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Résumé september 2007 WEEKS 36 - 39 : 01.09. - 30.09.2007 |
30.08.07, Sport
In the framework of sporting competitions for the Summer cup 2007, the
football final was won in Tifariti by the 27 February team, against
Ausserd. The women’s volley ball final went to the team from Ausserd.
Other competitions took place, such as shooting and traditional games.
05.-06.09.07, 7th meeting of the Saharawi community in Algiers.
Numerous students took part in this meeting and 60 of them were
congratulated for their success in the baccalaureat examinations.
14.09.07, Madrid
The Spanish minister for Foreign Affairs, M. A. Moratinos, received the
official for external relations with the Polisario Front, Mr S. ould
Salek, in the context of political contacts with the parties to the
conflict. He reiterated Spain’s commitment for a negotiated solution
respecting international law. A Saharawi source indicated that Ould
Salek gave Moratinos an invitation from the President of SADR to the
Spanish President, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, to go to the Saharawi
refugee camps.[comunicado
oficial MAE espanol] [El
Moudjahid]
14-22.09.07,
Mexico
The visit of the president of the Saharawi parliament, Mahfoud Ali
Beiba, provided the opportunity for many political and parliamentary
contacts.
14.09.07, Uganda
The new Saharawi ambassador to Uganda, Hamdi Bouheha, presented his
credentials to the Ugandan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sam Kutesa.
17-21.09.07, Finland
The Saharawi representative for the Nordic countries, Yahiaoui Lamine,
carried out a visit to Helsinki, where he was received by Anna
Gebremedhin, among others, the deputy director of the department for
Africa and the Middle East with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and by
numerous parliamentarians.
21.09.07, Basque Country
The Basque government made available to SADR a mobile office for the
establishment of identity cards for the refugees in the camps.
[Europa
Press]
24.09.07,
Congress
The XIIth congress of the Polisario Front will take place in a
liberated area of Tifariti from 14 to 18 December 2007. It will bear
the name of the martyr,
Messoud Mbarek Ahmed Lehsen, known as Gahgah, and its theme will be
“the general struggle to bring about complete sovereignty and
independence”.
OCCUPIED
TERRITORIES AND SOUTH MOROCCO
Questionings and
arrests
Abdelghani Kabdani, arrested on 30.08 and imprisoned in the Black
Prison (see August 07), is accused of trafficking drugs.
A young Saharawi official, arrested in Dakhla, died while being
transported by car to a psychiatric clinic in Agadir in circumstances
which have not been clarified.[AFAPREDESA]
Intimidations
Police break into three dwellings in El Ayoun looking for Naama Asfari
at the beginning of September. In Smara a school child is sent home
from a private school, his father being known as a pro-independence
activist.
Prisons
El-Wali Amidane starts a hunger strike on 17, demanding to be
transferred to Aït Melloul prison, which would be more favourable
for the pursuit of his studies. He is transferred on 23 against his
will to Taroudant prison. He suspends his hunger strike on 25 in the
hope of seeing his demands met. [CODESA]
Three Saharawi political prisoners are on hunger strike in the Black
Prison since 10 September, and two since 25 September in Tiznit prison,
to protest against the conditions of their incarceration.
Saharawi students sentenced in Marrakech and Rabat have left prison
after having served their sentences, likewise the political prisoner,
Laroussi Choubida.
Work Accident
Accidental death on 11.9. of Lehsan Alkairaa, a Saharawi worker at
Phosboucraa. The organisation of Saharawi workers in his department
denounce the disastrous working conditions and the lack of safety
measures at the work place, as well as the negligence of Moroccan
officials. This is the second accident in two months. [communiqué]
Demonstrations
Three times demonstrations are violently dispersed causing many
injuries and arrests, followed by the ransacking of several homes. On
12 at El Ayoun (16 persons arrested), on 20 in Zak and on 24 in Smara.
The Saharawi President writes to the UN Secretary General on 26.
Saharawi citizens in the Southern Moroccan town of Mhamid El Ghizlan
express their solidarity with the victims.
Sentence
Mohamed
Tahlil,
president of the Boujdour branch of ASVDH, is given on 19 September a
three year prison sentence.
05-09.09.07, testimony
The Saharawi student, Soultana
Khaya,
seriously injured in Marrakech, travelled to Sweden at the invitation
of various NGOs, she was received at the foreign ministry and by
parliamentarians and politicians. She spoke during conferences and gave
an interview to the paper, Flamman [13.09.07, svensk].
[--> plus]
She continued her trip in Spain.
