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WEEKS 43 - 44 : 22.10. - 04.11.2006 |
20.10.06
In a letter to the European Commission and Council of Ministers,
Mohamed Sidati, Minister Counsellor to the Saharawi Presidency, noted
that certain clauses in the association agreement between Morocco and
the EU conflict with the attitude shown by Morocco in the occupied
territories of Western Sahara. [SPS]
20.10.06, Kenya
The Kenyan government announced a «temporary freeze » in
its diplomatic relations with the SADR, on the basis that the SADR
should accept the services of a mediator to help resolve the conflict.
Kenya recognised the SADR on 25.06.05. [agencies]
22.10.06, Portugal
Portuguese socialist MEP Ana Gomes declared herself “disgusted and
sickened” by her countries’ abstention in the vote of the UN 4th
commission on decolonisation. [La Nouvelle République] [em português]
31.10.06, Maurice
The new Saharawi ambassador to the island of Mauritius, Mohamed
Habiballah, was received by the Mauritian president Sir Anerood
Jugnauth, to whom he presented his credentials.
Archaeology
A team of basque archaeologists, led by Professor Andoni
Sáenz de Buruaga, undertook their third research visit in the
liberated zones of Zemmour and Tiris. The team, joined by Saharawi
specialists, recently communicated the results of their work. Around
100 sites were discovered, notably tombs dating from the 6th to the 4th
millenium BC, as well as many other finds. [Diario Vasco, 24.10.06]
OCCUPIED
TERRITORIES AND SOUTH MOROCCO
19-22.10.06
Mohamed Tahlil ,
president of the Boujdour branch of the Saharawi Association of Victims
of Serious Violations of Human Rights (ASVDH), arrested on the 19th in
Boujdour, was tortured before being transferred to the police
commissariat in El Ayoun. The former Saharawi political prisoner was
not released until the 22nd. The Association of Christians for
the Abolition of Torture declared itself very concerned by the ill
treatment suffered by Tahlil. It demanded that the Moroccan
authorities hold an impartial inquiry into the treatment of which
Tahlil was a victim. [30.10.06, ACAT-France]
23.10.06, Amnesty International
Global appeal for Brahim Sabbar and Ahmed Sbai, who are awaiting a
second trial for forming an unauthorised association, and incitement to
violence against the Moroccan authorities. [Worldwide Appeal, Morocco/Western Sahara: Prison sentence for human rights defender] [Amnesty international UDSA, Online Action Center, Release Western Saharan Human Rights Defender Brahim Sabbar]
23.10.06, Testimony of a Spanish delegation
Two political leaders, one journalist and a leader of the Galician
Association for Solidarity with the Saharawi people spent 24 hours in
El Ayoun as tourists. They took in the situation prevailing in the town
and were able to meet with Saharawi activists. They underwent numerous
police checks and searches, particularly on leaving.
[María
Villar, la periodista que viajó a los Territorios Ocupados del
Sahara Occidental junto con tres compañeros más el
dia 23 de octubre, nos cuenta la experiencia de esta comisión
gallega que se reunió con 15 activistas saharauis] [24 horas no Aaiún, La opinión de Coruña, 29-X-2006]
24.10.06, undesirables
Two Norwegian journalists, Anne Torhild Nilson and Radmund Steinsvag,
on arrival in El Ayoun, were prevented from entering the territory and
forced to return by plane to the Canaries. [Press Release Reporters without Borders, 25.10.06]
The two journalists had already been arrested in a previous visit in April 2005. [-> read again]
Human rights
The publication of the report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
and the first anniversary of the death of Hamdi Lembarki provoked a
fresh upsurge of demonstrations in the territory, leading the Moroccan
authorities to react. The Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa,
ministerial delegate Fouad Ali Al Himma and the Director General of
National Security Cherki Draiss went to El-Ayoun on the 17th October to
meet the leaders of the army and the various police forces. The boss of
the DGED, Yassine Mansouri, was also there.
The repression seems to be principally directed against young people,
of which a great number have been arrested, stripped and beaten,
violated with various instruments, forced to swallow diverse
substances, subjected to injections with unknown products and to
diverse forms of torture, threatened with being buried alive or burnt,
forced to watch videos of people being tortured to death, etc. In
all cases, they are advised to quit the territory for Spain or the
refugee camps.
