|
WEEKS 25-26 : 18.06.-01.07.2006 |
12.06.06,
South Africa
A Saharawi delegation, consisting of Saleh Abeid, member of the
Panafrican Parliament, and Malainin Lakhal, secretary general of the
Union of Saharawi Writers and Journalists, participated in a ceremony
commemorating the 30th anniversary of the massacre in Soweto
organised by the ANC Youth in the Olympic stadium in Durban in the
presence of 50,000 people. The Saharawi delegation was the only
foreign delegation to give a speech.[Text
of the speech pronounced
by Malainin Lakhal]. The
delegation met various South African officials during its stay.
[SPS]
20.06.06,
African Union
The Saharawi Ambassador with the African Union (AU), Lehbib Breika,
signed in Addis-Ababa a treaty making Africa a zone free of nuclear
arms (Treaty of Pelindaba), the Protocol of
the African Charter of Human Rights and Rights of Peoples relating to
the rights of women and the Convention of the African Energy
Commission. SADR has thus signed eleven treaties and conventions of
31 texts of the African Union including six which have been ratified
by the Parliament.
21.06.06, Cap
Verde
Mhamed Khaddad, Saharawi coordinator with MINURSO, was received in
Praia by Cap Verde's President, Pedro Pires.
21.06.06,
Mauritania
Khalil Sidi Mohamed, Minister of the occupied territories and
Saharawi communities abroad, was received in Nouakchott by the
President of the Military Council for Democracy and Justice, Ely Ould
Mohamed Fall.
26-28.06.06,
I. Salón Internacional de la Cooperación, Tenerife
SADR took part with a stand in this first Salon of Cooperation,
opened by the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs and Canary Islands
officials.
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES AND SOUTH MOROCCO
While Morocco is elected as a member and Vice-President of the UN Council of Human Rights in Geneva, repression has suddenly worsened in occupied Western Sahara, where demonstrations keep going on. Thus the anniversary of the demonstrations of Zemla/El Ayoun and the disappearance of Sid Brahim Bassiri, on 17 June 1970, was celebrated in the territories by gatherings, leafleting, hanging up of flags etc.
Arrests have multiplied. On 16 June, the former Saharawi political detainee Taoubali Elhafed, as well as Hmoudi Hammad, Elgasmi Lahbib [Garhi Mohamed Lehbib] and Ahmeidat Mohamed Salem [Hmaidat Ahmed Salem] were arrested, tortured, interrogated, found guilty and incarcerated in the Black Prison, where Deddi Hmada and Ahmed El Moussaoui continue their hunger strike, as no measure has been taken to improve their conditions of detention. On 17, it's the turn of Sabbar Brahim, (secretary general of the Saharawi Association of victims of serious violations of human rights by the Moroccan state (ASVDH), of Haddi Sid Mohamed Mahmoud, nicknamed ElKainan, former prisoner and his brother Saleh and of Sbai Ahmed (member of the executive of the Association ASVDH and member of the Committee for the Protection of Detainees in the Black Prison), arrested at the gates of El Ayoun while returning from Boujdour, where a branch of ASVDH had just been founded. This association is still not recognised by the authorities. The four are accused of constituting a criminal band, incitating and participating in violence, destruction of public property and putting obstructions on the public highway, attacks on state officials, of participation in armed groups and belonging to a non-authorised association. Furthermore, El Kainan and his brother, Saleh as well as Sabbar Brahim are accused of having attacked a policeman. Ahmed Sbai, who is suffering from a chronic cardiac condition, was hospitalised on 24 June. All are imprisoned with common law prisoners and their demand for transfer is rejected.
