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WEEKS 15 - 16 : 08.04. - 21.04.2007 |
02-05.04.07, African Union
A Saharawi delegation took part, in Tunis, in a regional consultation
on the African Union’s Protocol relating to women’s rights in Africa. [SPS]
10.04.07
Aichatou Ramdane, wife of Ali Salem Tamek, presented to Saharawi war
and mine victims, the solidarity prize "Juan Antonio Gonzalez
Caraballo", awarded in 2005 to her husband. [SPS]
08-14.04I.07, 14th congress of the International Democratic Federation of Women (FDIM), Caracas
In his speech, president Hugo Chavez exhorted all countries to
recognise the Saharawi Republic. A delegation of the National Union of
Saharawi Women took part in the proceedings. During the final session a
motion of solidarity with the Saharawi people in their struggle for
their legitimate rights to freedom and independence was adopted. The
FDIM is one of the largest international women’s organisations in the
world. [SPS]
17.04.07, anti-personnel mines
The Western Sahara official of the British NGO Landmine Action, Zlatko
Gegic, presided in Tifariti over a ceremony promoting 15 specialists in
de-mining. The President of the Saharawi Republic, Mohamed Abdelaziz,
the Minister of Defence, Mohamed Lemine Bouhali, the deputy Director of
the United Nations Service for Action against Landmines, Patrick Tillet
and the Commander of MINURSO, Kurt Mosgaard, attended the ceremony. [SPS]
17.04.07
The President of the Saharawi Republic sent another letter to the UN
Secretary General to ask him to protect Saharawi civilians in the
occupied territories of Western Sahara. [full text SPS]
OCCUPIED
TERRITORIES AND SOUTH MOROCCO
Repression has not stopped and arbitrary arrests continue.
Mohamed Salem Boussoula, 1989, was taken on 28 March out of El Ayoun,
undressed, beaten and humiliated. Boussoula was interrogated about
participants in the intifada. He was threatened with being
charged with dealing in drugs and illegal immigration before
being abandoned there. Some days later Seif Eddine Ould Omar Saman,
1991, a pupil in the second preparatory year, was taken to a police
station, beaten and interrogated on who writes independence graffitis
and hands out SADR flags. The interrogation was accompanied by threats
of sexual abuse and torture. Saman was released the same day.
[ASVDH]
On 18 April, six young Saharawis, mostly minors, were arrested
following demonstrations, some had been questioned several times
before. Still in El Ayoun, school children Oum Loukhout Mohamed El Abd
and Ahl Elmehdi Mohamed were arrested and beaten for having taken part
in the welcoming of a family coming from the refugee camps within the
program of UNHCR exchanges.[SPS]
Departures by boat from Western Sahara to destinations in the Canary
Islands have begun again. 17 illegal immigrants arrived on 9 April on
Gran Canaria, 13 of them were stated to be Saharawis. [agencies]
09.04.07, El-Ayoun
Mothers of the 15 Saharawis, disappeared while attempting to emigrate
towards the Canary Islands in December 2005 gathered outside the wilaya
of El Ayoun to demand clarification on the fate of their children, whom
they suppose to be imprisoned. On 12 April the police force brutally
attacked the gathering, injuring several people, who continued the
sit-in. [SPS] [more]
11.04.07, El-Ayoun
The Saharawi human rights defender, Ali Salem Tamek returned without
any problems to El Ayoun. On the other hand, people coming to welcome
him were prevented from entering the airport by various police forces. [Collective of Saharawi human rights defenders CODESA]
17.04.07, El-Ayoun – trial
Saharawi political detainees, El-Wali Amidane and Bachri Ben Taleb were sentenced to five years in prison. Yahdih Ettarouzi to a year and a half. The court postponed the appeal hearing of six other Saharawi political detainees until 15 May 2007. [more about the trial in a CODESA Report]
17.04.07, El-Ayoun
Mohamed Tahlil, former
political prisoner and president of the committee of the Boujdour
branch of ASVDH (Saharawi Association of victims of serious human
rights abuses by the Moroccan state) was arrested at the gate of El
Ayoun, where he wanted to attend the trial. Taken to an unknown spot,
he was tortured for several hours. In the evening he was expelled from
the town and prohibited from returning to El Ayoun.
Tahlil was arrested in August 2005, sentenced to 3 years in prison and
released on 22 April 2006. On 30 April 2006 he was again arrested,
tortured and abandoned in the desert 50 km from
Boujdour. On 11 August 2006, the Moroccan authorities refused him a
passport. On 11 October 2006 he was arrested at the Mauritanian border
when returning from Nouadhibou, then arrested a second time 40 km from
Dakhla, insulted and beaten.
20.04.07, Fez and Agadir
A gathering of Saharawi students in Fez, protesting against the
military occupation of Western Sahara, was violently dispersed by the
police. Similar incidents are reported in the University of Agadir.
