|
WEEKS 19-20 : 07.05.-20.05.2006 |
08.05.06
In Addis Ababa, the Saharawi Republic signed a convention on the
prevention of and the fight against terrorism adopted by the African
Union. [SPS]
10.05.06
The Saharawi president, Mohamed Abdelaziz attended the investiture
ceremony of the Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni. Museveni
reaffirmed "support in principle" of his country for the right of the
Saharawi people to self-determination and independence.
[SPS]
13.05.06
During a working visit of the Saharawi president in Ethiopia, Meles
Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, reiterated the support of his
country for SADR and its position of principle in favour of a just
solution for the "last case of decolonization in Africa".
[SPS]
20.05.06, Polisario Front, 33rd anniversary of the start of the armed struggle
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES AND SOUTH MOROCCO
08.05.06, El
Ayoun
Children are not spared by the police. Mohamed Ali Mohamed and Najem
Mohamed Ahmed Salem, born in 1995, were arrested and mistreated in a
police car and in a police station. The policemen were trying to find
out who is handing out the Saharawi flags.
[Enfants
victimes des violences
policières][Ninos
victimas de la violencia
policial]
09.05.06,
Inzegane Prison
Lihmam Salama, common law prisoner serving a 10 year prison sentence,
started a hunger strike with fellow prisoners at the end of April.
They consider they have been punished because of their Saharawi
origin.
Ten Saharawi political prisoners in the same prison fasted for 24
hours on the occasion of the anniversary of the foundation of the
Polisario Front and sent a message of congratulations to the
organisation.
10.05.06,
anniversary of the foundation of the Polisario Front
Demonstrations on this occasion in educational establishments in El
Ayoun, Smara, Dakhla, Boujdour. Distribution of leaflets in all the
towns of Western Sahara and in Southern Morocco. In El Ayoun the
detention of former prisoners was reported as well as the expulsion
of 26 students from Lemsala, Al-lal Ben Abdala and Lisana Eddine
Ibnou Khattib colleges, because they were wearing traditional
Saharawi dress. In Dakhla the authorities suspended the granting of
any new licence to open a cybercafé.
10.05.06,
Spain
The General Bar Council of Spain (CGAE) denounced the holding in
detention of 14 Saharawi human rights activists in Moroccan prisons,
and the "continuing attacks by the Moroccan police against the
released prisoners as well as arbitrary detentions". There are still
14 Saharawi political prisoners in the prisons of El Ayoun (2),
Inzegane (10) and Aït Melloul (2).
[SPS].
12.05.06
Smara: Demonstration against the Moroccan presence on the occasion of
the welcoming of families coming from the camps. Five arrests. In
Boujdour: Demonstration of school children and college students, the
Saharawi flag flies from certain school buildings. On 14, pupils
Safia Sidi Brahim Khaya and Manna Sidi Brahim Khaya are arrested at
the lycée Omar Ben Alkhattab.
Tantan: the Saharawi association of fishermen employed by the Moroccan Omnium of fishing (OMP), which belongs to the King, organised a sit-in to demand the payment of their wages.
In M'hamid elGhizlan another sit-in outside the administration building in favour of respect for human rights. The national Saharawi colours were raised on several houses and government buildings, as well as at entry gates to the town, to celebrate the 33rd anniversary of the birth of the Polisario Front. [SPS]
15.05.06,
Aït Melloul prison
A political prisoner Lahcen Abdallahi, on hunger strike since 27
March, decided to suspend his action after having got certain rights
recognised for political prisoners. He is maintaining his complaint
against the director of the prison, responsible for giving bad
treatment. The Saharawi president, M. Abdelaziz had intervened in his
favour with the UN Secretary General.
15.05.06, El
Ayoun
Arrest and bad treatment of Saharawi pupils at El Ayoun III college.
Police are regularly stationed outside educational establishments.
Sometimes they come into the grounds or even into the classrooms to
attack Saharawi students. Demonstrations in several streets and
questioning of Saharawis.
