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WEEKS 11 - 12 : 11.03. - 24.03.2007 |
12.03.07, SADR
The Council of the SADR government met presided by the Prime Minister,
Abdelkader Taleb Oumar, in the presence of ministers, walis and
national officers “to review large-scale future events". [SPS]
15.03.07, Bir Lahlou
In Bir Lahlou (liberated territory) the Association of Saharawi Engineers for Development was founded. [UPES]
08.03.07, New York
Mohamed Abdelaziz had talks with Dumisani Kumalo, President of the
Security Council and Permanent Representative of South Africa and met
the ambassadors of the United Kingdom, China, Slovakia and Russia as
well as the United Nations Secretary General. He was also received by
ambassadors and representatives from the group of non-aligned countries
who are members of the Security Council, Ghana, Panama, Indonesia,
Congo, Qatar, South Africa and Cuba, which is the present chair of the
group. [SPS]
11-13.03.07, Cuba
The President of the Saharawi Parliament, Mahfoud Ali Beiba, as special
envoy of the president, had meetings in Cuba with several political
officials. He announced that his country will present to the Security
Council next April, a proposal to resolve the conflict. He later
travelled to Nicaragua.
OCCUPIED
TERRITORIES AND SOUTH MOROCCO
05-11.03.07, Norway, Denmark
The Saharawi human rights activist and former political prisoner, Aminatou Haidar, carried out a visit of Norway and Denmark. [Statement + photos]
06.03.07, Testimonies
Hamma Adda, 1990 and Ismail El-Bardi, 1991, were arrested in Foum
El-Oued by policemen, who obliged them to get into a police car where
they were beaten. They were then brutally interrogated by the CID in El
Ayoun, about demonstrations, those responsible and those taking part.
They were released the next day, after being threatened with prison if
they demonstrated again. [ASVDH]
07.03.07, landmine accident
A 4x4 car belonging to two French tourists, returning from Mauritania,
set off the explosion of an anti-tank mine 200km south of Dakhla. The
car spun around in a half-turn and was two metres off the track. The
two tourists, sitting in the front were not injured.
08-11.03.07, El-Ayoun and Smara
Several demonstrations took place on the occasion of the anniversary of
the first martyr of the Saharawi cause, El Bachir Lehlaoui, fallen on
the field of honour on 8 March 1974. Seven Saharawi students were
arrested in El Ayoun and one person in Smara. [SPS]
11-12.03.07, Dakhla
During the First “Sea and Desert” Festival, organised from 10-13 March
by the Moroccan authorities, four young Saharawis were arrested for
having distributed leaflets denouncing human rights abuses in Western
Sahara. Three of them were taken to hospital after having been brutally
interrogated.
The next day, violent confrontations took place outside the hospital.
33 people were injured. Among them several notables, such as the deputy
and president of the commune of Lagouira, Mohamed Boubakar, and Cheikh
Banan, president of Ausserd commune. A former deputy and member of
CORCAS, Hayat ment Elmokhtar, who was looking for her son who had taken
part in the demonstration was insulted.
Several organisations came out in solidarity with the victims and
condemned the attitude of the police: the Dakhla Committee against
Torture, the Boujdour Committee of the ASVDH, Sidi Mohamed Daddach and
Saharawi citizens, M'hamid El Ghizlan, etc. [SPS] [ASVDH]
13.03.07, El-Ayoun
The court of appeal confirmed the sentence of one year and a half in
prison for the Saharawi political detainee, Laaroussi Choubeida, for
contempt of court.
