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Résumé June - July 2007 WEEKS 25 - 30 : 17.06. - 31.07.2007 |
17.06.07,
Celebration
The Polisario Front commemorates, in Mheiriz in the liberated
territories, the 37th anniversary of the popular uprising against Spain
in 1974, which was bloodily repressed in the Zemla quarter of El Ayoun.
[history Zemla/WSO]
21.07.07
The Polisario Front announced that it would hold its 12th Congress next
December. A national committee of 85 members has been appointed to
prepare for it . [SPS] [list of members]
27.07.07
Cap Verde has frozen its recognition of SADR.
OCCUPIED
TERRITORIES AND SOUTH MOROCCO
At least 46
Saharawi citizens, including many young people, were arrested by the
police in different towns of occupied Western Sahara, one at the border
with Mauritania, another in Goulimine in southern Morocco.
Six of them were found guilty and imprisoned in the Black Prison in El
Ayoun.
Four Saharawi activists were sentenced at the court of first instance
and three on appeal in El Ayoun, two others in Tan Tan in southern
Morocco also in the court of first instance. In Rabat nine students saw
their prison sentence reduced on appeal. [list of politicial prisoners]
A police car was set on fire by a Molotov cocktail on 6 July, causing
minor injuries to its occupants. This act was attributed by the police
to independence activists.
Human rights activist, Yahdih Ettarouzi completed his sentence and left
prison on 14 July [see his testimony ] [also in
arabic].
On 19 July a counselor from the American Embassy in Rabat talked in El
Ayoun with Saharawi human rights defenders. [Communiqué]
PHOSPHATE
Two ships carrying phosphate from Western Sahara arrived in the port of
Napier in New Zealand, the Sea Luck on 18.06.07, and the Tai Hua Hai on
23 July.
Twelve parliamentarians from four countries, the United Kingdom,
Norway, Japan and New Zealand sent a letter to the maritime transport
company,
Gearbulk, in London, to protest against the illegal carriage of
phosphate by its ship Bulk Saturn. [
See video] [Press
release, London, Oslo, Wellington, Tokyo, 29. June 2007] [Tradewinds
Stamford, UK, 25 June 2007]
RENEWABLE ENERGIES
10.07.07
The Spanish business Iberdrola signed an agreement with the Moroccan
National Office of Electricity (ONE) to study the construction of a
wind farm of 100 MW in El Ayoun. Western Sahara Resource Watch wrote to
the firm to make it aware of the situation on the ground and to ask it
to give up its project. [Carta ]
In its reply on 24.07 [spanish], the director general
of Iberdrola wrote that he would not get involved if the project was
not accepted by the population concerned. [Spanish electricity company "Iberdrola
Renovables" will not invest in the occupied zone of Western Sahara, UPES/APS,
28/07/2007]
OIL
31.07.07
In partnership with the Moroccan National Office of Hydrocarbons and
Mines, Kosmos Energy will begin prospecting for oil at the start of
2009 in the off-shore block of Boujdour. Kosmos Energy is the only oil
company still in place in Western Sahara. [Afrol News]
18-19.06.07
Moroccan-Saharawi negotiations - MANHASSET I
In accordance with Security Council resolution 1754 of 30 April 2007,
the Secretary General has taken steps so that the negotiations take
place between Morocco and the Polisario Front “without pre-existing
conditions, in good faith, and taking account of developments which
have happened in recent months, with a view to arriving at a just,
lasting and mutually acceptable solution which will allow for the
self-determination of the people of Western Sahara”.
Negotiations took place in Manhasset, Long Island, on the Greentree
Estate, under the auspices of the personal envoy of the UN Secretary
General, Peter Van Walsum.
The Saharawi delegation:
Mahfoud Ali Beiba, president of the Saharawi National Council
(parliament), head of the delegation,
M'Hamed Khaddad, coordinator with MINURSO,
Brahim Ghali, Polisario Front representative in Spain
Boukhari Ahmed, Polisario Front representative at the UN
Counselors: Bachir Sgheir, counselor at the presidency and Sidi Mohamed
Omar, Polisario Front representative for Great Britain and Ireland.
The Moroccan delegation:
Chakib Benmoussa, Minister of the Interior, head of the delegation,
Fouad Ali Al Himma, deputy Interior Minister,
Taieb Fassi Fihri, deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs
Khalihenna Ould Errachid, president of CORCAS (Royal Consultative
Council for Saharan Affairs),
Mohamed Yassine Mansouri, director general of DGED (General Direction
of Information and documentation),
Mostafa Sahel, Morocco’s permanent representative at the UN,
Counselors: Maouelainin Maouelainin Ben Khelihanna, secretary
general of CORCAS and Mohamed Salah Tamek, governor of Dakhla.