14-23.05.06, Visit of a delegation from the UN High Commission for Human Rights
For many
years, organisations defending human rights in Western Sahara have
been asking for a commission of inquiry into human rights abuses. In
his report of 13.10.05 (S/2005/648), Kofi Annan said he was concerned
and raised the possibility of intervention by the HCHR. A mission to
the area planned for November having been adjourned on several
occasions by Morocco, President Abdelaziz repeated the request for an
inquiry on 28.03.06.
This first exploratory mission, which is going to Morocco and Western
Sahara and to the refugee camps in Tindouf, has as its aim to examine
the situation of human rights in order to formulate recommendations
and follow-up to Louise Arbour, the High Commissioner.
The delegation consists of Christophe Girod (leader of the delegation and former delegate of the ICRC), of Mrs Karin Lucke, coordinator for the Arab world and Roueida El Hage, responsible for North Africa.
BEFORE THE VISIT
The aim of the authorities of occupation was to prevent any independence demonstrations by a huge deployment of forces of order, repression, intimidation, manipulation and dissuasion.
The different Moroccan security bodies were reinforced, 7000 agents deployed in civilian dress or in traditional Saharawi clothes. Schools and quarters with a predominance of Saharawis were especially targeted. Military detachments were placed in various strategic places.
Traditional Saharawi clothes were handed out to Moroccan settlers to use in pro-Moroccan counter-demonstrations. The authorities prepared a busy program for the mission of meetings with various political bodies, both local and regional, members of CORCAS, associations of defectors etc.
Cases of pressure and intimidation: the father of one of the 15 disappeared in December after an attempt to emigrate, was advised that these persons are in the hands of the authorities and that they will be released if no demonstration takes place. Trades Union employees from the Fos-Bucraa company, who wanted to demonstrate before the UN commission, were surprised by the Moroccan administration's decision, "promising" the solution to their problems if they "didn't hold a demonstration".
THE VISIT
15-16.05.06,
Rabat
Meeting with the Secretary General of the Consultative Council for
Human Rights (CCDH), Mahjoub el Haiba, with parliamentarians and
personalities active in the field of human rights, as well as with
the president of the Royal Consultative Council for Saharan Affairs
(CORCAS).
17-19.05.06,
El Ayoun
The delegation of the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights
was able to hear several Saharawi NGOs who denounced the human rights
abuses in Western Sahara: the Saharawi Committee against serious
Human Rights abuses committed by the Moroccan State, led by Brahim
Dahane, whose three members, Bachir Lekhfaounni, Daha Rahmouni and
Mohamed Fadel El Hairech were questioned on the way home from their
hearing. The Committee of Families of Disappeared Saharawis, chaired
by Jimi El Ghalia, who handed to the Commission a list naming 116
disappeared Saharawis, the Committee for the Self-Determination of
the Saharawi People, led by the Rafto 2002 Prize-winner for human
rights, Sidi Mohamed Daddach, the Association of families of martyrs
in Moroccan Police Stations, the Committee for the Protection of
Saharawi Political Prisoners in the Black Prison, the Collective of
Saharawi Human Rights Defenders, the Association of Victims of
Torture in Smara, led by Naciri Ahmed, who told of "the carnage which
took place on 26 March last during the home-coming of a Saharawi
political prisoner", the Sahara Branch of the Forum for Truth and
Justice, chaired by Moutik Lahoussine and others.