Choubeida was transferred on 16 March against his will and that of his
family to Tiznit prison in Morocco, 500 km north of El-Ayoun. [ASVDH]
15.03.07, Marrakech
About thirty Saharawi students from the Qadi Ayad University organised
an exhibition about self-determination in Western Sahara. The police
brutally disperse visitors, creating over 10 casualties and proceeding
to dozens of arrests, 20 according to CODESA. Among the wounded
there are a colonel in plain clothes who was directing the intervention
as well as two policemen. Two students were apparently referred to a
court. (AP, presse marocaine)
The collective of Saharawi defenders of human rights (CODESA) denounced these events. [Arabic]
15.03.07, Tan-Tan
Mohamed H'lioua and H'mimid Boueh, two young Saharawis, were sentenced
to a year in prison and to fines of 1000 euros each. The two young men
are accused of having burnt a Moroccan flag and of being the source of
distribution of SADR flags and leaflets in favour of independence for
Western Sahara. [Cahiers du Sahara]
20.03.07, El-Ayoun
Eleven Saharawi political detainees appeared before the court of
appeal, in the presence of their lawyers and two observers from the
Canary Islands, sent by the General Council of the Spanish Bar. The
trials took place under heavy police protection and several of the
accused, who were chanting independence slogans, were violently
expelled from the courtroom. The accused were sentenced to punishments
going from one and a half years to three years’ prison. For three of
them, the sentence was adjourned until 17 April. A minor accused was
sentenced to five months’ prison and released for having served his
sentence. [--> ASVDH]
AFAPREDESA strongly protested against these sentences, underlining that
no investigation had been undertaken on the bad treatment suffered by
the accused. [comunicado]
The families of those sentenced also denounced in a statement the heavy penalties handed down by the court.[SPS]
22.03.07, Italy
Aminatou Haidar continued her European tour in Italy. She addressed on
22, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Italian Parliament and
launched an appeal to the government asking it to uphold the right to
self-determination of the Saharawi people. [comunicato stampa ANSPS]
She also spoke during a meeting in the International Women’s House in Rome on the situation of Saharawi women.
02.03.07
The Moroccan group, Miloud Chaâbi - Ynna Holding announced a new
investment of 3 billion DH (300 million euros) in Foum El-Oued near
El-Ayoun. This involves the construction of 10,000 apartments, 3 hotels
over an area of 300 ha and the first hypermarket in the region. [communiqué]
Moroccan autonomy proposal – promotion tour, continued
Several Moroccan delegations travelled to Kuwait, Bahrein, the Arab
Emirates, Libya, Yemen, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Greece, Argentina,
Brazil, Paraguay, Chile, Peru, Venezuela, Colombia, Panama and Mexico
to present the autonomy proposal. Moroccan officials were received on
14 March in New York by the UN Secretary General and in Beijing by the
Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs.
If you believe the Moroccan official news agency, MAP, this is a
triumphal tour in the course of which the Moroccan proposal is said to
be welcomed everywhere with enthusiasm. The careful observer detects
certain nuances. Thus Colonel Gadhafi limited himself to underlining
the necessity of settling the conflict in a lasting way. The Brazilian
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Celso Amorim replied that the Brazilian
position remains “in favour of a peaceful and lasting solution founded
on the principle of self-determination and the relevant resolutions of
the United Nations”.
The Chilean Association of Friendship with SADR and a group of Chilean
personalities protests against a mendacious presentation of the
position of the Chilean government by MAP.
All the Colombian parliamentary groups denied that a motion in favour
of the autonomy proposal had been voted on 13 March by the parliament.
They declared that this was a pure invention by MAP and recalled their
position of support for the United Nations peace plan for a referendum
of self-determination in Western Sahara. [Declaracion, 22.03.07] [Déclaration 22.03.07]
Elsewhere, the welcome of the Moroccan delegation in the Department of
State in Washington was laboured. The delegation was finally received
by Williams Burns, under-secretary of State for the Maghreb and Middle
East, but “to talk with the secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, it
would be necessary to come again with more than words...”, writes
Le Journal Hebdomadaire No 294.
In London, where the welcome on 21 February had been rather cool (see week 07-08/2007)
, the Minister responsible for the Middle East and North Africa, Kim
Howells, repeated before the parliament on 21 March the position of his
government in favour of a solution which would guarantee the
self-determination of the people of Western Sahara in the UN framework.
[Commons Hansard]
For his part, the Polisario Front representative for the United Kingdom
and Ireland, Sidi Omar, in an analysis published by the daily El-Qods
El-Arabi, castigated certain titles in the Arabic language press for
their lack of objectivity, in presenting the Moroccan autonomy proposal
as an extraordinary event. He puts this excessive interest down to a
misunderstanding of the genesis of the conflict and misplaced
confidence in the Moroccan media, from which they reproduce fallacious
accounts, without verification of their authenticity and with
“disregard for professional standards and the principles of
professional ethics of journalism”. On the other hand, the Saharawi
diplomat then took apart, point by point, the juridical and
political inanity of the Moroccan proposal.”
[El-Qods El-Arabi, 21.03.07] or [in UPES]
07.03.07, France
CORELSO, the Franco-Saharawi committee for the respect of human rights
in Western Sahara, sent a letter to the president of the EU Council,
Frank-Walter Steinmeier. CORELSO also sent letters to the 12
French presidential candidates, to the German Ambassador in France and
to the ambassadors of member countries of the Security Council.