Promoting illegal immigration to Spain allows Morocco to rid itself of
the rebellious Saharawi youth. It is also a means of pressurising
Spain and the European Union. Finally, it is an important source
of revenue for the various police bodies who, in turning a blind eye to
the boats leaving the coast of Western Sahara, share the resulting
profits with the mafia bosses. Saharawi human rights defenders estimate
that since summer 2005, c500 young Saharawis have left the
territory. Recently a boat with 32 Saharawis on board, flying
Saharawi flags, was rescued near Lanzarote, and 24 young people lost
their lives after embarking on the 8th October.
[Communiqué from CODESA 24.10.06]
25.10.06, Appeal
The ASVDH asked in a statement that the mandate of MINURSO be broadened
to included the respect of human rights in the territory. [communiqué ASVDH on SPS 25.10.06]
29.10.06, Retaliation
The sports club of the family of the Saharawi athlete Salah Hmatou in
El Ayoun was exclded from the Moroccan national trials. Salah Hmatou
had expressed himself in favour of self-determination and independence
for the Saharawi people in an interview with “Cahiers du Sahara”.
Hmatou lives in France and came second in the 10000 metres in the
French national championships on 22nd October 2006. [SPS] [--> arabe]
30-31.10.06, El-Ayoun
During a ceremony on the anniversary of the death of Lembarki, 80
people were apprehended by the police in the cemetery. Students
from the Hassan 1st secondary school demonstrated in black clothers:
seven young women and twenty-odd young men were taken away.
Pamphlets were distributed in the Dcheira quarter, where Lembarki died,
as well as in various schools. Similar demonstrations are reported in
Smara and Tan Tan, even though the forces of order had massively
increased their presence in order to prevent any gatherings.
01.11.06, Disappearances
The families of 15 young Saharawis disappeared since 26th December 2005
launched a new appeal to the authorities. They believe that the
young people were taken by police forces because of their participation
in pro-independence demonstrations, while the authorities say that they
have drowned. [more]
01.11.06, Violations of human rights
In a statement, the president of the human rights commission of CORCAS,
the Royal Consultative Council for Saharan Affairs (a body created by
the Moroccan regime), denounced the “catastrophic situation” of human
rights in the territory and confirmed the report of the UN OHCHR.
He demanded that the president of CORCAS organise an extraordinary
general assembly urgently to examine the situation. [Europa Press, 01.11.06]
01.11.06, Intimidation
UPES, the Union of Saharawi Journalists and Writers, denounced the
campaign of intimidation, defamation and threats of physical violence
against the Saharawi journalist Abd-Eddaiem Mustafa, of the Moroccan
daily Al-Ahdath Al-Maghribiya. He is known for his support for the
respect of the Saharawi people’s rights. He launched a 48 hour hunger
strike on the 24th October in Zak (southern Morocco), in protest
against the attitude of the Moroccan authorities.
[Press Release]
02.11.06, Freedom of movement
More than thirty Norwegian NGOs have signed an open letter to the
Moroccan government demanding that it restore the passport of Mohamed
Daddach. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Rafto
Prize for Human Rights, the 3rd and 4th November, the Rafto Foundation
invited all its laureates to Bergen. The laureate of 2002, Sidi
Mohamed Daddach, had seen his passport confiscated by the Moroccan
authorities in March 2003 and was not able to obtain it (and therefore
to attend the ceremony), despite numberous appeals and the intervention
of the Norwegian government. [Open letter] [M. Daddach in Wikipedia]
Phosphates
Name of the vessel: Sea Maple,
Arrives port of Lyttleton on 15th of November 2006, Continuing towards
Napier on 16th. Agent: CMR Shipping Ltd. Carrying: "Fertilizers".
Vessel has probably IMO number 9176670. Flag: Panama. It passed through
Strait of Gibraltar Oct 8th on its way to Laayoune.
24.10.06, Debate in the British Parliament
During a debate on Western Sahara in Westminster Hall, the Foreign
Office Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Kim Howells MP,
declared that the UN supported the efforts of the United Nations to
achieve “a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution
that will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western
Sahara”. [parliament publication]
27-28.10.06, The Hague, conference “International Law and the Question of Western Sahara”, Institute of Social Studies
For two days, over 30 specialists from several countries (historians,
journalists, specialists in economics, international law and political
studies as well as politicians) discussed the application of
international law to diverse aspects of the Western Sahara
question. The conference was organised jointly with the “Platform
of Jurists for East Timor” and the Insitute of Social Studies in the
Hague.
