|
WEEKS 29 - 30 : 17.07.-30.07.2005 |
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES AND SOUTH MOROCCO
Arrest of Ali
Salem Tamek
Arrested on 18 July as he disembarked from a plane coming from the
Canary Islands, Ali Salem Tamek is placed in police custody, accused
of "direct implication in acts of vandalism" in the occupied
territories over recent months. On 20 July his custody is extended by
24 hours, he is imprisoned on 21 in the Black Prison in El
Ayoun.
Situation
worsens
The day of the arrest of Ali Salem Tamek two demonstrations take
place in El Ayoun, one directed against the decision of the governor
to compensate, by distributing some electrical husehold goods, the
Saharawis whose houses were ransacked by the police forces in May,
the other in the evening to demand the release of the political
prisoners.
The Moroccan powers organise on the 19th a pseudo-demonstration of
Moroccan settlers and paramilitary forces clothed in traditional
Saharawi garments. 3-5,000 people demand the release of the
Moroccan prisoners of war held by the Polisario Front.
The same day in Assa, Dakhla and El Ayoun the Saharawi population is
out on the streets.
Arrests
of human rights defenders
On 20 July, six plain clothes agents break into the bedroom of
Mohamed Elmoutawakil in Casablanca and arrest him, as well as another
Saharawi former prisoner of opinion who is by chance in the house,
Mohamed Fadel Gaoudi. It is General Laânigri in person, head of
the DGSN (National Security) who proceeds to the first
interrogations, then the two former leaders of the Forum for Truth
and Justice are transferred to El Ayoun. In parallel three other
human rights activists, Noumria Brahim, Larbi Messaoud and Lidri
Elhoussein are arrested in El Ayoun. Over several days of
interrogation after interrogation, they are subjected to torture in
the PC CMI by the team of well-known local specialists. The five
activists appear on the 23rd before the Prosecutor, who sets Gaoudi
free and extends the period of custody for the four others, who are
then imprisoned in the Black Prison.
There are many
protests
The Saharawi President twice sends letters to Kofi Annan. Human
rights organisations protest (BIRDHSO
Italy
solidarity associations take action (CEAS, FANDAS, US-Western Sahara
Foundation). In Spain demonstrations take place on the 20.07 in
Algeciras, on 24 in Valencia, on 25 in Almeria, on 27 in Madrid,
Malaga, Logrono, Valencia, Murcia and in the Balearic Islands. In
France, the Association of Friends, AARASD
and the AFASPA
react. Committees for the release of Saharawi prisoners of opinion
are created in France
and in the USA.
In Italy the national solidarity organisation writesa
letter
to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The President of the European parliamentary intergroup, in a
declaration, condemns the repression and calls for the intervention
of the EU. [Declaration,
20.07.05] [Déclaration,
20.07.05] [Declaración
20.07.05]
A French senator, Robert Bret, writes in the same vein to his foreign
minister [PDF]
and to the Moroccan ambassador [PDF]
. The
families of the seven
abducted HR activists, the committee of former Phosboucraa workers
(arabic)
m and others to numerous to evoque all of them, launch
appeals.
21.07.05, Appeal trial of the six Saharawi activists sentenced in the court of first instance on 23 June. One of them, Abderrahman Bougarfa, sees his sentence of 5 years confirmed, the others will not know their fate until 28 July. In the evening, a false report about the death of a young Saharawi, hurt in the riots and hospitalised in Marrakech is rapidly denied.
24.07.05, A delegation from the Canaries is turned back at El Ayoun airport like the six preceding ones.
25.07.05
Faced with the worsening of the situation by comparison with 28
April, the date on which the European Parliament had last expressed
its concern (french)
, Sidati, Saharawi Minister-delegate for Europe, launches a new
"urgent appeal" to the president of the European Parliament, to the
President of the European Commission and to the high representative
for the PESC, Javier Solana.
26.07.05, more
appeals
The President of the Mexican Association of Friendship with SADR
(AMARASD), the president of the Society of Mexican writers, Victor
Hugo Rascon Banda, ask the UN Secretary General to endeavour to
organise a referendum of self-determination for the Saharawi people
without delay and to put an end to the repression in the territory.