11.03.07
One of James Baker’s advisers, Hurst Hannum, professor of international
law who took part in drawing up the Baker Plan, considered that Morocco
“has no authority to impose a unilateral solution in Western Sahara”,
in an opinion published in the “International Herald Tribune", He was
replying to the opinion piece by Frederick Vreeland, former American
ambassador to Morocco and director of a solar energy company which had
benefited from Moroccan government contracts. [The New York Times, 03.03.07]
13-15.03.07, visit of the King of Spain to Algeria
On the eve of the arrival of the king, the Algerian Minister for
Industry announced an increase in the price of gas destined for Spain.
In Algiers the Spanish monarch tried, during the meal offered in his
honour by the Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, to correct the
words of his head of government declaring: “it is urgent, as my
government has recently emphasised, to find a just political solution,
which is lasting and acceptable to the parties on the question of
Western Sahara, a solution allowing for the free determination of this
people and involving a dialogue of the parties within a United Nations
framework”.
In an interview appearing on 13 March in El Pais,
the Algerian president underlined that only the recognition of the
right to self-determination of the Saharawi people could resolve the
problem, and that no unilateral solution could be viable. He also gave
assurance that the conflict in Western Sahara could not constitute a
casus belli between Algeria and Morocco. [Traduction française de l'interview de Bouteflika]
13.03.07, Spanish Parliament
A demonstration against the policy of the government towards the
Saharawi people preceded the parliamentary session, which was to
discuss two proposals on Western Sahara, one from the group Izquierda
Unida-Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds, the other from a mixed
parliamentary group, defending the rights of the Saharawi people, laid
down several months ago. The parliament approved the two proposals
unanimously except for one vote.
Several other gatherings against the government’s policy were organised
in Spain, in Seville on 16, in Santander on 17, in Logrono on 24. The
Basque parliament, for its part, on 16 asked the central government to
make a firm commitment for the organisation of the referendum of
self-determination in 2007.
16.03.07, France
The spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared on the
subject of Western Sahara that “Mr van Walsum is at present engaged in
consultations and should present a report to the Security Council in
the coming weeks. We received in Paris a Moroccan delegation... We hope
that [Morocco’s ideas] will be taken into account in the forthcoming
discussions in the United Nations...We hope for agreement between the
parties concerned, under the auspices of the United Nations. ...we
consider that Morocco’s ideas are constructive and merit to be given
consideration.” [déclaration]
19.03.07, UN
In an interview to EFE the UN Secretary General declared, à
propos the autonomy proposal, that it is a “personal and flexible
initiative on the part of the King of Morocco”.
19.03.07, Italy
The provincial Council of Rome gave unanimous approval to a resolution
asking the UN Secretary General to implement the referendum of
self-determination.
[ANSPS]
20.03.07, European Union
The delegation for relations with the countries of the Maghreb and the
Union of the Arab Maghreb organised a meeting on Western Sahara.
Morocco gave its agreement to the participation of the Moroccan
Ambassador, who, three days before the meeting, asked to share his time
with a representative of CORCAS. The president of the Maghreb
delegation refused this change and Morocco dropped out, thus scuttling
a unique opportunity for a debate. Only the representative of the UN,
Jean-Luc Onckelinx and the members of the European Parliament could
speak. The president of the European Parliament ad hoc delegation for
Western Sahara, Ioannis Kasoulides, sent a message to the conference,
recalling in particular that the EP should continue to demand of the
Moroccan authorities to authorise the ad hoc delegation to travel to
the occupied Saharawi territories to carry out a mission of information
on the repression of peaceful demonstrations by Saharawis. Willy Meyer,
MEP, denounced the attitude of Morocco vis-à-vis the European
Parliament, its contempt for United Nations resolutions and its
rejection of the Baker Plan. “The latest violation lies in the autonomy
proposal which is a challenge to international law and to the
resolutions of the Security Council”, he added. [Text of M. Sidati’s intended speech]
21-22.03.07, UN
The Special Representative for Western Sahara, Julian Harston, met in
Rabat the deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Taïeb Fassi Fihri
and the Moroccan Minister for the Interior Benmoussa.
20-23.03.07, Algeria
The head of Algerian diplomacy, Mohammed Bedjaoui had talks with the
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and with members of the Security
Council. He then went to Washington where he met Condoleezza Rice.
16.03.07, sale of arms
According to the Belgian Ministry of Defence, replying in the
parliament to a question from the MP, W. Mus, Belgium is on the point
of selling 40 howitzers M-109 to
Morocco. Mus declared that “this sale is not a good idea at the moment,
because Morocco is still engaged in one of the oldest conflicts in
Africa. The peace process is blocked. It seems to me more appropriate
to wait for a positive development.”