11.04.07, phosphates
A ship named Celerina from the Swiss company Oceana Shipping arrived on
11 April 2007 at Grand View Anchorage, in Louisiana, bringing phosphate
from Western Sahara.
13.04.07, Oil
An oil exploration agreement signed by the Irish company Island Oil and
Gas with Morocco is illegal, being contrary to international law,
declared Sidi Mohamed Omar, Polisario Front representative for the
United Kingdom and Ireland on Irish radio News Talk 106. A Labour
member of the Irish parliament, Michael Higgins, who was taking part in
the program, called on the Irish government to “take any measures
necessary to prevent Irish companies becoming involved (in projects) in
occupied Western Sahara”. [SPS]
23.04.07, phosphates
A ship named Tigris arrives in the port of Lyttleton on 23 April and on
26 April in Napier, transporting phosphate sourced in Western Sahara.
06.04.07, France
The Foreign ministry spokesman described the Moroccan autonomy proposal
as “a constructive step” and “the possible basis for taking up
negotiations again” capable of “leading to an agreed political solution
by all the parties within the framework of the United Nations”.
[point de presse MAE]
08.04.07, Spain
The secretary of International Relations of the PSOE, Elena Valenciano,
declared in an interview that the PSOE will shortly be organising a
delegation led by the secretary to the Social Movements, Pedro Zerolo,
with the aim of discussing with Polisario leaders how an agreement with
Morocco could be reached. The Polisario Front has warned that it will
not receive the delegation unless it is to discuss cooperation or
self-determination. [Europa Press]
Spain
During talks with the Madrid daily, ABC (09.04.07), the Saharawi
Prime Minister, Abdelkader Taleb Omar declared himself disappointed
with the position of the Spanish government, aligned with Morocco,
while the parliament and the majority of the population are of a
completely different opinion. “We cannot accept the sale of Spanish
arms to Morocco nor the alignment with Moroccan positions”, he
underlined, adding that “Spain had a moral and historic debt with our
people”.
While the Moroccan government welcomes the “positive and encouraging”
position of the Spanish government, the latter has aroused many
reactions within Spain.
Several demonstrations of protest against the policy of the government
have taken place from 12-14 April, in Barcelona, Madrid, Santander,
Valencia, Cádiz, Jaén, Seville and Málaga. In this
last town, about a hundred people shut themselves for eight hours in
the town hall.
The Spanish Associations of solidarity with the Saharawi people
organise again in Madrid on 21 April a protest march to the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and the Associations of Saharawis in Spain are
gathering to protest outside the headquarters of the PSOE. [Declaracion 21.04.07] [Manifiesto, 21.04.07]
The president of
the Spanish Government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero,
PSOE, during an electoral meeting in Tenerife on 14 April, called the
Saharawi territorial waters “Moroccan”. The vice-president of the
Association of Friendship with the Saharawi people of the Canaries,
Alberto Negrin, protested claiming they are Saharawi. This declaration
cost him expulsion, several hours of interrogation in the police
station and a penal action. One would have believed onself to be in
Morocco.
Izquierda Unida, which is part of the government coalition, denounced
the “inacceptable submission” of the Spanish government to the Moroccan
position, which “weakens the defence of the right to self-determination
of the Saharawi people”.
The opposition of the right seeks also to draw profit from the change
in position of the government. The spokesman of the Parti populaire in
the parliament, Gustavo de Arístegui, declared on 12 April that
Morocco and the Polisario Front defend extreme positions and that it
was necessary to abandon them in favour of a viable, fair and
negotiated solution, under the auspices of the UN and acceptable to the
two parties.
In the Senate, the former minister Josef Piqué, Popular Party,
lodged a proposition which asks the government to clarify its position
on the question of Western Sahara. It was accepted on 17 April
unanimously (that is with the votes of the PSOE). It “points out to the
government that the solution to the conflict in Western Sahara must
involve recognition by both parties, of the right to self-determination
of the Saharawi people”. The representative of the Polisario Front in
Spain, Brahim Ghali, welcomed the adoption of this motion, a month
after that of a similar motion in the parliament. [Europa Press]
10.04.07, UN - Peace plan
The Polisario Front handed the UN Secretary General a plan for solving
the conflict which is “flexible and constructive”, in accord with “the
resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council of the
United Nations, and which calls all to the exercise by the Saharawis of
their right to a vote on their self-determination by a free and
legitimate referendum”. According to the Polisario Front
representative, Ahmed Boukhari, this plan is “open to cooperation and
to a good neighbour relationship with the Kingdom of Morocco and all
the countries of the region” and proposes a “special relationship” with
Morocco in the field of economy, commerce and security. [full text] [arabic]
10.04.07, USA - Morocco
The American under-secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Burns,
received a Moroccan delegation and declared that the autonomy proposal
was "a serious and credible proposal to provide real autonomy for the
Western Sahara." [statement] Read also an analysis of the US politics published in UPI Outside View : Elliot Abrams' Maghreb plot, By Clayton E. Swisher, April 13, 2007.