During the
hearings on 17 May, the Moroccan forces of repression, in
plainclothes and in uniform, armed with truncheons, intervened
against Sahrawi citizens who were demonstrating peacefully in the
Maatallah quarter, to claim the right of the Saharawi people to
self-determination. A counter-demonstration of "Moroccan citizens",
brandishing portraits of the King and Moroccan national flags took
place in parallel. 18 persons were questioned of whom five were
former political prisoners, a large number of people were injured,
including two seriously. [ photos
I
+ photos
II
]
In an amateur video from May 17 one can see how civilians armed by
truncheons collaborate with the police to pursue Saharawi people,
that some people in traditional Saharawi clothes also work closely
with the police, and the very important amount of security services
in the streets. [Video
to download]
The President of the Saharawi Republic called for the "urgent" intervention of the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, to "protect Saharawi civilians" in the occupied territories of Western Sahara, of whom over fifty have been wounded and 22 others arrested during the peaceful demonstrations of th 17th. [SPS] BIRDHSO , the International Bureau for the Respect of Human Rights in Western Sahara, launched an urgent appeal to the United Nations High Commission [doc Word] [PDF]
On 18 May the mission went to the Black Prison and to the Hassan II hospital. The Moroccan authorities prohibited the representatives of the Collective of Saharawi Human Rights Defenders from meeting the mission again, even though an appointment had been made. Local and regional authorities, pro-Moroccan associations and of defectors occupied the rest of the mission's stay, who left El Ayoun the evening of 19.05 and arrived in Tindouf on 20.05.06 [more Info]
Illegal export
of phosphates, (ctd)
February 2005: the ship Pontoporos (IMO no 8318609) Cypriot flag
arrived in Barranquilla, Colombia, with 15,000 tonnes of phosphates
from El Ayoun. Agent: Bulk Maritime Agencies Ltd.
April 2005: the ship Meta (IMO no 860830) Maltese flag arrived in
Baraquilla with 15,000 tonnes of phosphates from El Ayoun. Agent:
Bulk Maritime Agencies Ltd.
May 2005: the ship Zefyros Breeze (IMO no 8103200) from Hong Kong,
arrived in Baranquilla with 15,000 tonnes of phosphates from El
Ayoun. Agent: Bulk Maritime Agencies Ltda.
July 2005: the ship Vessel Oriental (IMO no 9127629) from Greece,
arrived in Baranquilla with 15,831.17 tonnes of phosphates from El
Ayoun. Agent: Bulk Maritime Agencies Ltd.
16.05.06
The European Parliament passed by 409 votes for, 197 against and 79
abstentions, the fishing agreement with Morocco. Spain is the
principal beneficiary, since 100 of the 119 fishing licences go to
this country, principally to Andalusia and the Canaries. The
amendments which rejected the inclusion of Saharawi territorial
waters in the agreement were rejected, except for one which provided
for "the financial compensation of the European Community (144
million euros spread over four years), should be used for the
development of coastal populations of Morocco and Western Sahara".
Even though the agreement was voted at the end of French and Spanish
pressure, it was not accepted by three groups (GUE/NGL, Greens/ALE,
UEN), as well as several Socialists and Conservatives. A
committee to follow-up was formed in order to verify if the local
populations benefit from it. The Council of ministers should approve
this agreement on 22 May.
16.05.06
The coalition of activists "Fishelsewhere" has warned the European
Commission that it risks being the subject of legal action in
European courts if the fishing agreement is approved without the
exclusion of the occupied territory. [EU
Votes to Steal Saharan Fish,
press release Fishelsewhere campaign, 16.05.06].
[dossier]
16.05.06
Mohamed Sidati, Minister Delegate for Europe, expresses his profound
indignation and describes the inclusion of the Saharawi territorial
waters in the agreement as "a grave and tragic error". He calls it
"null and void", "an operation of international robbery" which the
Spanish government backed and for which it worked hard to mobilise
support. Sidati announces that his government will do all it can to
render the agreement invalid. [Déclaration]
[Declaracion]
17.05.06
The European Parliamentary intergroup for Western Sahara wonders,
after the adoption by the Parliament of the fishing agreement, how
they could guarantee that the benefit of the agreement would be
distributed to the Saharawi population, which it is cut in two by a
wall and that the country is illegally occupied. The intergroup puts
the question to the Commission and to the Council and asks them, in
the process of making any agreement with Morocco to include respect
for human rights and the recognition of the right to
self-determination of the Saharawi people.
[Declaracion].
10.05.06,
German Parliament
Gernot Erler, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, replying to
questions before the Bundestag, reaffirmed that the German government
will continue its policy of "intensive" support for the efforts of
the UN towards a peaceful solution to the conflict in Western Sahara.
