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WEEKS 35-36 : 27.08.-09.09.2006 |
01-03.09.06, South Africa
Invited by the South African government, a Saharawi delegation
participated in the first senior officials meeting of the New
Asian-African Strategic Partnership (NAASP) in Durban. This meeting
follows the summit which met in 2005 in Indonesia on the occasion of
the 50th anniversary of the Bandung conference. Morocco could not stop
SADR from taking part, despite the support of certain Arab countries
and Senegal. The Saharawi ambassador Oubbi Bouchraya welcomed the
positive neutrality of participating Asian countries and expressed the
gratitude of the Saharawi people to South Africa, Nigeria, Ethiopia,
Kenya as well as to the Southern Africa Development Community, SADC,
for their “brotherly and unconditional” support for the just cause of
the Saharawi people expressed in the course of debates. [SPS]
06.09.06, humanitarian crisis
The UNHCR will dispatch an envoy to negotiate with the Saharawi about
the humanitarian aid going to the refugees near Tindouf which was
massively reduced recently. [see week 31-32/2006]
The Saharawi ambassador in Algeria, Mohamed Yeslem Beyssat, described
as “Machiavellian” the attempt to put pressure on the Saharawis through
this means: “if the aid is cut to the Saharawis, they will go and ask
alms from the King”. He added that “the Saharawis did not come to
Algeria because they were hungry, but because they are a proud people
and ready to eat anything rather than abandon their legitimate
rights...”. He recalled that international law forbids “the use of food
as an arm for political ends and to put pressure on the refugees to
make them accept the autonomy proposal”. [ El Khabar, Algiers, 06.09.06, english]
07.09.06, Ecuador
Hach Achmed, Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of SADR,
presented his credentials to the Ecuadorian Minister for Foreign
Affairs.
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES AND SOUTH MOROCCO
Demonstrations
and arrests continue in El Ayoun, over the night of 25 to 26 August,
and from 30 to 31 August and 8 September, followed by several arrests.
Demonstrations also in Smara on 27 August. In Foum El Oued three
arrests on 27 August. Ali Mohamed Tacloubet was imprisoned in the Black
Prison. Distribution of leaflets and flags in Zak, Boujdour and Tan-Tan
are reported, where brutalities were committed to a family whose house
was ransacked on 26 August.
Exactions imposed against families for their supposed independentist
sympathies. Saharawis going to Mauritania are suspected of espionage
for the Polisario. Thus a family returning from Mauritania was arrested
and mistreated by the police on 30 August. Exchanges through Mauritania
have probably increased following the blockage by Morocco of the
UNHCR-organised family exchange visits.
A shop keeper, El Haiba Mohamed Mahmoud El Mah, known for his political
opinions, was expelled from El Ayoun with his family on 31 August.
Aminatou Haidar’s two children have not obtained a passport to
enable them to join their mother abroad.
In the prisons, both in the occupied territories and in Morocco, new
attempts at assassination of Saharawi activists have taken place, such
as an attack in Kenitra on Salek Laaseri on 24.08.06. In the Black
Prison, El Hafed Toubali
was the victim of an assassination attempt on 30.08.06, the attackers
were the two policemen found guilty of the assassination of Lembarki
Hamdi, the first martyr of the intifada on 30 October 2005. Previously Lehmam Salama Brahim Mouloud, detained in the prison of Inzegan, had been stabbed at the end of June and on the night of 24 to 25 August, Mohamed Salem Mohamed
Yeslem Bahaha, Mohamed Mouloud Gemid Elhaj et Abdeslam Kasem Dida were attacked by fellow common law detainees.
Hunger Strikes
Hunger strikes are multiplying: in Kenitra Laaseri
Salek snd Ameidane Saleh
since 26.07.06, in Tiznit Mahmoud M'Barek Abou El Ghassem, Mohamed
Bouanan and Abdeljalil Moujahid since 29.07.06, in Aït Melloul Loumadi Saaid since 07.08.06.
