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WEEKLY NEWS |
original french
09.-15.12. 2001
20.11.-03.12.01
Prisoners of war
Two delegates from the International Red Cross (ICRC), one of whom is
a psychiatrist, visited Moroccan prisoners of war in the hands of the
Polisario Front. From a total of 1,477 prisoners still in captivity,
the delegates saw 680, among whom 35 civilians. One prisoner had died
and another escaped since the last visit in May. The ICRC is
extremely concerned by the very long periods these men have been
held, which for 1,028 of them exceeds 20 years. The oldest of the
prisoners has begun his 27th year of captivity. In view of the
age and health of the prisoners, the time for which they have been
held, and the requirements of international humanitarian law, the
ICRC repeats its call for all prisoners to be released immediately,
starting with the most vulnerable. (ICRC
statement
engl.)
04.12.01
Sentence
The magistrate's court in Goulimine (southern Morocco) sentenced the
young Saharawi, Danfour Ahmed Salem, to two months imprisonment
and a fine of 1000 dirhams. Danfour was arrested on 27.11.01 and
accused of "insulting the Moroccan state" for having participated in
a demonstration of protest against the transfer to Casablanca of El
Moutawakil Mohamed, secretary general of the municipality of Assa,
former political detainee and member of the Truth and Justice Forum,
Sahara branch. Danfour had also taken part at the beginning of
October in a hunger strike at the headquarters of the trade union CDT
in Assa, to demand a job. (statement from BERDHSO 09.12.01
english)
08.12.01
Morocco-Spain
The secretary general of the PSOE will undertake a controversial
visit to Morocco from 17-19.12, planned a long time ahead, but
postponed following the recall of the Moroccan ambassador to Madrid
at the end of October. In an interview with a Moroccan weekly,
Zapatero declared that his party supports a solution accepted by the
interested parties which takes account of "human rights and the
historic rights of the Saharawi people", but in which Morocco would
have central involvement "because no solution could be successful
without the support of Morocco". What is essential for the Spanish
socialist leader is that Spain should not be an obstacle to the final
solution of the problem. The Spanish government considers this visit
- a meeting with Mohamed VI is also on the agenda - as a "serious
interference" in the external politics of Spain. The Spanish Minister
for Foreign Affairs has asked the secretary general of the PSOE to
reconsider his intention of visiting Morocco, as diplomatic relations
between the two countries have not yet returned to normal.
In an open letter to Zapatero, José Taboada, coordinator of
solidarity associations with the Saharawi people, emphasised the
necessity of a special relationship between Spain and Morocco, which
should not, however, harm the legitimate right of the Saharawi people
to self-determination.
09.12.01
Tragic accident
A Spanish exchange doctor on a mission to the refugee camps died as a
result of a car accident. His name is Dr Juan Antonio Gonzales
Caraballo, a cardiologist from the Hospital ''Virgen del Rocio'' in
Sevilla. Two other passengers were injured. The paediatric hospital
of Chahid El-Hafed will now carry the name of the late Juan Antonio
Caraballo, the SADR government decided.
10.12.01
Morocco human rights
Nearly 400 activists from the Moroccan Association of human rights
(AMDH) took part in a sit-in in the centre of Rabat on the occasion
of the International Day of human rights, calling on the authorities
to throw light on the abductions, torture and political
assassinations perpetrated in the years 1960-1990. High ranking
officials from the army and police figure on a list of 45 people
which has just been published by AMDH, which claims to hold "strong
presumptions" of responsibility on them for these cases of
assassination, abduction and torture. It calls for the opening of
judicial inquiries on the question. The weekly magazine, Demain,
which published this list as a front page headline on 8 December, was
seized.
10.12.01
UN
The UN General Assembly adopted without a vote resolution
A/RES/56/69 on the question of Western Sahara following the proposal
of the Fourth Committee..
10-11.12.01
Nobel Prize
In the events surrounding the award of the Nobel Prizes in Oslo, the
question of Western Sahara was raised on several occasions.
On the day of the Nobel Peace Prize, 10.12.01, earlier Peace
Laureates Rigoberta Menchú and José Ramos-Horta
addressed the traditional Peace Prize March in Oslo. Both Laureates
used the opportunity to mention the case of Western Sahara as one of
the main challenges to the UN's credibility. The third speaker was
Jan Egeland, under- secretary-general of the UN and Annan's personal
envoy & negotiator in Colombia.
In an
interview
in the Norwegian daily Klassekampen, the Coordinator of the Norwegian
Support Committee for Western Sahara, Mr. Ronny Hansen warned that if
the UN abandons the referendum it could lead to renewed war in
Western Sahara and would be in breach of international legality.
"Kofi Annan is playing a risky game and could spark a wider, regional
conflict", he said. "Kofi Annan grew up in the the first African
country to be decolonised. He is now on the verge of impeding
the decolonisation of the last colony on the African continent.
[...] The original Settlement Plan is still in force and it
is depressing that Mr. Annan and the UN haven't shown enough will and
steadfastness to honour their own promises and commitments".
Rigoberta Menchú (Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1992, Guatemala)
and José Ramos-Horta (Nobel Peace Prize laureate 1996 and
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, East Timor) participated
in a panel together with Pedro Pinto Leite, of The International
Association of Jurists for Western Sahara, at a joint press
conference under the heading "The UN's credibility at stake in
Western Sahara". (11.12.01)
The speakers expressed concern for the UN's unfulfilled promise to
decolonise Western Sahara. Rigoberta Menchú said "it's time to
break the wall of silence and complicity surrounding Western Sahara
and put and end to the illegal and brutal Moroccan occupation."