The Legislative Assembly of the region of Emilia Romagna (Italy) asks
its president, in a resolution, to organise a mission of observation
to Western Sahara, to the central Italian Government to recognise the
right to self-determination of the Saharawi people and to consider
recognising SADR.
The Saharawi President writes this time to Tony Blair, who is chairing the European Union, to ask him to intervene immediately to protect Saharawi citizens. In Great Britain, the Western Sahara Campaign ly Day Motion 551 before the British Parliament (see week 27-28) has now got 43 signatures.
27.07.05, Mohamed Jaïm, Saharawi human rights activist, and trades unionist transferred from Bou-Crâa to Ben Guerir, decides to start a new hunger strike to protest about the repression.
28.07.05,
Sentences
on appeal by 5 demonstrators
e
The court of El Ayoun in an appeal hearing reduces considerably the
sentences handed down on 23.06.05 for "violence against
officials in the exercise of their duties by the use of arms, having
brought about premeditated injuries and causing damage to other
people's property".
State of
siege
The Saharawi districts of El Ayoun, such as Matalla, are still
patrolled by police, the gendarmerie, the auxiliary forces and the
GUS, who have installed surveillance posts outside houses of Saharawi
human rights activists. The streets of the suburb of Zemla and other
popular areas are bristling with patrols, preventing more than three
people gathering together.
Press conference in Paris with Claude Mangin, who spent a week in the
occupied territories. She confirmed the inauguration of a real state
of siege in El Ayoun. She considers that "the popular uprising which
was sparked off at the end of May has created a pre-insurrectional
state of refusal of the Moroccan colonial presence, to which the
Makhzen is reacting with brutality and a certain confusion."
[communiqué]
29.07.05,
USA
Several members of the American Congress send a letter to the
Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, to draw her attention to recent
cases of human rights abuses and torture in occupied Western Sahara
and to ask her to intervene to make these practices stop. They also
point out that the worsening of the situation calls for a rapid
solution to the conflict through making the referendum
happen.
US Congressman Judge Ted Poe denounces Moroccan human rights violations in Western Sahara.[full text of speach before the US Congress, SPS]
Aminatou Haidar called on US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, 26.07.05 [full text of her letter SPS]
Seriously
injured
The Norwegian
delegation
expelled from the occupied territories on 05.07.05 paid a visit to
Sidi
Elfakraoui
in Rabat, where he is being treated. Injured from from falling off a
roof while being pursued by the police [according to his own
statement he was trown off the 5th floor roof of the building by the
GUS police] the young man presents serious complications,
which could handicap him for life. His family has been ruined by the
medical expenses and cannot take on the rehabilitation needed. The
president of the Rafto Foundation has launch a collection of funds to
help him. (Raftostiftelsens konto 3624.60.06878 or contact M. Arne
Lynngård e-mail: arne[at]bts.no
[
norwegian article with photo]
For a detailed chronology of these 2 busy weeks, and for direct reports and testimonies see the special page .
28.07.05
Negotiations for a partnership agreement on fishing between Morocco
and the European Union came to an end in Brussels by concluding a new
agreement, which replaces that of 1999 which was not renewed by
Morocco. The new agreement includes Saharawi territorial waters.
Immediate protest by the Polisario Front, who, through the voice of
its representative in Spain, calls the agreement "illegal and
unjust". [EU
press release]
[Acuerdo
de pesca UE-Marruecos: se consuma la traición de
1975,
Carlos Ruiz Miguel, El Semanal Digital, 28.07.06]
29.07.05,
Oil
The SADR government takes note of the announcement by Baraka
Petroleum Limited that it "has agreed to conduct a joint study with
Roc Oil Company Limited (ROC)" to evaluate the Cap Juby prospect in
offshore Morocco.
The SADR government has been assured by the companies involved that
the area to be evaluated does not lie in the offshore territory of
the SADR. Furthermore, this license does not overlay or impact any of
the license areas offered in the SADR Licensing Round announced in
May this year.