29.09.07, hommage
The "Jose Antonio Gonzalez Caraballo" prize for solidarity was awarded
in Madrid to the Saharawi activist and former political prisoner, Hmad
Hamad, at the end of the second general meeting of the Coordination of
Spanish Committees of support for the Saharawi people, CEAS, in
recognition of the peaceful struggle carried out by Saharawi citizens
in the occupied territories of Western Sahara.[EFE]
[Jose
Antonio Gonzalez Caraballo]
Phosphates
The ship, Genco Prosperity arrived on 28 September at the port of
Lyttleton, New Zealand and on 29 in Dunedin, carrying phosphate from
Western Sahara.
The Greek ship, Predator is expected in Tauranga, New Zealand on 10
October. It is marked as coming from Jorf Lasfar in Morocco, whilst in
reality it comes from El Ayoun.
11.08.07, New Zealand
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade says that 90% of phosphate
imported into New Zealand comes from Morocco, while the official site
speaks of 80%. [New
Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade]
04.09.07
The Association of Saharawis in Norway criticised the Norwegian
company, Gearbulk, 60% owner of the Jebsen family, based in the United
Kingdom, for carrying phosphate from Western Sahara for the benefit of
Morocco. [Press
Release Association of Saharawis
in Norway].
12.09.07
The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a note recommending
Norwegian businesses to give up involvement in Western Sahara. [Original
norsk] [english
translation] [E.Hagen,
Norwatch/engl.]
18.09.07
The Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Bildt replied to a
question of a member of parliament on oil prospection in occupied
Western Sahara.[Question in Swedish]
[Answer in Swedish] [English
translation]
21.09.07,
Australia
AWSA, the Australia Western Sahara Association, organised a protest
outside the Melbourne headquarters of Incitec Pivot, one of three
Australian companies importing phosphate from Western Sahara, during
which federal parliamentarians spoke. [more] [Green Left]
27.08.07, Mexico
The Mexican Congress approves a resolution welcoming the opening of
negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario Front. [mas]
31.08 /
01.09.07, visits
The special representative of the UN Secretary General for the Sahara,
Julian Harston, is received successively by the Saharawi President,
Mohamed Abdelaziz and by the Moroccan Minister for the Interior,
Chakib Benmoussa.
31.08.-02.09.07, Brazil
The 3rd Congress of the workers party (PT, in power) included on its
agenda the defense of the right to self-determination and support for
the Saharawi Republic. [SPS]
14/17.09.07, Moroccan-Saharawi negotiations
The special envoy of the Secretary General for the Sahara, van Walsum,
proposed to Morocco and the Polisario Front to fix the next meeting in
Geneva in November next. [Europa
Press]
According the to Saharawi Ambassador in Algiers, Mohamed Yeslem
Beissat, the Polisario Front “has accepted this proposal”.
[voir les dossiers de presse
réguliers de Sahara Info sur les négociations
Front Polisario-Maroc]
26.09.-02.10.07, UN General Assembly – general debate
During the general debate at the opening of the 62nd session of the UN
General Assembly, several heads of state and foreign ministers brought
up the question of Western Sahara and welcomed the opening of
negotiations allowing the matter to reach a solution respecting the
principle of self-determination:
Mauritania: http://www.un.org/News/fr-press/docs/2007/AG10623.doc.htm
Spain [english] : http://www.un.org/News/fr-press/docs/2007/AG10625.doc.htm
[espanol] http://www.europapress.es/noticia.aspx?cod=20070929015411&ch=69
United Arab
Emirates
[english] http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/unitedarabemirates-en.pdf
Timor-Leste [english] http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/timor-leste-eng.pdf
Algeria [français] http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/algeria-fr.pdf
Namibia [english] http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/namibia-en.pdf
Angola [english] http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/angola-eng.pdf
Tanzania [english] http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/tanzania-en.pdf
Niger [français] http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/niger-fr.pdf
Belize [english] http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/belize-en.pdf
Lesotho [english] http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/lesotho-eng.pdf
Intervention of the Moroccan minister of FA, Mohamed Benaïssa [english] http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/morocco-eng.pdf
03.09.07
The Algerian public enterprise Sonatrach cancelled its contract with
Spanish firms Repsol and Gas Natural concerning a joint enterprise for
the exploitation of natural gas at
Gassi Touil in Algeria. According to the Algerian Minister for Energy,
the Spanish companies had not fulfilled their undertakings.
<http://www.leblogfinance.com/2007/09/gaz-sonatrach-a.html>http://www.leblogfinance.com/2007/09/gaz-sonatrach-a.html
[Blog
finance] [La
Nouvelle République]
In the Spanish press, the position of the Zapatero government in the
Western Sahara conflict was said to have been a determining factor.
The commercial dispute will undergo international arbitration.
In reaction, the Spanish government rejected Sonatrach’s offer to
acquire 30% of the oil group Cepsa for an amount of 5.5 million euros.