Ramos-Horta highlighted his admiration for the courage, steadfastness
and dedication shown by the Saharawi people in their struggle for a
free homeland. Ramos-Horta has visited the Saharawi refugee camps in
Algeria twice, in 1997 and in 2001. He said: "The Morocccan
occupation has caused enormous suffering, exile and loss of life for
both the Saharawi and Moroccan peoples, and scarce resources have
been squandered through war and occupation." He called on the
Moroccan king to show flexibility and statesmanship and do what's
right: allow international legality to take its course through a
free, fair and transparent referendum. Pedro Pinto Leite spoke on
"Western Sahara: The legal imperative of self- determination and
lessons learnt from East Timor". He said: "If the UN decides to
follow the path of the "Framework Agreement", violating thus the
principle of non-discrimination and its own norms on
self-determination, it will [...] lose credibility and weaken
its ability to solve other conflicts through peaceful means."
In attendance were several MPs, national and international press and
specially invited NGO representatives. The conference was organized
jointly by Norwegian MP Marit Nybakk, The Norwegian Humanist
Association and The Norwegian Support Committee for Western
Sahara.
Six
former Nobel Peace Prize Laureates signed an appeal
to the Secretary-General
of the United Nations Mr. Kofi Annan and the President of the UN
Security Council entitled "Western Sahara referendum is the only path
to peace". The appeal states that " The credibility of the United
Nations is at stake in Western Sahara.", and that: "An abandonment of
the referendum plan in Western Sahara would constitute a betrayal of
the inalienable right of the Saharawi people to self- determination."
In the statement, the laureates refer to the contracts between
Morocco and companies TotalFinaElf and Kerr McGee for oil exploration
in occupied Western Sahara as "illegal" and call on the UN to
intervene. If not, the UN "could be interpreted as legitimizing
Morocco's occupation of the territory". The Laureates urged the UN to
"defend the integrity of the United Nations by continuing to strive
for the strict implementation of the referendum". They also voiced
concern for serious human rights abuses in occupied Western Sahara
and shortages of food and other necessary supplies in the Saharawi
refugee camps in Algeria.
The appeal was signed by: José Ramos- Horta (1996, East
Timor), Rigoberta Menchú Tum (1992, Guatemala), Oscar Arias
Sánchez, (1987 Costa Rica), Adolfo Perez Esquivel (1980,
Argentina), Máiread Maguire (1976, Northern Ireland) and
Cora Weiss for the International Peace Bureau
(1910).
Pierre Galand, in the name of the Belgian Committee of support for the Saharawi people and of the European Coordination of support for the Saharawi people, sent a message along the same lines to Kofi Annan.
The International Committee of the Socialist Peoples Party of Denmark sent letters to the Danish UN-Association (FN-forbundet) and to The UN-Information Office for the Nordic Countries, asking the UN to bring about the referendum in Western Sahara and to renounce any other solution which does not respect the right to self-determination.
The Western Sahara Campaign UK also sent a letter to Kofi Annan saying that the award of the Nobel Peace Prize should strengthen the moral authority of the UN to champion just causes such as the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination.
10.12.01
Polisario Front
Meeting in an ordinary session, the National Secretariat of the
Polisario Front once again noted that "any solution to be viable,
fair and lasting in Western Sahara must respect the choice of the
Saharawi people". It appealed to the European Union to "commit itself
in an active way for a fair and lasting solution to the
Moroccan-Saharawi conflict" so as to contribute to the "reinforcement
of stability and the development of cooperation" in the Maghreb
region. (Saharawi National radio, SPS)
11.12.01
Diplomacy
During his visit to Morocco, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State
William Burns said Washington fully supported the efforts of U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special envoy James Baker to find a
solution to the Western Sahara dispute.
13.12.01
European Parliament - visit cancelled
The delegation of the EP, which went to Algeria and to the Saharawi
refugee camps at the beginning of November, was to continue its
mission to Morocco and to the occupied territories from 18-22
December. Although the date had been confirmed and six MEPs had their
tickets ready, the leader of the delegation, Mrs Catherine Lalumiere,
received on 13 December a letter from the president of the Moroccan
parliament, which cancelled the visit, giving the excuse of
obligations relating to Ramadan. He suggested postponing the visit
until the third week of January, which coincides with a session of
the European Parliament, a period when it would be impossible for the
MEPs to be traveling abroad. The visit was to begin in El Ayoun,
where meetings with members of civil society had been arranged, and
was to continue in Rabat.
Morocco shows itself to be singularly selective in its choice of
guests...
SOLIDARITY
14.12.01, Extremadura: "Mañana en el Sáhara", a book of photographs of the Saharawi refugee camps by Juanma Gil Señorón et Holok, will be shown to the public in two exhibitions. It was put together by Mortirolo, a business in Caceres specialising in publishing works of art photography. www.mortirolo.com
COMING UP...
18.12.01, Viareggio: alle ore 21,30 presso il circolo culturale "I Fenicotteri", via pucci, 15, incontro con il rappresentante in Italia del Fronte Polisario, Kandoud Hamdi. FRIG, Associazione Versiliese di Solidarietà con il Popolo Saharawi. Info: <frig@interfree.it>
28.02.-02.03.02, Fourth Congress of the National Union of Saharawi Women, refugee camps near Tindouf. Informations: <suks@arso.org>
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