|
WEEKLY NEWS |
original french
25.-31.08.2002
SADR
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
REFERENDUM
MOROCCO
HUMAN RIGHTS
HUMANITARIAN AID
SOLIDARITY
COMING UP
INTERNET
NEW PUBLICATIONS
SADR
25.08.02
Mauritania
The Mauritanian President, Maaouiya Ould Sidahmed Taya received
Mhamed Khadad, Saharawi coordinator with MINURSO, who gave him a
message from the President of SADR, on the subject of "bilateral
relations between Mauritania and SADR" said to be "fraternal and
good". Mr Khaddad declared that Mauritania has "always supported the
efforts of the UN for bringing peace to the region" and that SADR
will continue to lend its support to the efforts of Mr James Baker in
the search for a solution to the conflict based on respect for the
inalienable rights of the Saharawi people and in accordance with
international law. (SPS, AMI)
28.08.02
Earth Summit
The President of the Saharawi Republic sent a letter to participants
at the world summit on sustainable development, taking place from 26
August to 4 September. He denounced the destruction of natural
resources and the systematic plunder of underground and fishing
riches of Western Sahara by Morocco. Mohamed Abdelaziz pointed out
that certain species of fish are on their way to extinction through
failure to respect biological recovery time and through the use of
drift nets. He indicated that several species of animal, in
particular gazelles, bustards, fennecs, and reptiles have practically
disappeared. "The few acacia trees here and there in the Saharan
oases have been cut down to serve as posts for the barbed wire fences
protecting the defensive wall" he added, deploring that "wells have
been destroyed or poisoned by the Moroccan forces of occupation which
over a quarter of a century have pursued a systematic scorched earth
policy." These practices continue despite the legal opinion recently
put out by the UN Legal Department, which prohibits the exploitation
of the resources of the country without the consent of its
population." (SPS)
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
24.08.02
Four of the six unemployed people arrested on 22 August
(see
week 34)
were transferred to the civil prison of El Ayoun and presented before
the public prosecutor. The sentence, due on 2 September, was
delayed a week. The four men, Negro Mohamed, Lehman Abdalla,
El Belaoui Hamadi and Semesdi Lebeihi are accused of being the
instigators of protest movements of young unemployed people in the
occupied territories. The prosecutor refused bail. In the course of
being interrogated they are believed to have been tortured.
(SPS)
26.08.02
Arrest
While he was presenting himself in a police station in Rabat for
electoral registration forms for the forthcoming elections on 27
September next on the list of the United Socialist Left (Gauche
Socialiste Unifiée - GSU) in the constituency of Assa-Zag, Ali
Salem Tamek was arrested and taken to Casablanca, where he was
interrogated by the national brigade of judicial police, specialised
in interrogations of major criminals. The next day he was transferred
to Agadir, where the interrogation continued. The magistrate's court
of Agadir set the sentence for 29 August. His lawyer requested an
adjournment and release on bail. The court refused bail and set the
hearing for Monday 2 September. Tamek Ali Salem, who suffers from
asthma, is at present in the civil prison of Inzegane, known for its
poor prison conditions. He is accused of belonging to a spy network
working for the Polisario Front, which he has denied while at the
same time defending his political convictions in favour of
self-determination for the Saharawi people.
Tamek is a member of the National Council of the Forum for Truth and Justice ( Forum Vérité et Justice) and of the executive of the Sahara section (FVJ-SAH). A member of the administrative committee of the CDT (Democratic Labour Confederation), he is general secretary of the CDT of Assa. Ali Salem Mohamed Salem El Mami (known as Tamek) was born on 24.12.73 in Assa, he is married and has a small daughter born in 2000, who he wanted to call Attawra (revolution). The Moroccan authorities refused the registration on the civil registry on the pretext that this first name is not on the famous list of Moroccan forenames edited by the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior. Following the non registration, the family were refused the family allowance given under Moroccan law.
A council worker in the administration of Touesgui (Assa), Tamek had been arrested in 1993 and sentenced with four young Saharawis, by a Moroccan court in Tata, to five years of closed prison, for having tried to join the Polisario Front. The punishment was reduced to two years and Tamek was pardoned in August 1994. He was arrested again in Dakhla in December 1997 and released in El Ayoun 10 days later. In April of that year Tamek was ordered to leave Assa-Zak and go to Meknes, which he refused to do. His salary was frozen. The Moroccan authorities still deny him a passport. He sent an open letter in 2001 to the Moroccan minister of the Interior, published in a Moroccan Arab language weekly. The Moroccan Arab language independent press on several occasions published his articles on the human rights situation in Western Sahara and interviews.