In the Black Prison 18 political prisoners decided on an unlimited
hunger strike from 4 September. In Inzegan and Ait Melloul 14 political
prisoners fasted on 30.08. and 31.08.06 in solidarity with the other
detainees. 11 have been on an unlimited strike since 7 September, to
denounce the “deplorable and inhumane policy carried out by Morocco
against them”. These people were arrested following their public
declarations in favour of the independence of Western Sahara and the
right of the Saharawi people to self-determination and independence.
[plus]
[ASVDH] [SPS]
The Saharawi former political prisoner Sidi Mohamed Aalouate started a
48-hour hunger strike as a protest at being abducted on 31 August, he
and his brother Hamza. The two Saharawis were tortured by GUS agents
and DST agents who abandoned them outside the town of El Ayoun.[ASVDH]
05.09.06, Trial
Very heavy sentences were handed down in Agadir: Hassan Abdallah
was sentenced to 6 years in prison, he had been arrested on 15 February
2006 in El Ayoun. Labyad Hamdi was sentenced to 3 years in prison, Sid'Ahmed Rgueibi and Moustapha Bakrimi to one year in prison. The three had been arrested in Goulimine on 6 February 2006.
06.09.06, Trial
El Ayoun’s court of appeal postponed to a later date the sentencing of the Saharawi political prisoner, Choubida
Laroussi.
Choubida entered the court room making a victory sign and chanting
slogans for the “immediate withdrawal” of the Moroccan occupation of
Western Sahara and calling for the respect of human rights. Responding
to a question from the judge on his identity, Choubida Laroussi
affirmed "I am Saharawi and I defend the right of my people to
self-determination and independence”. He rejected all the accusations
drawn up against him. He was arrested on 19 March 2006 in Dakhla and
transferred to the Black Prison. [SPS]
Appeals follow one another thick and fast, coming from Saharawi
individuals or associations, condemning the attacks on human rights and
demanding the intervention of the UN and human rights organisations:
the former political prisoner, Bouamoud on 29.08., the Saharawi
Committee for the referendum on 03.09, the Saharawi Association of
Victims of Serious Human Rights Violations committed by the Moroccan
state on 4 September, the Boujdour branch of the same association on 5
September. Added to these is the urgent appeal of the OMCT [français] [espanol]
as well as a statement of the Association of Saharawi Families of
Prisoners and Disappeared (AFAPREDESA) and the Union of Saharawi
Lawyers (UJS).
Pillage of phosphate
The vessel Navios Astra (Bulkcarrier) is currently 28.08.06 in the harbour of Freemantle, Australia, discharging phosphates.
Arrived from El Ayoun approx. 25 August 2006. Agent: Inchcape Shipping Services
The vessel Mary H is about to arrive Port of Napier, New Zealand. Estimated Time of Arrival: Oct 8th, 2006, from El Ayoun, with fertilisers
Agent: SMS. Continuing towards: Lyttleton, NZ, on Oct 9th.
04.09.06,
On the eve of the tour of the personal representative of the UN
Secretary General, Peter Van Walsum to Western Sahara, Morocco and
SADR, the Saharawi ambassador in Algiers, Mohamed Yeslem Beissat,
declared that he saw no purpose in a new mandate for MINURSO beyond 31
October next, if it is not to take the peace process and decolonization
of Western Sahara further.
06.09.06, visit of van Walsum
The Saharawi Prime Minister, Abdelkader Taleb Oumar received Peter Van
Walsum in Chahid ElHafed (the refugee camps). At the end of the
meeting, Mhamed Khaddad, Saharawi coordinator with MINURSO, declared
that the visit of Van Walsum, the second of the kind since his
appointment, comes within the context of consultations of the parties a
few weeks away from the presentation of his interim report to the
Security Council. “We reiterated to him the attachment of the Saharawi
people to their inalienable right to self-determination through a free,
democratic and fair referendum”, and recalled that “any solution beyond
the prescribed framework is doomed to failure”. The human rights abuses
in the occupied territories were also brought up, as well as the
enlargement of MINURSO’s prerogatives, in order to guarantee “the
protection of defenceless Saharawi civilians”, Mhamed Khaddad
specified.
The Algerian authorities apparently refused to receive the personal
representative of Kofi Annan, who went on to visit Mauritania and Spain.