The minister added that, iff the parties to the conflict "wish that
we should again offer our good offices, we would do it willingly".
[siehe
Stenogr. Bericht Seite 2853]
08.05.06,
Rabat
Joumani Najem, a Saharawi student at the University of Rabat was
seriously injured and the driver of a taxi killed during a traffic
accident on Al Irfane Street. About a thousands students from the
University cities Souissi I and II, both Saharawi and Moroccan,
protested against the insecurity of the street, which unleashed
intervention by the riot squad who invaded the university cities for
several hours. Many student rooms were vandalised. 34 Saharawi
students were injured, including one, Bachir Mayara, seriously.
Bachir Mayara was thrown from the fourth floor of a building, he
suffered multiple fractures.
In a statement, the students consider that this "barbarous
intervention" by the Moroccan security forces was intended as "a
warning to possible demonstrations" which the Saharawi students might
hold by way of commemoration of the birth of the Polisario or the
first anniversary of the Intifada of Independence.
[SPS]
18.05.06,
Agadir
Peaceful demonstration of Saharawi students, savagely repressed.
Several people are injured and arrested.
07.05.06
Colonel Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, head of the ruling junta in
Mauritania, on a visit to Algeria, underlined, in connection with
Western Sahara, that Mauritania reaffirms its support to the efforts
deployed by the United Nations towards a definitive solution which
satisfies all the parties.
08.05.06 Visit
of Aminatou Haidar to Spain (ctd)
During a press conference at the head office of the Spanish Committee
of aid to refugees (CEAR), Aminatou Haidar denounced the "serious
violations" of human rights which are committed in the territories by
Moroccan authorities. She indicated that her visit to Spain has a
double objective. To thank the Spanish community for its "noble
solidarity and indestructible support to the Saharawi cause" and "to
raise awareness and inform them about the dramatic situation" being
experienced in the Saharawi occupied territories. "We wish the
Spanish society would apply pressure to their government" to support
unambiguously the right to self-determination", she declared. "This
appeal is addressed equally to France, whose policy constitutes an
obstacle to peace in Western Sahara", She underlined that the
"autonomy plan" for Western Sahara announced by Rabat is a "stillborn
proposal", "totally rejected by the Saharawi people".
[SPS]
In Madrid
Aminatou Haidar received the 5th Juan Maria Bandres Prize for the
defence of the right to asylum and solidarity with refugees, awarded
by CEAR. "Through this prize, CEAR and Spanish civil society as a
whole, send a profound message of condemnation of human rights abuses
which are perpetrated by the Moroccan occupation in Western Sahara.
It is likewise a homage to the struggle and sacrifices of the
Saharawi people, particularly of its women", she declared.
[SPS]
During her stay in Madrid, Aminatou Haidar was received by the
head of the human rights bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and by officials from political parties. She continued her tour in
the Iberian peninsula by visiting Catalonia, the Basque Country and
Andalusia. She will be in Valence on 21. Throughout her tour Mrs
Haidar has been received by several regional parliaments, town halls,
human rights associations and those in solidarity with the Saharawi
people.
09.05.06, UN
&endash; Council of Human Rights
Morocco was again elected to the Council of Human Rights in the
UN.
18.05.06,
European Parliament
The European Parliament approved an amendment of the group GUE/NGL to
the Report concerning human rights in the world.Report (rapport
Howitt, A6-0158/2006) in which he « Recalls its resolution of 27
October 2005 on human rights in Western Sahara; welcomes the release
of Saharawi political prisoners by the Moroccan authorities but
condemns the continuation of human rights violations against the
Saharawi population; calls for the Saharawi population to be
protected and fundamental rights - particularly freedom of
expression, movement and demonstration - to be respected; reiterates
its call for a just and lasting solution to the conflict in Western
Sahara, based on the right of self-determination of the Saharawi
people, in accordance with the relevant Security Council resolutions,
particularly Resolution 1495;.» [Communiqué
Mohamed Sidati]
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