Tamek and five other Saharawis figure in the search warrants of December 1999 part of the affair known as "Network Antilope" which led to the arrest of Khaya Cheikh, Laghzal Brahim, Massoud Laarbi and Bahaha Sidi Salek in December 1999 and September 2000. Sentenced to four years' imprisonment, they were released in November 2001, following actions carried out jointly by activists of the Forum for Truth and Justice, the Daddach committee, BIRDHSO and Amnesty International. (week 23 / 2000 and week 45/2001)
Reactions
The executive of FVJ published on 27 August a statement in which it
condemned this arrest and demanded his release. The FVJ-SAH also
published a statement along the same lines. AFAPREDESA launched an
urgent appeal asking human rights organisations to appeal to the
Moroccan authorities for the release without delay, of Tamek and all
the Saharawi political detainees. (AFAPREDESA
statement engl.)
28.08.02
Another arrest
The police in Goulimine (200 km south of Agadir) arrested in the
street Abdessalam Eddymaoui, a member of the Saharawi section for the
Forum for Truth and Justice. He is considered by the Moroccan
security services as one of the instigators of the demonstrations in
Smara in November 2001. The authorities had forbidden him from
returning home to Smara since last November.
Eddymaoui Abdeslam (Abdeslam Embarek Mohamed) was born in 1954, he is
the father of three children. He belongs to the group of 26 Saharawis
from Agadir, sentenced for membership of Polisario Front cells and
imprisoned from 1977 to 1982. An official of the Agadir court, the
Moroccan authorities still refuse to reinstate him in his job.
(corr., SPS)
REFERENDUM
30.08.02-03.09.02
Sweden
A seminar on the future of Western Sahara, bringing together
Saharawi, Moroccan and Swedish experts, took place from 30 August to
3 September. The meeting, organised jointly by the Olof Palme
Institute of International Studies and the University of Lund near
Stockholm, consists in an exchange of points of view, in closed door
sessions, on the future of Western Sahara after the completion of the
referendum. Experts in international relations and Swedish professors
of international law will look at experiences of decolonisation
similar to the case of Western Sahara. The Saharawis, who will be
represented by three experts, Polisario Front officials, decided to
take part in this seminar, convinced that "the language of dialogue
is the best way to lead to a solution for the decolonisation of the
territory." The Moroccan side is represented by university
professors, former diplomats and officials of the "Bouabib Foundation
", close to the Moroccan socialist party (USFP).
(SPS)
MOROCCO
26.08.02
The Moroccan government decided on the creation of the Promotion
Agency for the economic and social development of the southern
provinces of the Kingdom [Western Sahara]. The agency, placed
under the Prime Minister's supervision and managed by an
administrative Council made up of representatives of the State, will
have as its mission to study and submit to the competent authorities
integrated economic and social programmes leading to the economic and
social promotion of the region, to find funding for them and to
ensure follow-through.
HUMAN RIGHTS
30.08.02 - International Day of the "Disappeared"
HUMANITARIAN AID
28.08.02
Balearic Islands
The Saharawi Minister of Health, Omar Mansour signed an agreement
with the government of the Balearics and the Association of Friends
of the Saharawi People on health aid for Saharawi children and adults
staying there and on cooperation health projects in the refugee
camps.
29.08.02
Urgent appeal
The UN agencies WFP and UNHCR renewed their urgent appeal for
immediate and substantial food aid for the Saharawi refugees. (see
week
33)(Western
Sahara refugees face looming food
shortages,
UN agencies report, 29.08.02)
SOLIDARITY
Algeria
Committees of solidarity with the Saharawi people were created in the
wilayas of Guelma and Annaba (SPS).
Italy
31.08.02, ore 20.00, ASSOCIAZIONE VALDARNESE DI SOLIDARIETA' CON IL
POPOLO SAHARAWI, Cena di solidarieta per il popolo saharawi e
concerto di musica rock con il gruppo "Dottore Calligari". Per
informazioni e prenotazione (obbligatoria) contattare: Azienda
Agricola Casa del Monte 055-9707362; Sauro Testi - 335/8196685;
Alessandra Landucci 055/9912769 - 339-1919649.
Sweden
02.09.-30.10.02, Göteborg, Folkets Hus: A Photo Exhibition
"Western Sahara is not for sale" by the British photographer Kim
Naylor (living in Sweden) will be opened in Folkets Hus, Gothenburg
on 2 September. The exhibition will last until 30 October. For more
information contact : saharabulletinen@delta.telenordia.se
INTERNET
NEW PUBLICATIONS
[External
links to newspapers may not be valid after some days because the
servers are restarted]
Français
English
Castellano
[Summary
Weekly News,]
[Western
Sahara Homepage]