Torture and other inhuman and degrading treatments, arbitrary arrest and detention, forced disappearance, the use of rape as a mean of intimidation, are current practices committed by the Moroccan authorities against Saharawi adults and children.
(ANSAmed) - STRASBOURG, APRIL 19 - The European Parliament "condemns the ongoing repression of the Saharawi people in occupied territories". This is the message from the Strasbourg Assembly, where the report on human rights around the world has been approved by a large majority.
"After the UN resolutions, the document approved in Strasbourg is the most significant victory recorded yet for the Saharawi cause," said the Euro MP Pino Arlacchi (Democratic Party), who said that the text expresses a "clear position in favour of independence".
Australians demand human rights for Western Sahara
Sunday, 15 April 2012, 2:03 pm
Press Release: AWSA
The Australia Western Sahara Association (AWSA) organised on Friday 13 April 2012 in front of the French Consulate in Melbourne a protest under the slogan: human rights for Western Sahara – the time is now! (Pictures attached).
The world community by and large either turns a blind eye to the annexation by Morocco of the Western Sahara, home to the Saharawi people, invaded, tortured, abused and forgotten or else cavorts openly with Morocco, signing contracts with the invading power to usurp the resources of the Saharawi without their consent, against international law.
Interview By Bhakti Shringarpure, 29 March 2012:
When we think about our past, we can only find violence, but I think it is precisely this condition that makes one realize that what is important is peace.'
Twenty years ago, in 1992, a referendum of independence was to have taken place in order to allow the Sahrawian people to determine their own future. This strip of land in Africa’s north-westernmost corner has been partly occupied by Morocco since 1975. The UN and other international bodies have irrefutably acknowledged Western Sahara’s right to self-determination, and the Sahrawian demand for an independence referendum has strong support in international law. Despite this fact, the international community is doing little to further the Sahrawian right to self-determination.
A prison in Western Sahara.
Laayoune is the largest settlement in Western Sahara territory, which has been occupied by Morocco since 1975.
The Sahrawi people continue to demand independence after decades of poor treatment under Moroccan rule. Many Sahrawi report being routinely subjected to police brutality and say they suffer widespread discrimination.
A new EU trade agreement that is set to boost the personal fortune of King Mohamed VI of Morocco is facing opposition because it promotes the exploitation of disputed territory of the Western Sahara.
The European Parliament's committee for International Trade last week gave the green light to a new agriculture agreement that will ease restrictions on the importation of fruit and vegetables from Morocco.
In May 2006, and for the first time since the UN adopted the famous General Assembly’s resolution 1514, a delegation from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human rights visited Western Sahara to investigate the human rights situation in this last colony in Africa. The mission accomplished its task by writing a report concluding that:
