Union of Saharawi Journalists and Writers
Union of Saharawi Journalists and Writers
First Report on the Intifada
A popular Intifada burst out in the occupied city of El Aaiun, the Capital of Western Sahara, in the afternoon of Tuesday 25th of May 2005.
Concordant sources from inside the occupied territories of Western Sahara reported the following:
1- The Intifada was a consequence to Moroccan authorities violent repression of Saharawi demonstrators, who organised on Monday, a peaceful demonstration to protest against a violent transfer of a Saharawi prisoner, Haddi Ahmed Mahmoud Kainnan, from the black prisoner in El Aaiun to the prison of Ait Melloul inside Morocco.
2- The uprising was also a result to the last celebration by Saharawi people, of the 32nd anniversary of Polisario Front, and Saharawi people frustration of the passivity and failure of the UN and the international community to impose the respect of its decisions on the decolonisation of the Western Sahara.
3- After the repression of the demonstration on Monday 24.05.2005, the first confrontations started next day, Tuesday, in the early afternoon, and completely burst out to be a popular Intifada around 19 o'clock GMT.
4- Saharawis protested in all the Streets of the city, especially in the neighbourhoods of "Maatallah", "Zemla", Colomina", "Porco", and in the Streets of "Bucraa", "Smara", "Skeikima", "Rass El Khaima", "Bir Jdid", "Tan Tan"., "KAirawan", "Maghreb Arab"...
5- Moroccan police put the main neighbourhoods under complete siege. Maatallah, according to the last information's is under the siege of more than 20 military and police trucks, this is to say about 400 to 500 police and military soldiers.
6- Tear-gas, and explosion were heard but it is still difficult to give accurate information because the oppression is still progressing.
7- Moroccan authorities, recruited and organised militias composed of Moroccan criminals. And they brought new forces to the region. Sources say there is more security and military than normal people in the city.
8- Saharawi demonstrators are raising Saharawi flags, and they are chanting slogans asking for "independence", "judgement of the Moroccan responsible of human rights abuses", "asking for international intervention in Western Sahara", among other social and political slogans.
9- United Mission to Western Sahara, MINURSO, is completely inactive and is a negative observer on the ground said the demonstrators in Radio direct reportages. "They are tourists, and they are further protectors of the occupation", said a demonstrator to Radio reporter.
10- Saharawi human rights activists, who were subjected to violent treatment during the demonstrations of the 24.05.2005, reported that they started gathering information about victims, deploring that they are threatened, intimidated and that they are trying to note the human right abuses committed by Moroccan different police and military corps, to the risk of their lives.
11- Other Saharawi cities organised demonstrations in solidarity, in Dajla, they were oppressed, in Assa (south Morocco), where the majority of the inhabitant are Saharawis, they organised a huge demonstration asking for the independence of Western Sahara.
12- The last informations talks about additional military forces brought to the city. In Maatallah some house were turned to military points by Moroccan army.
13- Two reppprters, lahcen Aouad, from Moroccan weekly "Esahifa", and Abdessalam Razak, as well as the group of Aljazeera, were forbiden from entry to the city. They were kept in the aeroport of El Aaiun, because "the zone is a military zone", the authorities said.
14- Saharawi human rights activists are harrassed, intimidated, forbiden from free investigation on the abuses and they are threatened of death, arrest, and rape every day by police officiers and agents.
Lists of victims (provided by Saharawi human rights activists in occupied territories)
Arrests:
Injured visited by Activists:
Kids injured:
Sacked houses
On another hand, Moroccan authorities violently oppressed Saharawi students' demonstrations. Spanish TV1 and TVE 24 horas broadcasted on Friday in their news pictures of the violent repression against the students who were demonstrating to express their condemnation of the oppression of their families in occupied territories of Western Sahara.
Here is the list of the victims within Saharawi students we received, noting that the situation is still uncertain and the list will possibly progress.
Injured:
arrested:
Most serious is the new way Moroccan authorities of occupation are dealing with Saharawi human rights activists.
Police agents, and military are making the task more and more difficult for them to do their duty of registering, visiting and moving in the city.
This is the preliminary list of the activists who were subjected to arrest, harrassement and threats of death:
Saharawi journalist and writers union condemns this new Moroccan human right violation in Western Sahara.
The union considers the UN and its mission, Minurso, as accomplices to the repression of the Saharawi population in El Aaiun, since they did not try to intervene or at least to condemn the slaughter, though the region is normally under the authority of the UN.
The union condemns Moroccan Medias, which did not have the courage to do their duty without chauvinism.
The Union is ready to receive the questions and requests of all international and human right organisations that ask for further information.
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