31.10.06, Spain-Algeria
During a press conference at the end of his visit to Spain, the
Algerian Foreign Minister, M. Bedjaoui, clearly expressed his support
for a referendum of self-determination in Western Sahara. Today,
in contemporary international law, it is the people who determine the
fate of the territory” he underlined. He recalled that Spain,
since August 1974, had proposed the referendum of self-determination in
Western Sahara. On the subject of the Moroccan plan for autonomy,
he said that “for now, this plan is a mirage”.
31.10.06, Security Council resolution S/1720 (2006)
The Council unanimously adopted a resolution that reaffirmed its
willingness to help the parties to achieve a political solution that
was just, lasting and mutually acceptable that will provide for the
self-determination of the people of Western Sahara. It again
asked the parties and states in the region to cooperate with the UN to
put an end to the current impasse and prolonged the mandate of MINURSO
for six months. An extension of the mandate to include the
protection of human rights in the occupied territories, as proposed by
the Secretary General, was not included, because of the opposition of
France. [UN press release]
Following the vote, the US representative William Brencick explained
that he had supported this text in the belief that the parties would
use the next six months to actively negotiate an acceptable
solution. He exhorted Morocco to present an autonomy proposal
that was comprehensive and credible, and suggested the holding of
direct talks, without a prior agenda, with the representatives of the
Saharawi people, i.e. the Polisario Front. He underlined that
MINURSO is not an alternative to a permanent solution. He invited
the Secretary General to determine the mechanisms and calendar for the
dismantling of MINURSO, if it proved unable to fulfil its mandate or if
the parties proved themselves incapable of progressing towards a
political solution. The US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, has
already said in an interview that he was in favour of reducing the
number of peacekeeping missions.
The UK representative Karen Pierce expressed the hope that the next six
months would see progress in the direction of the free
self-determination of the people of Western Sahara. She also said that
Britain wants human rights in the region to be monitored as a result of
reported violations.[more]
Polisario Front
The Polisario Front representative to the UN, Ahmed Boukhari, said that
the PF saluted the fact that the Council had renewed its engagement in
favour of the right of the people of Western Sahara to
self-determination. But he regretted that, following the
opposition of France, the problem of human rights in the territory had
not been taken up.
[SPS] [arabic]
03.11.06, Confidence-building measures
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees announced that the family visits
between Smara refugee camp and the occupied territories (currently
Dakhla and El Ayoun) will recommence. [English press release]
20.10.06, Spain
The Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECI) increased by
500,000 euros its contribution to the WFP. The total sum for 2006 is
thus over 1.5m euros, a net increase relative to 2005. Bilateral aid
has also increased, reaching 1m euros. AECI signed a three year
contract with the NGO Peace in the Third World (Paz y Tercer Mundo) for
a sum of 2.4m euros to put into action a food security strategy.. [afrol News]
26.10.06, WFP
The WFP director for Algeria, Marius de Gaay Fortman, launched an
appeal to donors for the Saharawi refugees. He reported that
following the appeal of last March, the WFP had received only $28.5m
while it was waiting for a further $43m. The European Commission had
given $10.4m, Spain $5m, Switzerland $2.2m, followed by USA and
Canada. [agencies]
30.10.06, Distinction
Recognising his humanitarian work for refugees, notably the Saharawi
population, Ali Bouguedour, a senior official of the Algerian Red
Crescent, was given the high distinction of the Cavalier of the Order
of the Star of Solidarity by the Italian President.
[La Tribune, 30.10.06]
26.10.06, Naples
Aminatou Haidar was made an honorary citizen of the city of Naples as a
sign of gratitude for her struggle for the respect of human rights in
Western Sahara.
[iFatti, 26.10.06]
28.10.06, Caravan
A solidarity caravan left the port of La Spezia, taking food and material aid to the Saharawi refugee camps.
03-05.11.06, EUCOCO
During a press conference prior to EUCOCO, the Saharawi President,
Mohamed Abdelaziz, insisted that “Spain assume its responsibility for
the decolonisation of Western Sahara”. The 32nd European Conference for
Coordination of Support for the Saharawi People (EUCOCO) opened in
Vitoria (capital of the Basque country), with c600 participants,
including many delegations and people of international renown. The
Saharawi president, the president of the Basque autonomous government,
Juan José Ibarretxe, and the authorities of Vitoria participated
in the opening ceremony. [SPS ] [Sahara-Info]
Nouveau site
VIDEO
Mise au point de la Revista Futuro Saharaui, 23.10.06.
Aclaración desde la Revista Futuro Saharaui, 23.10.06.
ANALYSIS: Morocco - Maghreb
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