11.04.07, Morocco -UN
Morocco finally handed the UN Secretary General the “Moroccan initiative for negotiating an autonomy statute for the Sahara”.
[full text]
12.04.07, MINURSO
The Moroccan minister for the Interior, Chakib Benmoussa, received in
Rabat Julian Harston, the special representative of the UN Secretary
General for Western Sahara in the context of a tour of the region.
Harston had met the day before the minister delegate for Foreign
Affairs, Taïeb Fassi Fihri.
12-13.04.2007, diplomacy
The Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohammed Bedjaoui, is in
Moscow to discuss bilateral relations and the situation in Western
Sahara. [Itar-Tass]
13.04.07, petition
A delegation from the European Coordination of support for the Saharawi
People was handed to the UN representative in Brussels, an appeal to
the United Nations Secretary General carrying 9,000 signatures,
exhorting him to respect the right of the Saharawi people to
self-determination. [Communiqué]
13.04.07, UN Secretary General’s report S/2007/202
Ban Ki-moon notes the Moroccan and Saharawi proposals and recommends
the two parties to “engage in negotiations without prior conditions, in
order to reach a just and mutually acceptable solution, which would
allow the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.” He
recommends to bring in the neighbouring countries, Algeria and
Mauritania. The Secretary General cites the attacks on the right to
freedom of expression, of association and assembly as well as the
unfair trials, and affirms that the High Commission for human rights
continues to follow the situation. “Even though MINURSO has neither the
mandate nor the resources to take on this question, the UN is resolved
that international norms in the matter of human rights should be
respected”. He proposes the extension of the mandate of MINURSO of six
months.
14.04.07, reactions
In a written statement, Mhamed Khaddad declared himself “satisfied”
with the report, “which constitutes new proof of the attachment of the
United Nations to international law through the reaffirmation of the
right to the Saharawi people to self-determination”. Khaddad pointed
out “the particular attention paid [in the report] to the violations of
human rights by the Moroccan forces of occupation” in Western Sahara.
The president of the Saharawi Republic, Mohamed Abdelaziz, speaking on
Algerian national radio, described the report as “normal and balanced”.[SPS]
Algeria welcomes with satisfaction the report of the UN Secretary
General Mr. Ban Ki-moon, and welcomes the fact that the Secretary
General reiterates the proposal of negotiations under the auspices of
the UN, between the two parties to the conflict, in order to reach a
political solution ensuring the right of the Saharawi people to
self-determination, stated the spokesman for the Algerian Ministry for
Foreign Affairs.[APS, 17.04.07]
Morocco for its part made it known that the report of the High
Commission for human rights, quoted by Ban Ki-Moon, is “incomplete” and
“does not reflect the reality of the situation in the southern regions
and the development of the country in a general way in relation to the
matter [of human rights].”
14.04.07, Slovakia
Miroslav Lajcak, director general of political affairs in the Slovakian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had talks in Bratislava with the Saharawi
coordinator with MINURSO, Mhamed Khaddad. According to SPS, Lajcak
declared that his country, a current member of the Security Council,
“supports a solution within the framework of the United Nations
accepted by the parties and which respects the free choice of the
people of Western Sahara”. [SPS]
16.04.07, Italy
The Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Massimo D'Alema, affirmed
during a press conference in Algiers, that Italy remains attached to
its traditional position concerning the question of Western Sahara and
continues to uphold the solution of the self-determination of the
people of Western Sahara. [SPS]
17.04.07, "Lines in the Sand"
The intergroup of the European Parliament, Peace for the Saharawi
People, in collaboration with the Swedish Olof Palme Institute
organised a conference in the European Parliament in Brussels. Jaume
Saura Estapa, professor of international law in the University of
Barcelona, Cecilia Malmström, Swedish Minister for European
Affairs, Ana Gomes, Portuguese MEP and Régine Villemont,
secretary general of AARASD, spoke on the exploitation of natural
resources in Western Sahara. Mrs Malmström emphasised that the
EU-Moroccan fishing agreement is illegal in the eyes of Sweden. She
confirmed the commitment of the new Swedish government to the “right of
the Saharawi people to self-determination in accordance with the
resolutions of the UN”. The former Saharawi disappeared, Djimi
el-Ghalia, vice-president of de ASVDH [texte complet],
Ali Lmrabet, a Moroccan journalist and Lars Björk, a Swedish
journalist testified to the attacks on human rights in Western Sahara. [Compte-rendu détaillé Représentation du Front POLISARIO en Europe, 18.14.07]
19.04.07, EU