A new demonstration of young Saharawis in cars carrying SADR flags takes place on 19 on Place du Giratoire. On Avenue Smara two former political detainees, Targui Maelainin and Yaya Bachir are arrested, the latter is tortured for several hours and finally abandoned on the outskirts of the town. El Ayoun Plage (Foum elOued) is also the theatre of demonstrations and arrests. A battalion of auxiliary forces as well as a company of gendarmes were deployed in order to prevent any demonstration during the summer holidays. In Smara on 21 June a young Saharawi, Saaid Mohamed Baha, was arrested for several hours before being liberated after a sit-in of several dozen citizens outside the police station. The same day arrest of two former political detainees in El Ayoun, Mahmud Mustafa Haddad and Mohamed Bahia Rachidi and a demonstration of students in Assa and Boujdour. By way of reprisal, candidates for the end of year exams were refused or given bad marks, likewise for students in the College Omar ben Khatab, which provoked new demonstrations by their families. Two people were arrested following these demonstrations as well as the president of the local committee of ASVDH, the former political prisoner, Tahlil Mohamed and Ahmed Lehmeid Hamya.
In Assa (southern Morocco), members of the auxiliary forces set upon young Saharawis brutally for having participated in independence demonstrations.
20.06.06
"The extreme gravity of the situation in the Saharawi occupied
territories and the precarious situation in which the Saharawi human
rights activists find themselves" led the President of the Republic,
Mohamed Abdelaziz to write to the UN SG, Kofi Annan, to ask him to
intervene urgently to liberate all Saharawi political prisoners.
[full
text]
The OMCT protested at the arrests [Appel,
Cas MAR 230606]
, while the Observatoire Pour la Protection des Défenseurs des
Droits de l'Homme launched an urgent appeal to denounce the arbitrary
detention of Brahim Sabbar and Ahmed Sbai. [APPEL
URGENT - L'OBSERVATOIRE. MAR 002 / 0606 / OBS 079, 23 juin
2006]
L'Acat-France
a fait de même., l'AFASPA
a interpellé l'UE [SPS] and Aminatou Haidar,
from South Africa, where she is on a visit, sent a letter to the
President of the European Parliament. [26.06.06].
25.06.06, El
Ayoun
Demonstration in the Maatallah district and arrest, interrogation and
bad treatment for Foukraoui Sidi Taleb Ahmed and Garhi Fatah.
Foukraoui [Fakraoui] was thrown off a building
on
12 June 2005
which caused spinal fractures.
27.06.06,
Heavy sentences
Sabbar Brahim is sentenced to 2 years in prison,Haddi Sidi Mohamed
Mahmoud (Elkainan), to 3 years and his brother Saleh is given a 1
year suspended sentence. Khaya Elbachir, who was present at the
session, was arrested as he left the court. He was the victim on 13
October 2005 of bad treatment in Boujdour and had lodged a complaint.
Afrik Mohamed ould Brahim ould Mouloud, son of a disappeared Saharawi
and brother of two disappeared, member of the Committee of families
of Saharawi disappeared, telephoned his relatives on 26 June. He has
been detained for 11 days at an unknown location.
[ASVDH
update, 27.06.06]
The Saharawi Committee for Self-Determination of Western Sahara,
chaired by Sidi Mohamed Daddach [French]
- [Arabic] , the Dakhla
Committee against Torture, the Saharawi Association for Victims of
Serious Violations of Human Rights committed by the Moroccan State
(ASVDH), the local committee of Boujdour of ASVDH denounced these
heavy sentences.
The President of the Saharawi Republic called on the UN SG, Kofi
Annan, to demand their "release and setting up of a mechanism whereby
the UN would become responsible for protecting Saharawi civilians and
preserving their fundamental freedoms". He would make the same appeal
once again on 26 June concerning the 15 Saharawis disappeared since
25 December last "in obscure circumstances".
[SPS]
19.06.06,
Inzegane Prison (Agadir, Morocco)
Attempt to assassinate a Saharawi prisoner of opinion, Lahmam Salama
Brahim Mouloud, stabbed in the neck by a dagger, the wound was
inflicted by a Moroccan common law detainee. Thanks to pressure from
other Saharawi detainees, Lahmam was hospitalised subsequently in
Agadir, from whence he appealed for the protection of Saharawis
against "serious violations of human rights perpetrated by the
Moroccan state in the occupied territories of Western Sahara and
southern Morocco". His state of health remains critical.
29.06.06,
Agadir (Morocco)
The penal tribunal session planned for five Saharawi political
prisoners, Naji/Najia ElBachir, ElKhorchi Waissi, ElMansouri Idris,
Tamek Mohamed, Kayout Brahim, all arrested on 15 April in Assa, is
postponed until 13 July.