06.09.1991-06.09.2006, 15 years of cease-fire
The chronology of the news 1991 - 1994 (so-called “Reflets” , published by ARSO in hard copy at the time) is now accessible (in French)
<http://www.arso.org/01-arch.htm>.
06.09.06
The Spanish Ambassador with the United Nations, Juan Antonio
Yánez-Barnuevo, in a statement to Europa Press, warned of the
risk of the cease-fire between Morocco and the Polisario Front
breaking, if the search for a solution makes no progress.
08.09.06, Madrid
The UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, carried out a visit to Madrid.
The Sahara issue is on the agenda of discussions between the UN
diplomat and the head of the Spanish government, Zapatero.
04.08.06
In order to prevent infiltration by fundamentalist elements, the King
of Morocco decided to abolish compulsory military service. This
decision was confirmed by the government on 31.08.06. A relationship
with the discovery of a plot implicating the military (see week 33/34)?
01.09.06, nuclear
The Russian nuclear giant, Atomstroiexport is allegedly a candidate for
the construction of the first Moroccan nuclear reactor for the
production of energy. A Moroccan delegation met, on 30 August 2006 in
Moscow, representatives of the Russian Federation’s agency for nuclear
energy and those of three companies operating in this field:
Atomstroiexport, TVEL and Rosenergoatom. The construction of the
Moroccan reactor would be due to begin in 2016 or 2017.
04-05.09.06, visit of P. van Walsum
The Moroccan Prime Minister, Driss Jettou received in Rabat the
personal representative of the UN Secretary General for the Sahara,
Peter van Walsum. "We discussed the question of the Sahara in detail”,
he declared to the press after the meeting. The President of the Royal
Consultative Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS), Khalihenna Ould
Errachid, as well as leaders of the political parties had talks with
van Walsum the next day.
06-07.09.06, Russian official visit
The Russian President Putin went to Morocco for the first time “at the
invitation of the King of Morocco”. The official spokesman of the
Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs made it clear that Russia had
pronounced itself in favour of “an acceptable political solution, under
the aegis of the United Nations on the question of the Sahara”.
According the news agency Novosti, several businessmen accompanied
Vladimir Putin. Andreï Maslov, from the news company Af-Ro,
declared that “Morocco could also offer to Gazprom to invest in its oil
fields in Western Sahara, however, these investments would be very
risky, given that the status of this region has not been settled yet”.
Several agreements of bilateral cooperation were concluded on the
occasion of the visit, the most important being “the joint Declaration
on the strategic partnership between the Kingdom of Morocco and the
Russian Federation”.
Postponements
The meeting of the President of the Spanish government, José
Luis Rodríguez Zapatero with the King of Morocco, first due at
the beginning of September and postponed until 14 September has been
postponed again to the end of September for reasons connected to the
King’s diary, according to official sources. The coordination of
Spanish solidarity associations is collecting signatures for an open
letter to Zapatero, asking him to commit in favour of the respect of
international law.
28.08.06, Santander
Demonstration outside the Palacio de la Magdalena, where a session of
the university summer school, UIMP, was taking place devoted to 50
years of Spanish-Moroccan cooperation, in the presence of the Spanish
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Miguel Ángel Moratinos and the
president of the European parliament Josep Borrel. The demonstrators’
placards express their concern about the human rights violations by
Morocco in Western Sahara and call for the implementation of the
referendum. Fearing to face up to this peaceful contestation, the VIPs
entered by a back door.
29.08.06, Venezuela
A Venezuelan association of solidarity with the Saharawi people was
born in Caracas, in the course of a meeting in the seat of the Latin
American parliament. It is made up of students, university professors,
members of parliament and representatives of civil society. The
association called for both governmental and non-governmental
international organisations to intervene “with the utmost urgency” to
protect Saharawi civilians in the occupied territories of Western
Sahara against the “ferocious repression” of the Moroccan forces of
occupation. SPS
01-03.09.06, Portugal
The Saharawi Minister for Cooperation, Salek Baba and the Polisario
Front representative in Portugal, Mohamed Lamine Abdelahe, took part in
the annual "festa do avante !" of the Portuguese Communist party in
Lisbon, where a stand presented Saharawi culture.