“The presidency of the European Union welcomes the fact that Morocco
and the Polisario Front have submitted to the UN new proposals with a
view to eventual settlement of the conflict in Western Sahara. The
European Union supports all the efforts deployed by the UN to reach, on
the basis of relevant resolutions of the Security Council, a peaceful,
consensual solution to this conflict.” [statement]
20.04.07, Security Council
At the end of consultations of the Security Council on the question of
Western Sahara, the Saharawi representative at the UN, Ahmed Boukhari,
in a written statement, expressed the satisfaction of the Polisario
Front, the majority of the members of the Council having underlined the
importance of the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination
and expressed their concerns on the subject of human rights abuses in
the territories occupied by Morocco. The majority of the Council
pronounced themselves in favour of direct negotiations between the two
parties. [SPS]
06.04.07
The King created, within the Ministry of the Interior, a particular
cell responsible for the promotion of the autonomy proposal. It is
formed by three Saharawis elevated to the rank of walis, Mohamed Ali El
Admi [Omar Hadrami, former leader in the Polisario Front, former
governor of the province of Settat], Mohamed Rachid Douihi and Khalil
Dkhil, two former members of PUNS, the party set up in the 70s by Spain
to oppose the Polisario Front. [see a comment in Bakchich.info, translated by Western Sahara Info and with more info]
09.04.07
China has designated Morocco among the nine priority countries for
setting up Chinese businesses, principally in the oil and gas sectors,
to which financial advantages will be accorded.
09-30.04.07
An American delegation arrived in Tan Tan to organise joint military
exercises planned in the region, "African Lion 07", in which 2,000
Moroccan soldiers and 300 American military will be involved. It is the
third time since 2005 that such exercises have taken place in the
region. [Diario de Lanzarote]
10.04.07
Dassault Aviation will sell 18 Rafale combat planes to Morocco.
09.04.07, gardens
A representative of UNICEF in Algiers, Raymond Janssens, considers that
the situation of the Saharawi refugees in the camps “is precarious and
dramatic but not catastrophic”. To face up to this situation, UNICEF
has initiated since 2005 a program to develop family vegetable gardens.
An annual budget of 250 000 euros has been released in addition to 250
000 supplementary euros made available by the European Union. UNICEF
has drawn up a five-year program (2007-2011) costing 10 million dollars
which will be spread across the sectors of health, education and
protection of the rights of children and women.
[RASD-L’UNICEF s’inquiète du sort des réfugiés sahraouis, De notre envoyée spéciale Fatiha Arab, Le Courrier d'Algérie, 09.04.07, p. 24]
More information on the program of family gardens in the camps with photos:
19.04.07, EU
The WFP welcomes the contribution of 1 million euros granted by ECHO,
the department of humanitarian aid of the European Union, towards the
Saharawi refugees in Algeria. [Reliefweb]
Février 2007, Norvège
For
first time representatives of the Norwegian authorities visited the
refugee camps in Algeria. The delegation was accompanied by delegates
ofNorwegian Church Aid. [en français] [Report in norwegian]
05.04.07, Province de Florence
Le Conseil provincial a approuvé à l'unanimité une
motion demandant au président du gouvernement provincial et au
président du Conseil provincial d'écrire au ministre des
Affaires étrangères D'Alema et au Secrétaire
général des Nations unies Ban, les exhortant à
trouver enfin une solution à la question du Sahara Occidental. [Due lettere: al ministero degli Esteri e all’ONU per risolvere la questione saharawi]
13-14.04.07
«Fighting the ‘Wall of Silence : Views from the Solidarity
Movement with the Sahrawi People in Spain», Abel Al Jende Medina,
GEISA Research Group, Department of Social Anthropology. University of
Seville, Spain. (international workshop about "Forgotten Conflicts:
Permanent Catastrophes ?", Colgate University, Hamilton, New York).
23-27.04.07, Malaga
Segunda Semana solidaria con el pueblo saharaui, 23-27 de abril 2007,
Facultad de Derecho, Universidad de Malaga. Org.: Grupo de alumnos
universitarios por Africa. Infos: http://www.centrodeiniciativas.es
25.04.07, 19-20.30 h., l'émission "Les oreilles loin du front",
consacrée à la situation au Sahara Occidental, accueille
Julien Dedenis. Elle peut être reçue en région
parisienne sur le 106.3FM ou en direct ou podcast, via internet
par ce lien: http://www.loldf.org/divers/podcast.html
New blogs
New site
Documents
Video
OPINIONS: http://opinions.arso.org
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>> Revista de la prensa en español http://es.groups.yahoo.com/group/revista-de-prensa-sahara-occidental/messages
Italiano
Attualità in italiano: El Ouali Bologna: http://www.saharawi.org/saharawi.htm + Radio for Peace http://www.radiokcentrale.it/du.htm
Norsk
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