The SADR government takes the opportunity to remind all foreign
companies that any agreement involving Western Sahara that is entered
into with the occupying Moroccan regime is illegal and
unethical, will be resisted by the SADR Government and its supporters
and will inevitably harm the companies' reputation and shareholders'
interests. [Media
release
]
On 26 July,
Kofi Annan designates the Dutch ambassador, Peter van Walsum to the
post of personal envoy for Western Sahara, «to help assess the
situation and to explore with the parties, neighboring states and
other stakeholders how best to overcome the present political
impasse.»
Mohamed Sidati considers this appointment as "very positive", he
hopes that the first task of the new personal envoy will be to ask
Morocco to stop the repression and to implement the resolutions of
the UN. The Moroccan ambassador at the UN declares that this
appointment will enable them to get out of the present blockage and
progress towards a lasting, mutually acceptable political solution,
within Moroccan sovereignty.
The Spanish government and the Popular Party (opposition) welcome the
appointment of van Walsum in a positive way, as well as France and
Algeria.
mbassador van Walsum is 71, he has represented his country, the
Netherlands, at the United Nations for many years and chaired the
Iraq Sanctions Committee for two years after the invasion of
Kuwait.
26.07.0,
Italian Parliament
Responding to a parliamentary question on the human rights situation
in the occupied territories and its position on the question of
Western Sahara, the government expresses itself in favour of a
"negotiated solution referring to the principles and resolutions
approved by the UN." It commits itself to favour such a solution and
to continue its humanitarian aid to the Saharawi refugees. It affirms
it is following closely the development of the situation in the
occupied zones.[Parlamento
italiano: Interrogazione a risposta in Commissione
5-04543
presentata da LAURA CIMA nella seduta n.647] -
RIPOSTA
(27.07.05)
- PDF]
Declaration
Invited by the royal palace to associate themselves with the campaign
to defend "the territorial integrity" of Western Sahara, the movement
Annahj Addimoucrati writes an open letter on 17 July to decline,
adding that "it is imperative that any solution must be a democratic
one", and considering not to have "seen any sign proving the
existence of a political will to search for a really democratic
solution to this question". In an interview with the
"Journal
hebdo",
the secretary general of the movement, Abdellah Elharrif makes his
position clear.
The Moroccan authorities withdraw accreditation from Al Jazeera's correspondent, claiming he mentioned the troubles in El Ayoun and the arrest of Ali Salem Tamek and the other Saharawis.
The royal palace pursues its campaign of seeking support for its policy, shamelessly offering all sorts of economic advantages. Five Moroccan ministers are going all over the world to "enlighten international opinion on the situation in the 'southern provinces'": Yazghi is visiting Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Brazil, Benabdallah, Angola, Swaziland, Malawi and Sierra Leone, Benaïssa Saudi Arabia and Taieb Fassi Fihri, Vietnam. Mohamed Cheikh Biadillah "in several African countries", Laenser is in Paraguay.
25.07.05
The parliament postpones until September the planned visit to Western
Sahara, arguing that freedom of movement on the ground is not
assured.
19.07.05
The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Moratinos meets his
counterpart in Algiers and reiterates Madrid's commitment in favour
of a solution to the Sahara conflict "within the UN
framework".
57th session of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, (Geneva, 25 July - 12 August 2005)
A Saharawi
delegation, led by Ambassador Mohamed Yeslem Beissat, is attending
the session. Eight NGOs present at the session sign an
"Appeal
for
the release of Aminatou Haidar, Ali Salem Tamek and all the Saharawi
political prisoners".
27.07.05: Interventions on the present situation in the occupied
territories, under the heading of point 02: Question of abuse of
human rights and fundamental liberties by the International youth and
student movement for the United Nations, ISMUN, Interfaith
International and the Movement against Racism and for Friendship
between Peoples (MRAP).
28.07.05, Intervention under the heading of point 03: Administration
of Justice, state of law and democracy in the name of the
International youth and student movement for the United Nations
ISMUN. [more]
The Swiss Committee of Support for the Saharawi People invites anyone to join the PICKET OF SOLIDARITY, Saturday 06 August 2005 from 10.00-20.00 hours, Esplanade du Mont-Blanc in Geneva (south of Cornavin station).
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