29.06.06, new
campaign of répression
New campaign of repression and arrests in all the occupied towns of
Western Sahara: in El Ayoun dozens of arrests are reported, and seven
dwellings ransacked, in addition threats of withholding pay or
dismissal of the parents, if their children continue to demonstrate.
In Smara, where a demonstration started on 29 June, the authorities
encourage the denunciation of persons giving refuge to demonstrators
or allowing the demonstrations to be photographed from their roofs.
In Dakhla, the authorities forbad internet users from using messenger
or paltalk, and night patrols prevent demonstrations and decoration
of streets with Saharawi flags.
18.-29.06.06.06,
Visit of Aminatou Haidar to South Africa
The Saharawi activist travelled to South Africa to raise awareness
about the Moroccan abuses of human rights in the occupied territories
of Western Sahara.
In Pretoria, in the course of a dinner in honour of the human rights activist, the Director of the North African Department within Foreign Affairs, Delarey Van Tonder, declared that it "is impossible to speak of development in Africa while one of its states is subject to colonization". Aminatou Haidar was received by the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mrs Sue van der Merwe and by the officer responsible for international policy on the African National Congress (ANC), Mrs Mavivi Myakayaka-Manzini, who affirmed the total commitment of her party "to defend its position of principle in favour of the right of the Saharawi people for liberation and independence".
Numerous
meetings and talks
21.06.06, : Aminatou Haidar had talks with three South African high
court judges in the Constitutional Court. The judges, T.H. Madala,
Bess Nkabinde and Ngcobo Sandile expressed their profound concern for
the precarious situation of human rights in the occupied territories
of Western Sahara, and asked Mrs Haidar to remain in contact with
their Court, which "will henceforth remain seized by the subject and
will follow developments closely", Judge T.H. Madala
emphasised.
The Saharawi activist was received the same evening in Capetown by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mrs Dlamini Zuma, who reaffirmed the "position of principle of her country in favour of the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination and independence, but also the determination of South Africa to undertake any measure or make any effort necessary to put an end to this problem" of incomplete decolonization.
23.06.06: In Pretoria, the Saharawi activist animates a conference, organised by the South African Institute for Africa (AISA) and the Institute for Global Dialogue (IGD), on the human rights situation in the occupied territories of Western Sahara. About thirty researchers, university teachers, and members of the diplomatic corps in South Africa attended the conference which was opened by Mrs Chaela Bunwaree, President of AISA's department of research.
She was then received by the South African deputy minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Aziz Pahad and had talks with the President of the South African Committee for Human Rights, Mr Narandan Jody Kollapen, in the presence of the Executive Director, Tseliso Thipanyane, and high ranking South African officials.
25.06.06: Aminatou Haidar met on Sunday in his residence in Capetown, the President of the Anglican churches and Archbishop of Capetown, the Reverend Njongonkulu W.H. Ndungane. She then visited the former prison on Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned.
27-28.06.06:
The secretary general of the South African Communist Party, Dr. Blade
Nzimande, affirmed, in welcoming the Saharawi activist, that the
support of his party for "your legitimate struggle for independence
is unconditional".
The next day, it is the secretary general of the African National
Congress, Kgalema Motlanthe, who said, in receiving Aminatou, that
the struggle of the Saharawi people "for freedom is our own and we
owe you complete support".
The Saharawi activist then signed in the Hector Petersen museum in
Soweto (Johannesburg), a symbolic twinning between the South African
district and the Saharawi district of Maatallah, both symbols of
resistance and peaceful struggle against oppression and colonialism
in two African countries. [--> quelques
photos - some pictures - algunas
fotos]
18.06.06,
Telecommunications
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has refused the
recourse of Morocco to establish stations of communications per radio
on the ground of the Western Sahara, basing itself on the fact that
the Western Sahara is a land which does not have sovereignty and
which the United Nations did not resolve this case. The Legal
magistrate of the Union considers that the fact of establishing
stations of audio communications in the Western Sahara and to put a
symbol of its membership in Morocco is an unacceptable thing, it has
expressed this position at the time of a regional conference of
telecommunications by radio, who was held the 15 of the month in
progress in Geneva.
