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Washington, 07/03/2007 (SPS) The US Foreign Affairs denounced
the human rights violations in the Western Sahara during 2006, in a
detailed report on the situation in the non-self-governing territory
publicised on Tuesday.
The report of 9 pages publicised in the official website of the US
Department State reported many cases of detention, tortures,
imprisonments and mentioned names of many Saharawi human rights
activists and political prisoners such as: Hammoud Iguilid,
President of the Moroccan human Rights Association the Section of El
Aaiun, Brahim Dahane, President of a Saharawi Human rights
association among other victims of human rights violations and
intimidations exercised on them by the Moroccan colonial
authorities.
In May 2005 and "sporadically thereafter, 300 to 1300 individuals
demonstrated in El Aaiun, ostensibly protesting the transfer of a
Saharawi prisoner to Agadir. The Moroccan government arrested 37
demonstrators during and after the May 2005 demonstrations”.
"Of those arrested, 12 received jail terms up to five years for
damaging public property and using weapons against officials.
Amnesty International (AI) claimed that demonstrators received
prison terms up to 20 years. In May 2005 further demonstrations
occurred in Dakhla. The Spanish press reported the number of
participants to be as high as 1,500", the report underlines.
Giving some cases as an example on detention and iniquitous trials
the report also indicated that the demonstrations in he Western
Sahara claim for the independence of the Western Sahara and the
respect of the human rights in the occupied territory.
"Demonstrations broke out again in El Aaiun in October 2005
initially in support of the independence of the Western Sahara, and
later to draw attention to the thirtieth anniversary of the Green
March. One Saharawi, Hamdi Lembarki, died of wounds from the
previous day's demonstration. Authorities arrested two policemen in
connection with Lembarki's death. At year's end the disposition of
the cases was unknown", the report underlined.
The American department also tackled the question of the
interdiction from the occupied territories of some international
delegations and journalists, who wanted to investigate on the
situation of the human rights in the occupied cities of the Western
Sahara.
In this respect, "Moroccan authorities detained, in April 2005,
three Norwegian journalists in El Aaiun who were covering a
demonstration. The authorities interrogated two of the journalists
and deported all three", the text asserted s an example of the
treatment reserved by the Moroccan colonial authorities to the
journalists and observers.
Regarding the fundamental freedoms, "the Moroccan government
restricted freedoms of expression, assembly, and association. In
late November 2005 the government blocked several Saharawi-based
Internet Web sites; the sites remained blocked until the king's
visit to the Western Sahara on March 25. Saharawi activists claimed
that they were unable to form political associations or politically
oriented NGOs", the report indicated in one of the paragraphs.
The text mentioned many reports by Saharawi and international human
rights associations, including Human Rights Watch, which "in
December 2005 Human Rights Watch (HRW) sent an open letter to
Moroccan King Mohammed VI concerning the detention of seven human
rights activists. The activists were Ali Salem Tamek, Mohamed El
Moutaouakil, Houssein Lidri, Brahim Noumria, Larbi Messaoud,
Aminatou Haidar, and H'mad Hammad".
"On October 9, an internal report by the Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights' (OHCHR) criticizing the Moroccan
government for denying the right of self-determination to the
Saharawi people was unexpectedly made public. The report accused
Morocco of abusing the rights of pro-independence activists in the
disputed territory and using excessive force against protestors",
the report stressed. (SPS)
060/090/000 071110 Mar 07 SPS
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