April 2017

New York, April 30, 2017 (SPS) - The United States called to remove the obstacles for the relaunch of the United Nations process in Western Sahara, pleading for the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination.
Following the adoption on Friday by the Security Council of the resolution extending the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), US Deputy Representative to the United Nations Michele J. Sison said that the peacekeeping mission should “support the political solutions.”

Bir-Lehlu (Liberated Zones), April 30, 2017 (SPS) - The President of the Republic and Secretary General of the Frente POLISARIO, Brahim Gali, conveyed Friday his congratulations to the President of Togo, Faure Gnassingbé, on the occasion of the 57th anniversary of the independence of his country on April 27th.
President Ghali expressed his warmest and most sincere congratulations to the Togolese President on behalf of the Saharawi people and Government.

Shaheed Al-Hafed,  April 30, 2017 (SPS) - The Permanent Office of the National Secretariat of the Polisario Front has welcomed Resolution 23 51 of the UN Security Council on 28 April 2017, recalling the need to complete the decolonization of Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa, for peace and stability in the world.

Algiers, April 29, 2017 (SPS) - The extension of the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) on Friday is a “diplomatic success” for the Sahrawi cause, affirmed Saturday, in Algiers, Minister of State, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ramtane Lamamra, pointing out that it will allow putting back on the rails the negotiation process.

Washington, April 29, 2017 (SPS) - UN Security Council adopted Friday Resolution 23 51 (2017) extending by one year, until 30 April 2018, the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Holding of a Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).
The vote for the resolution, held in the beginning of a Security Council meeting, was chaired by the United States.
The Resolution was adopted unanimously by the Security Council as it received the approval of all 15 members. (SPS)
062/090/700
 

Madrid, April 29, 2017 (SPS) -The first Western Sahara International Film Festival (FiSahara) to take place by the end of May in Madrid is an opportunity to give further visibility to the struggle of the Sahrawi people, FiSahara Executive Director Maria Carrion said.
The first edition of this festival in Spain will be hosted by the film theatre of the Cultural Center Matadero in Madrid and represents an opportunity to support the cause of the Sahrawi cause and its peaceful struggle for self-determination, the same official told APS.

Brussels, April 29, 2017 (SPS) – Algerian ambassador  to Brussels, Amar  Belani, has denounced Friday "yet another falsehood of Morocco," describing the screening at the European Parliament of a documentary that compares between the Sahrawi liberation movement, the Polisario Front, and the terrorist organizations activating in the Sahel region as a "rude operation of disinformation."

Havana (Cuba), April 29, 2017 (SPS) - Cuba, which accepted to restore without conditions, its diplomatic relations with Morocco continues to bring its support to the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination said Cuban newspaper Granma.

London, April 27, 2017 (SPS) -The United Kingdom government supports the extension of the mandate of UN mission for a referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), said UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. 
In response to a written question of Shadow Foreign Secretary (Labour Party) Emily Thornberry, Johnson said that the "British officials are currently discussing with their partners at the UN Security Council" about the Resolution of the extension of MINURSO mandate.

New York,  April 27, 2017 (SPS) -The UN Security Council will adopt on Thursday the draft resolution extending the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum on Self-Determination in Western Sahara (Minurso) by one year following intense negotiations on this text submitted by the U.S delegation.
Discussions on this draft resolution remain hard some hours before its adoption. The third and last draft can be modified.

New York, April 26, 2017 (SPS) - The Security Council, which met Tuesday to examine the US draft resolution on Western Sahara, has not reached consensus as first discussions revealed great divergences between the members.

Madrid (Spain), April 26, 2017 (SPS) - Parliament of Galicia, Spain's northwest, reiterated Tuesday its commitment to the Saharawi cause through an official statement presented by its speaker, Miguel Angel Santalices.
In the motion of support, the Parliament of Galicia expresses its intention to join the movement of solidarity with Western Sahara, which has been demanding, for many years, a fair, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution, through a referendum of self-determination putting an end to Western Sahara conflict.

Copenhagen (Denmark), April 25, 2017 (SPS) - In an article published Tuesday in the Danish Media, the Former Chief of MINURSO Troops in Western Sahara, the Danish General Major, Mr. Kurt Mosgaard stressed that while these days the UN SC is discussing the issue of Western Sahara, the UN referendum for the people of Western Sahara, which the international law states as a model for former colonies remains the only way to avoid new war in Western Sahara.
After 26 years of ceasefire between POLISARIO and Morocco could be changed to new war.

Mohamed Samid Ould Brahim 24 April 2017
The confrontation highlights the Moroccan routine response towards self-determination and human rights activists in the occupied territory of Western Sahara.
Moroccan police forcibly broke up a pro-independence demonstration in El-Aaiun on April 15, beating dozens of activists. Saharawi demonstrators from all walks of life took to the streets to protest occupation and demonstrate solidarity with political prisoners languishing in Moroccan jails.

Shaheed El Hafed, 23 Apr 2017 (SPS) "The restoration of relations between the Kingdom of Morocco and Cuba is further evidence of the failure of the monarchy's boycott policy with all countries that have recognized the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic" Said Saturday, the Minister Delegate to the FM in charge of Latin America and the Caribbean, Omar Mansur.

New York, April 22, 2017 (SPS) -The Polisario Front approved the appointment of German Horst Köhler as a Personal Envoy of the United Nations Secretary General for Western Sahara following the resignation of American Christopher  Ross, announced Representative of Western Sahara at the UN Ahmed Boukhari.

Copenhagen (Denmark), April 21, 2017 (SPS) - The President of the Euro-Med Rights network of Human Rights (EuroMed Rights), Mr. Michel Tubiana called on, in a letter addressed Thursday to the Member States of the United Nations Security Council, to renew the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) and to extend this mission to include a mandate to monitor human rights in Western Sahara.

London, Apr 20, 2017 (SPS) - The non-governmental human rights organization Amnesty International called, Tuesday, the United Nation to “urgently” monitor human rights in Western Sahara in order to put an end to the” violations and impunity” of which the Sahrawi people is victim under the Moroccan occupation.

London, Apr 20, 2017 (SPS) -The Western Sahara Action Forum (WSAF) denounced Wednesday the continuation of Western Sahara colonization by Morocco, stressing that the lack of progress to free the Sahrawi people from colonialism is “untenable.”
In an appeal to the UN Security Council members, WSAF regretted “the failure of the UN Security Council to protect men, women and children of Western Sahara against torture perpetrated by the Moroccan state.”

Paris , Apr 19, 2017 (SPS) -– About thirty Sahrawis and French activists supporting the Sahrawi cause participated in a rally at Les Invalides in Paris on Tuesday afternoon to demand the immediate and unconditioned release of the Sahrawi political prisoners held in Morocco.