23.06.06,
oil
Kosmos Energy, a company based in Dallas, USA, bought an exploration
licence for the Boujdour region, covering an area of 44,000 km2.
[Upstream]
24.06.06,
oil
The President of SADR, Mohamed Abdelaziz received in the Presidency
Malcolm Groom, the Director of the British oil company, Comet Oil.
Comet oil signed, with seven other oil companies, in March 2006 in
London, an agreement of cooperation with SADR and opted for the
offshore block named "Guelta".[SPS]
19.06.06,
European Union
Replying to four questions from Raül Romeva i Rueda (Verts/ALE),
Iratxe García Pérez (PSE), Karin Scheele (PSE), Antonio
Masip Hidalgo (PSE) and Willy Meyer Pleite (GUE/NGL) concerning the
fate of Saharawi activists imprisoned in Western Sahara, the
Commission declares being aware of the facts. It stresses that it has
asked explanations from the Moroccan government, but considers that
Morocco is making progress in the respect of human rights (!!). The
Commission will follow closely the development of respect for human
rights by all parties involved in the conflict.
21.06.06,
Spain
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Congress rejected the proposal
of recognising SADR, presednted by the ERC group (Esquerra
Republicana de Catalunya ), which caused a break in the usual
consensus of parliamentary groups on the conflict in the Sahara. The
PSOE, the PP and the CiU oppose the proposal.
22.06.06,
Madrid
The regional parliament of the autonomous community of Madrid
unanimously condemns the repression exercised by Morocco against the
Saharawi people, by accepting a proposal from the IU supported by the
PSOE and the PP, which also expresses its support for the right to
self-determination.
22.06.06,
ONU
A journalist asked the UN Secretary General, during a press
conference in Geneva, what he counted on doing to relaunch the
confidence-building measures, and if Mr Peter van Walsum would
constantly visit the region. Kofi Annan replied about his special
representative that, "I do not think he is planning to visit the
region right now, but he will go when it is necessary. " he added "I
hope family visits can resume." Concerning Algeria, Annan declared
that this country " has a clear position -- it says it is not
involved in the war, it is not a party to the conflict; it is a
neighbour, it is ready to help and discuss things, but people must
accept that it is a neighbouring country and not try too hard to get
it involved in this business. But we are watching the issue
closely. The matter is before the Security Council and I hope
we will be able to nudge the parties concerned forward a little.."
[UN]
24.06.06,
Modena, Italy
The Communal Council of Modena (Emilia Romagna) called on the Italian
government to recognise SADR and to begin concrete diplomatic and
political moves with the European Union for the recognition of this
country. [SPS]
25.06.06-02.07.06,
7th Summit of the African Union, Banjule, Gambia
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mohamed Salem Ould Salek, heading a
Saharawi delegation, took part in the meeting of the Executive
Council (Council of Ministers), which was held two days before the
annual summit of Heads of State and Governments, due on 1-2 July. The
President of SADR, Mohamed Abdelaziz, arrived on 30 June in
Banjule.
The question of Western Sahara was treated in a report of the African
Commission presented to the executive Council by its president, Alpha
Oumar Konaré. The report underlines that the situation in
which the peace process for Western Sahara finds itself "merits the
greatest attention on the part of the international community, which
should act as a matter of urgency to permit the people of Western
Sahara to exercise their right to self-determination, and this, in
conformity with international law and the relevant resolutions of the
United Nations Security Council." The report emphasises that the AU
remains "preoccupied" by the persistent impasse in which the peace
process finds itself, "which causes more and more frustration to the
people of Western Sahara".
The representative of Senegal, with the support of Gabon and Burkina
Faso, tried to question part of the report. The majority of ministers
(20 to 3) pronounced themselves in favour of supporting the right to
self-determination of the Saharawi people.
[SPS]
30.06.06, Kofi
Annan
The UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, met Driss Jettou, the Moroccan
Prime Minister in Casablanca to discuss the conflict in Western
Sahara.