Algeria and Mauritania took part as neighbouring countries in the
opening and closing sessions.
The Algerian delegation
Ramtane Lamamra, secretary general of the foreign ministry, Youcef
Yousfi, ambassador, permanent representative with the UN,
Abdallah Baali, ambassador, counselor to the foreign ministry,
and counselors, Abdelhafid Hemmaz and Mohieddine Djeffal.
The Mauritanian delegation
Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar, former Prime Minister and special envoy of
the Mauritanian president, Mohamed Ould Tolba, représentant
permanent with the UN and Abderrahmane Ould Hamza, ambassador with the
foreign ministry.
The only concrete result of two days of meetings: the negotiations will
continue in a month at the same place. For statements of the
delegations and the UN, as well as the press review, see: WS Online http://www.wsahara.net/polmornegociations.html
or arso http://www.arso.org/UNnegociations180607.htm#f
At the margin:
A satire on the negotiations published by the website Western Sahara Online
was taken up by the Moroccan magazine, Al Ousboue, which earned the
director the punishment of a heavy fine for “diffusion of false
information”!. [Blog
WS]
<http://saharaoccidental.blogspot.com/2007/07/short-story-petite-histoire.html>
27.06.07 Secretary General’s
Report, S/2007/385
On 27 June, the UN publishes the Secretary General’s report S/2007/385
concerning the Moroccan-Saharawi negotiations, in which the former
strange recommendations, to say the least. It asks Morocco to accept
the autonomy of Western Sahara instead of integrating it to the Kingdom
and to the Polisario Front to accept autonomy instead of independence!
The report sparks strong protest, it is withdrawn after several hours
and never seen at the UN, republished on 3.07, dated 29.06.07, without
Ban Ki-moon’s recommendations. [see
the chronology of its strange genesis] [the withdrawn report]
11.07.07
Security Council
The Secretary General’s personal envoy for Western Sahara, Peter van
Walsum, presented to the Security Council a paper on the negotiations
between Morocco and the Polisario Front and finds the first month’s
talks very encouraging.
After this session of the Security Council, the American ambassador,
Jackie Wolcott Sanders stated, departing from the habitual formal
patter, “Morocco’s initiative could provide a realistic framework for
the start of the negotiations on a plan which would provide a real
autonomy, on condition it is accepted by the local population”.[-->more]
12.07.07
The Italian parliament accepts a motion asking, among other things,
that the Italian government accords diplomatic status to the
representation of the Polisario Front. [SPS]
23.07.07, European Union
Sixth session of the Council of the EU-MOROCCO Association, Brussels
Statement of the European Union, which supports the negotiations and
regrets the human rights abuses in occupied Western Sahara.[statement]
30.07.07,
Enthronement Speech of M6
In his speech, delivered in Tangiers, the King of Morocco affirms that
he is disposed to negotiate “but only on autonomy, completely on
autonomy and nothing but autonomy”. [text
and reactions]
In reply, the Saharawi President, Mohamed Abdelaziz, declared that the
Moroccan Government “threatens to annihilate the worthy efforts made by
the UN Secretary General, his personal envoy and by the good will of
many throughout the world”. [SPS]
15.06.07,
armaments
Technical discussions on the sale to Morocco of 15 Rafale aeroplanes
with Dassault Aviation have finished. They will be followed by
negotiations between the Moroccan and French governments on the
financing of the deal. [AFX
News Limited 2007, 15-June-2007]
26.06.07, SAGEM
rockets
Morocco will receive in two months the first contingent of new type
Sagem, AASM rockets. This guided missile system will enter into service
on the Dassault Rafale among others. [Bayane
al Youm]
04.07.07
Meeting in Paris of Israeli and Moroccan ministers of Foreign Affairs.
09.07.07
The USA donated a million dollars to the WFP for the Saharawi refugees
in Algeria.[WFP
, 09.07.07].
17.07.07
Aminetou Haidar was honoured by Solidar. The 2007 Silver Rose Award was
awarded to her, which will be bestowed in October.[--> more]
JORNADA
JURÍDICA INTERNACIONAL SOBRE EL SAHARA OCCIDENTAL - JOURNEE
JURIDIQUE ONTERNATIONALE - International Law Conference on Western
Sahara
Asociación Internacional de Juristas por el Sáhara
Occidental - Association International des Juristes pour le Sahara
Occidental (IAJUWS) - International Association of Jurists for Western
Sahara (IAJWS)
Madrid: 21 de Septiembre de 2007
Info-
contact: iajuws[at]lobocom.es
Nouveau-New-Nuevo
web:
Blog:
ANALYSES -
DOCUMENTS
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Attualità in italiano: El Ouali Bologna: http://www.saharawi.org/saharawi.htm
+ Radio for Peace http://www.radiokcentrale.it/du.htm
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