02.09.06, Bilbao
Several hundred people took part in a demonstration in favour of
self-determination in Western Sahara called by the Coordinadora 27 de
Febrero Euskadi-Sahara.
04-12.09.06, Lleida
Exposición de los pintores saharauis Fadel Jalifa y Mohamed
Moulud, dentro del marco de La Feria de Sant Bartomeu d'Artesa de Segre
en Lleida. El 4 de septiembre se inagurará la exposición
de ambos pintores en el Centro Cultural y de Congresos Lauredià
de Andorra, organizada por la Asociación de Amigos Solidarios
con el Pueblo Saharaui del Principado de Andorra.
09.09.06, Cadiz
La Asociación Amal-Esperanza (Cádiz) organiza una cena
espectaculo para recaudar fondos para la campaña «
Caravana por la Paz 2007 ». La cena, organizada con la
colaboración de la Peña « EL NITRI », se
celebrará el día 9 de septiembre en el local de la
Peña en la calle Diego Niño. En el espectáculo
contamos al cante con Paco Bonilla, al toque con Joaquin Albert, y
tendrá lugar la presentación de la cantaora Sofia
Sanchez. Infos : http://www.amalesperanza.org/
11-16.09.06, XIVe sommet des pays non alignés à La Havane.
12.09.06, Madrid: Presentación del documental "vidas en pausa" 12:00 horas
mesa redonda 12:25 horas, Forum de fnac Callao Madrid
Infos : ymoya@cje.org
14.09.06, Washington, D.C.
Reception honoring Aminatou Haidar, Sahrawi Human Rights Activist,
Former Disappeared and Survivor of Morocco's “Black Prison” on
Thursday, September 14, 2006, 6-8 pm , B-354 Rayburn House Office
Building, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.
Org. : U.S.-Western Sahara Foundation (a project of the Defense Forum Foundation)
RSVP (acceptances only) by email to skswm[at]aol.com;
ph: 703-534-4313 or fax:703-538-6149.
19.09.06, Alger
A l'occasion de la célébration du 48e anniversaire de la
création du Gouvernement provisoire de la République
algérienne (GPRA), une rencontre de soutien à la RASD et
à la résistance civile dans les territoires
occupés du Sahara occidental" sera organisée par le
Comité algérien de soutien au peuple sahraoui. Au cours
du ramadhan prochain, une caravane humanitaire de solidarité
avec le peuple sahraoui est prévue. Le CNASPS comprend l'ONM,
l'Organisation nationale des moudjahidine, l'Organisation nationale des
enfants de chouhadas (martyrs) et les scouts musulmans
algériens. [SPS]
23.09.06, expedición de voluntarios de la Organización
Juvenil Española con destino a los campamentos de refugiados
saharauis de Tinduf. Su objetivo es llevar 7.000 juguetes y 7 ludotecas
a los niños y niñas exiliados en la hamada. Más
información en el blog y en la web de la Fundación "Crecer Jugando"
04-05.10.06, New York, audition de pétitionnaires sur la question du Sahara Occidental lors de la réunion de la quatrième commission de l'ONU.
Docs
Archives ARSO
Website
Images
NEW
PUBLICATIONS
[External
links to newspapers may not be valid after some days because the
servers are restarted]
Sahara, 17/2006
Rivista internazionale di preistoria e storia del Sahara -
International review of prehistory and history of the Sahara - Revue
internationale de préhistoire et histoire du Sahara, Segrate,
Italia.
abstracts - résumés
Français
>> Revue de la presse internationale francophone http://fr.groups.yahoo.com/group/revue-de-presse-sahara-occidental/messages
English
>> English publications on Sahara Update mailinglist: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sahara-update/messages
Castellano
>> Revista de la prensa en español http://es.groups.yahoo.com/group/revista-de-prensa-sahara-occidental/messages
Deutsch
- Sahara Info Nr. 99, August 2006, Bulletin des SUKS, Bern.
- IT-Net Austria errichtet elektronisches Nationalarchiv. Entwicklungsprojekt in der Westsahara - Österreichisches Netzwerk liefert Lösung, Pressetext Austria, 29.08.06.
Italiano
Attualità in italiano: El Ouali Bologna + Radio for Peace
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