19.03.07, nuclear plant
A Russian delegation from the company Atomstroyexport is in Morocco to
discuss conditions of sale of a nuclear power plant to Morocco.
[El País, 19/03/2007]
06-09.03.07, 38th meeting of the UNHRC Standing Committee
Mohamed Loulichki, representative of Morocco with the UNHCR declared
that the number of persons having defected to Morocco from the Saharawi
refugee camps has reached 9,000.
12-30.03.07, 4th session the Human Rights Council, Geneva
Mohammed Bouzoubaa, Moroccan Minister of Justice, making allusion in
his speech to the autonomy proposal for Western Sahara, announced that
Morocco would organise a referendum in order to know the opinion of the
Moroccan population on regionalisation.
[UNHCHR Doc]
08-10.03.07, Caracas
During the extraordinary meeting of GRULAC (Grupo Latinoamericano y del
Caribe) in Caracas, the Venezuelan member of parliament, Gustavo
Hernández Salazar proposed a resolution in favour of the
decolonization of Western Sahara.
09.03.07, Cuba
The Saharawi ambassador Moustapha Tleimidim, in an interview, declared
that around 800 young Saharawis were at present receiving training in
Cuba and that since 1980 about 2000 have concluded their studies in
medicine, teaching and information technology, etc. [Prensa Latina]
09-14.03.07, FMJD
The World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) reaffirmed, during its
17th Congress in Hanoi, “its solidarity with the Saharawi people in
their struggle for the establishment of an independent state, calling
for the withdrawal of Moroccan troops from Western Sahara and the
release of Saharawi prisoners in the hands of Morocco”. [SPS]
19.03.07, Algiers
A conference of solidarity with the Saharawi people was organised by
the press club of the FLN, on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of
the Feast of Victory (19 March 1962). Speaking on this occasion the
Saharawi Prime Minister, Abdelkader Taleb Omar, denounced Moroccan
allegations claiming that the conflict in Western Sahara is an
Algerian-Moroccan conflict. He expressed the hope of seeing the UN
Security Council adopt a resolution allowing the Saharawi people to
exercise their legitimate right to self-determination, denouncing the
position of France which must “assume its responsibility for the
non-application of UN resolutuions”. [SPS]
20.03.07, London
A cultural evening was organised in London at the initiative of the organisation Sandblast.
22.03.07, Chile
A delegation led by a senator and comprising members of parliament
handed to the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs a letter asking for
the ratification of the recognition of the Saharawi Republic, decided
in 1999 before the election of the new president.[Chile debe establecer relaciones diplomaticas con la RASD, Carta al Sr Alejandro Foxley]
24.03.07, Tenerife
Demonstration of Saharawi emigrants in Tenerife against repression in Western Sahara and the Moroccan autonomy proposal.
COMING
UP...
5, 6, and 7 april 2007, Vth Congress of the National Union Saharawi Women, NUWS, Saharawi refugee camps, Tindouf, Algeria
Charter flight
Madrid- Tindouf - Madrid: 4 avril - 8 avril 2007
Info, contact: Zahra Ramdan, e-mail: saharawiwomen[at]yahoo.es y Victoria Peralta, e-mail: grupoapoyounms[at]hotmail.com
IV Festival Internacional de Cine del Sahara, del 11 al 15 Abril de
2007 en el Campamento de Refugiados de Dajla, Tinduf (Argelia) .
[mas detalles --> web Fisahara o El mundo 21.03.07]
Nuevos sitios:
Proyecto:
Artículos y reportajes sobre el Sáhara Occidental: http://www.espacioseuropeos.com/saharaoc.aspx
Radio The World: The World's Gerry Hadden reports on accusations
against Morocco for human rights abuses in Western Sahara, Morocco's
southern neighbour , Death penalty report, March 13, 2007 : http://www.theworld.org/?q=node/8671
Sur le site Cahiers du Sahara:
L’Obstination du
témoignage, Rapport annuel 2006, L’Observatoire pour la protection des
défenseurs des droits de l’Homme, programme conjoint de la Fédération
internationale des ligues des droits de l’Homme (FIDH) et de
l’Organisation mondiale contre la torture (OMCT): http://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/FIDH-imp_Maghreb.pdf
OPINIONS: http://opinions.arso.org
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links to newspapers may not be valid after some days because the
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