[see the regular press bulletins on
Sahara Info on Spanish-Algerian
relations]
31.08.07
The Millennium Challenge Corporation, an aid program of the American
government for emerging democracies, gave the Moroccan government a sum
of nearly 700 million dollars in order to stimulate sustainable
economic and social development. Part of this sum is destined for the
development of small scale fishing. [afrol
News, English]
Armaments, continued
The purchase of 18 French Rafale fighter aeroplanes for a price of 2.3
billion euros is facing serious competition with an offer from the
United States of 36 second-hand F-16 fighters for less than 2 billion
euros. To be continued. [La
Tribune/Fr]
[AFP] [Defense
Industry Daily, 30-Sep-2007]
04.09.07
The continuation of confidence-building measures, in particular the
family visits from one side to the other of the Moroccan defensive
wall, and telephone links, are put into question by the lack of
finance, a spokesman from the High Commission for Refugees, UNHCR, Ron
Redmond, pointed out during a press conference in Geneva. [statement HCR] [El
Mundo, 05.09.07]
10-28.09.07,
Council of Human Rights, Geneva, 6th session
A delegation comprising four Saharawi human rights defenders , Ahmed
Hammad, Larbi Messaoud, Daha Rahmouni and Mohamed Meyara travelled to
Geneva. The activists and former political prisoners spoke on various
points in the Council’s agenda and also took part in a panel discussion
entitled “Testimony on the serious situation in Western Sahara”. They
were received at the office of the United Nations High Commission for
Human Rights by the officer responsible for the North African
department to whom they handed a letter for the Commissioner, Mrs
Arbour. [--> special page with interventions and press]
10.09.07, Bologna: Conference on “Morocco and Western Sahara: human
rights, self-determination for peace in the Arab Maghreb”, with the
participation of Fadah Aghla Menhoum (ASVDH), de Said Sougty, member of
the executive of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) and
Karin Scheele, MEP and president of the European parliamentary group of
support for the Saharawi people, as well as Nicola Quatrano, president
of Osservatorio internazionale per i diritti violati.
14.09.07: Conference on forced disappearance, the cases of the Sahara
and Argentina, Palma de Majorque, with Christian Viret (BIRDHSO,
Geneva) and Manuel Ollé Sesé, president of the Spanish
Association for Human Rights.
20.09.07, Washington, United States Institute of Peace: Public
Conference on "Western
Sahara: Renewed Hope to End the Stalemate? " with Anna
Theofilopoulou and I. William Zartman.
27.09.07
The Spanish agency for international cooperation (AECI) distributed
over 100,000 kg of camel meat in the Saharawi camps during Ramadan.
This operation is estimated to have cost 250,000 euros.[Reliefweb
espanol]
30.09.07
The president of the Algerian Red Crescent, Haj Hamou Ben Zgair, went
to the Saharawi camps. In a joint statement, “the Algerian Red Crescent
and the Saharawi Red Crescent express their profound concern in the
face of the present difficult conditions of the Saharawi refugees and
particularly the gaping lack in the food basket caused by the failure
of WFP to honour its commitment towards these refugees who depend
essentially on international humanitarian aid”. These two organisations
pointed out that the Saharawi refugees have only received “44% of the
quota for the month of September." [SPS]
04-16.09.07,
London
“Saharawis: prisoners of History”, was the theme of a photographic
exhibition from 4 to 16 September in the Human Rights Centre of Amnesty
International in London. The exhibition was organised by the Chilean
poet and photographer living in London, Carlos Reyes Manzo.
05-11.09.07, UNICEF
The Algerian branch of UNICEF organised training for heads of
primary schools in the refugee camps of Tindouf at the Sport College of
Draria (Algiers). [SPS]
21.09.07, Jornada juridica internacional
A conference on international law on the conflict in Western Sahara was
held in Madrid in the presence of several lawyers, researchers, and
university lecturers in law from Spain, France and Italy, organised by
IUJWS, the international Association of Lawyers for Western Sahara.[Rebelion]
ARTIFARITI 2007 -
10 al 27 de Octubre de 2007
http://artifariti.blogspot.com/
EUCOCO 2007 - ROMA 19-21.10.07
33th European Conference of Support To the Saharawi People
NEW website: http://www.eucoco2007.org/eucoco2007/
2007 Sandblast Festival
Music, Dance, Theatre, Workshops, Photography, Paintings, Multimedia,
Poetry, Films, trad. crafts, discussion Oct 18-21, 23, 29
UK Tour: Pre-festival activities (rehearsals, workshops, media): Oct
22-27
Festival period: Oct 29 - 4Nov
Locations: London, Brighton, Leeds, Whitby, Ledbury, Clun and Salusbury.
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