The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic was declared on the 27th of February 1976, to be the official government of the people of Western Sahara, as an embodiment of the sovereign will of the people of Western Sahara to manage their territory and exercise their full right as the only legitimate owners of the territory of Western Sahara as recognized by the UN, the International Court of Justice, the Organization of African Unity and all other relevant international bodies.

Article 1 of the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States stipulates that: “The State as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications: (a) a permanent population; (b) a defined territory; (c) government; and (d) capacity to enter into relations with other states.” All these conditions are fully met by the Sahrawi Republic, which has secured the recognition of 84 States all over the world since its foundation on the 27th of February 1976, though some of these had decided later on to “freeze” their relations with the SADR.

Moroccan propaganda works on what it calls “Cancellation of recognition” a concept that doesn’t fit in the basic fundaments of international law. Article 6 of the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States clearly indicates that: “The recognition of a state merely signifies that the state which recognizes it accepts the personality of the other with all the rights and duties determined by international law. Recognition is unconditional and irrevocable”.

Hence, once a State party recognizes SADR as a sovereign state, then this state cannot revoke their recognition, except for that SADR ceases to exist or the states that extended recognition to SADR ceases to exist. That State may only break their diplomatic relations with the SADR but cannot “Derecognize it” because SADR still exists and is a full-fledged founding member of the African Union.

List of States that recognize the SADR (in alphabetical order) 

States that recognize the SADR (by continents)  

Africa:

Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina-Fasso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Lybia, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tchad, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

America:

Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Bolivia [*], Colombia, Costa Rica [*], Cuba [*], Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador [*], El Salvador [*], Grenada, Guatemala [*], Guyana, Haiti [*], Honduras [*], Jamaica [*], Mexico [*], Nicaragua [*], Panama [*], Paraguay [*], Peru [*], Saint Vicent and The Grenadines, Saint Lucia, St. Kits y Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay [*], Venezuela [*].

Asia:

Afghanistan, Cambodia, India, Iran, Laos, North Korea, Papua-New Guinea, Syria, East Timor, Vietnam, Yemen

Oceania :

Kiribati, Nauru, Solomon Island, Tuvalu, Vanuatu

Europe :

Albania and the former Yugoslavia