreciate if you would provide addresses for all of the recipients so that I may send them this response.

Sincerely,

Ana Palacio

New report: Western Sahara phosphate trade halved

The export of phosphate rock from occupied Western Sahara has never been lower than in 2019. This is revealed in the new WSRW report P for Plunder, published today.

24 February 2020

New report on Western Sahara phosphate industry out now

Morocco shipped 1.93 million tonnes of phosphate out of occupied Western Sahara in 2018, worth an estimated $164 million, new report shows. Here is all you need to know about the volume, values, vessels and clients.

08 April 2019

New report on contentious Western Sahara phosphate trade

Morocco shipped over 1.5 million tonnes of phosphate out of occupied Western Sahara in 2017, to the tune of over $142 million. But the number of international importers of the contentious conflict mineral is waning, WSRW's annual report shows.

25 April 2018

New report on global phosphate trade from occupied Western Sahara

Over 200 million dollars worth of phosphate rock was shipped out of occupied Western Sahara last year, a new report from WSRW shows. For the first time, India is among the top importers.

25 April 2017