25.06.06,
Conference
The representative of the Polisario Front in Europe, Mohamed Sidati,
took part beside representatives of Moroccan Marxist-Leninist
movements, Ilal Amam and Ennahj Eddimocrati, the Democratic Way, at a
conference organised by the Union of Young Arab Progressives of
Belgium. For Mr Menebhi, co-founder of Ilal Amam, "the struggle of
the Saharawi and the Moroccan peoples is a joint struggle. It is
directed against the Makhzen regime which continues to thrive", a
regime which constitutes, he said, an "obstacle to the building of a
Maghreb of peoples including the people of SADR".
26.06.06,
United Nations day against torture
The Moroccan branch of Amnesty International emphasised in a press
conference on the occasion of the UN day against torture, having got
the head of the Government "to sign the voluntary protocol to the
convention against torture", which permits NGOs to visit detention
centres. Moroccan human rights NGOs consider from their side, that
the practice of torture in Morocco, "has taken on alarming
proportions in the course of recent months". The Moroccan
organisation for human rights (AMDH) quoted several cases of torture
and death in police stations and gendarmerie stations to "extort
confessions by force". "Several people have died under torture during
these last months, notably Hamdi Lembarki in El Ayoun (Western
Sahara), Larbi Souabni in Mohammadia, Adil Zayati and Abdelghafour
Haddad in Salé (near Rabat)'', this NGO claimed.
22.06.06,
Denial
AMDH President, Abdelhamid Amine, denied the words attributed to him
by MAP, the official Moroccan press agent, about events in
Tindouf. He declares that AMDH denounces all abuses perpetrated
either by the Moroccan side or by the Polisario, and demands the
UNHCR to send a delegation to inquire in an objective fashion on what
happened.
19.06.06,
Refugee Day
"I would like to launch an appeal, particularly to countries and
International fund holders, to increase aid to the Saharawi
refugees". The UNHCR representative in Algeria, Mr Peter Van Der
Vaart, said in an interview with APS.
"The UNHCR has a program of basic aid for the Saharawi refugees
covering several sectors, and amounting to about US$ 2 million
annually, he pointed out, regretting that his body "does not manage
to finance it completely". Concerning food aid, Mr Van der Vaart
revealed that the UNHCR is envisaging putting in place, jointly with
the WFP, from now until the end of the year, "an action plan for a
quality diet, particularly for children and women", in the aim of
preventing problems linked to malnutrition. He added that the UNHCR
is also envisaging giving Saharawi children educational items for the
school year 2006-2007.
Australia
Monday 29 May, Kamal Fadel, the Polisario Front representative to
Australia, spoke at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the
University of Sydney on The Role of the UN in Decolonisation: a
Comparison Between Western Sahara and East Timor.
On Thursday 1
June, in Melbourne the United Nations Association of Australia held a
meeting entitled: "Involving the UN in global justice: the case of
Western Sahara". Sue Humphries, Vice-President of the
Australia-Western Sahara Association presented a paper "Involving the
UN in global justice: the case of Western Sahara". She said:
"Humanity and justice demand that this small people is accorded its
rights.
It's a matter of principle. Its resolution would indicate an
effectively functioning UN, a world order willing to abide by the
rules.
It would be good for the people of Morocco. It would indicate a
change from a brutally repressive regime to humane democracy.
It offers dignity."
For more information see Australian Western Sahara Association website
OBITUARY
François
Beslay (1921-02.06.06)
In November 1943, he took the command of a nomad group from
Chinguetti to Fort Tinquet. He pursues his mission in the zones
covered by the Reguibats, around Rio de Oro and Saguiet el Hamra,
assuring the commandment of the district of Bir Moghrein from 1945 to
1947. In 1956, he joins staff headquarters at Saint-Louis in Senegal
within which he played an essential role during the operation
"Ecouvillon" which allows the attempt to destabilise the Moroccan
borders to be neutralised, from Rio de Oro and from Mauritania by the
Army of Liberation of the South. He is back in Mauritania in 1959
beside President Mokhtar Ould Daddah. He sets up the young
Mauritanian army of which he is the head of staff. He consigns to
paper his experiences over some thirteen years which he shared with
the populations of Mauritania in the work "The Reguibats, French
peace to the Polisario Front", published in 1984 by editions
Harmattan. (according to Soumbala)
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