original french

• OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
• HUMAN RIGHTS
• INTERNET
• NEW PUBLICATIONS

OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

26.03.03
Scandalous judgments
Ahmed Nah Hmadi El Moussaoui was sentenced to 5 years' imprisonment. He is accused of being a member of the "hooded" group ("les cagoulés") (such as Salek Bazaid, Moussamih Baba, Bourhil Moh Lamine and Ahmed Bachir Ahmed Sbai) and of having set fire to a police station. El Moussaoui rejected all the accusations against him. AMDH (Moroccan Association of Human Rights), which considers that the charges are "suspect", denounced the sentences handed down against this group of Saharawis and demanded their release. (see more)
The trial of Ezzine Mohamed-Fadel Ali Mouloud Saya, arrested on 05.01.03, and accused of the same offences and whose sentence was expected on 26.03.03, has been postponed once again to a date yet to be determined.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Freedom and Justice Campagin for disappeared Saharawis (continued)
The delegation of families of disappeared Saharawis left Geneva on 3 April. They were received again by the High Commission for Human Rights and made links with various NGO contacts within the UN.

BIRDHSO's letter to the Moroccan Embassy in Bern:
In its letter, the Bureau protests against the ban on travelling for the Saharawi delegation from the occupied territories and insists on the return of all their documents and reimbursement of their travel expenses. It demands an interview with the Ambassador to give him the petition appealing for "FREEDOM AND JUSTICE FOR DISAPPEARED SAHARAWIS" signed by over 6000 people from many countries.

The banning measure by the Moroccan authorities on the Saharawi delegation of families of disappeared and human rights defenders from the territory under Moroccan control, is the subject of numerous other protests:

• Statement by the Saharawis held in Morocco (French);
• Press release of the Collective of the Saharawi Human Rights defenders "Territory of Western Sahara under Moroccan Control" ;
• a petition is circulating in the European Parliament destined for the Moroccan Government;
• the President of the Saharawi Republic, Mohamed Abdelaziz, in a letter to Kofi Annan, deplores the fact that the Moroccan authorities had prevented a Saharawi group of families of the disappeared from going to Geneva to give testimony before the UN on forced disappearances. He called on the Secretary-General to ensure the protection of Saharawis living under Moroccan occupation who are victims of repression because of their opinion in favour of self-determination (SPS);
• The Polisario Front, through its Minister Delegate for Europe, Mohamed Sidati, sent a letter in a similar vein to Javier Solana, Secretary General of the Council of the European Union/High representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (Spanish ), to Chris Patten, Commissioner in charge of External Relations, (English ), and to MEP Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Co-chair of the Group of Greens/Free European Alliance (French ).

INTERNET

OPINION

• Un plan de paix qui en cache un autre , Hafida Ameyar.
• Ley del reparto a costa del Pueblo Saharaui, Sahara Occidental: Derecho o Petróleo, Ahmed Muley - Ali.

NEW PUBLICATIONS
[External links to newspapers may not be valid after some days because the servers are restarted]

Français

Les dépêches, articles, etc, sont accessibles aux non-abonnés sur Sahara-Info, liste de courrier (français et espagnol): http://es.groups.yahoo.com/group/sahara-info/messages

• Crise de l'ONU, Les fourberies de Kofi Annan, Le Soir d'Algérie, 01.04.03.

English

English publications on Sahara Update mailinglist: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sahara-update/messages

• Morocco (Western Sahara), in The Worlds Most Repressive Regimes 2003, A Special Report to the 59th Session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights Geneva, 2003, Freedom House, USA.
• Morocco, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices  - 2002 Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor March 31, 2003.
• Western Sahara, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices  - 2002 Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor March 31, 2003.

Castellano

Todos los despachos, articulos de prensa, etc, son acessible por no-abonados en Sahara-Info, lista de correo (castellano y francés): http://es.groups.yahoo.com/group/sahara-info/messages

Noticias de prensa, Recopilación semanal de todos los articulos de la prensa de España: http://www.nodo50.org/labarored/interpueblos/Sahara/

• Esperanza a plazos. El pueblo saharaui refugiado en el desierto argelino teme que la guerra en Irak aplace 'sine die' la solución del conflicto y haga peligrar la ayuda humanitaria, Olatz Barriuso, El Correo Digital, 30.03.03.
• Ayudas del Gobierno vasco, ibidem.
• Marruecos. El Gobierno impide a 13 saharauis ir a Ginebra, AFP, 29.03.03.

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