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SPS Saharawi political prisoners ask Kerr-McGee not to renew its oil exploration contract in Western Sahara 09.02.06
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Black Prison (the occupied El Aaiun –Western Sahara), 09/02/2006 (SPS) The Saharawi human rights activists and political prisoners, incarcerated in the different Moroccan prisons, asked the American oil company, Kerr-McGee, not to renew its illegal oil contract of exploration in the occupied territories of Western Sahara, knowing that the later expires in April 2006, indicated a letter the prisoners sent to the Director and Chief Executive officer of the company, based in Oklahoma-USA, Mr. Luke R.Corbett.
"We would also like to request Kerr-McGee to do the right thing by seizing on this historic opportunity and announce its withdrawal from Western Sahara, by choosing not to renew the contract that expires in April 2006", and which was signed by the American company and the Moroccan colonial authorities, starting thus illegal activities offshore the Western Sahara, the letter, of which SPS received a copy, underlined.
By undertaking this action, the political prisoners estimated, the company can then, "really claim to be supporting the UN efforts", and can count with the gratitude of the Saharawi people.
The Saharawi political prisoners also estimated that the exploitation of the Western Sahara’s natural resources, based on contracts with Morocco that occupies Western Sahara in complete violation of the international law and without the acceptance of the real owners of these resources, mainly the Saharawi people and the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, can only be considered as an unconditional support to the colonisation of the region and to the fait accompli Rabat is trying to impose over the non-self-governing territory.
"According to international law, an oil reconnaissance contract in an occupied territory, if it is not to the benefit or wishes of the local population, would be illegal", they recalled.
Kerr-McGee, can not pretend, thus, to be supporting the UN’s efforts aimed to complete the process of the decolonisation of Western Sahara, and at the same time encourages Morocco in its illegal exploitation and plundering of the Saharawi natural resources, the political prisoners said.
"We find it very frustrating to repeatedly hear that Kerr-McGee claims to support the UN efforts to solve the conflict, and that your activities are to the benefit of the people of Western Sahara", while the truth is that, "since Kerr-McGee signed the contract with Morocco in 2001, the situation for us has been increasingly difficult", they added.
"Kerr-McGee’s important role in Morocco’s political game over Western Sahara cannot be ignored", they hammered.
The Saharawi political prisoners considered, in addition, that the persistence of the presence of the American company in the occupied territories, despite of the will of the Saharawi people, is a support to the Moroccan colonial regime, which is maintaining its illegal presence in Western Sahara by the force of arms and repression.
"As you may be aware, since 1975 when Morocco, in flagrant violation of the ruling of the International Court of Justice of The Hague, invaded Western Sahara, the Saharawi people have been enduring the dire consequences of occupation", they affirmed.
Hundreds Saharawi citizens, they said, "have perished in Moroccan jails or disappeared in addition to dozens of prisoners of conscience", the Saharawi political prisoners further stressed in this respect.
For all these reasons, "the Saharawi human rights activists and prisoners of conscience, would like to add our voice to all those who have expressed on many occasions their disaffection and disagreement with the contract signed by Kerr-McGee with the Kingdom of Morocco to explore for oil offshore the territories of Western Sahara under Moroccan occupation", the political prisoners finally wrote in their letter to the Director and Chief Executive officer of the company, Mr. Luke R.Corbett. (SPS)
060/090/000 091325 Fev 06 SPS
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SPS Saharawi political prisoners ask Kerr-McGee not to renew its oil exploration contract in Western Sahara (complete text of the letter) 09.02.06
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Black Prison (the occupied El Aaiun –Western Sahara), 09/02/2006 (SPS) The Saharawi human rights activists and political prisoners, incarcerated in the different Moroccan prisons, asked the American oil company, Kerr-McGee, not to renew its illegal oil contract of exploration in the occupied territories of Western Sahara, knowing that the later expires in April 2006, indicated a letter the prisoners sent to the Director and Chief Executive officer of the company, based in Oklahoma-USA, Mr. Luke R.Corbett.
Here is the complete text of the letterm SPs received:
“6th February 2006
Mr. Luke R.Corbett,
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,
Kerr-McGee Corporation
Kerr-McGee Center
123 Robert S. Kerr Avenue, Oklahoma City
OKLAHOMA, USA, 73102
Dear Mr. Corbett,
We, the Saharawi human rights activists and prisoners of conscience of the prison of El Aiún, would like to address to you this letter to express our deep concern regarding your company’s past and current activities offshore the territories of Western Sahara under Moroccan occupation.
As you may be aware, since 1975 when Morocco, in flagrant violation of the ruling of the International Court of Justice of The Hague, invaded Western Sahara, the Saharawi people have been enduring the dire consequences of occupation, including hundreds who have perished in Moroccan jails or disappeared in addition to dozens of prisoners of conscience.
Recently, since 21 May 2005, there have been massive and mounting peaceful demonstrations all over the occupied territories of Western Sahara in which the Saharawis have been taking to streets to protest against Morocco’s illegal occupation. The demonstrators have also been demanding the respect of their fundamental human rights, namely the inalienable right to self-determination and independence to be exercised through a free, fair, democratic, UN-supervised referendum, in accordance with the dictates of international legality.
The reaction of the Moroccan occupying authorities hasbeen extremely brutal and violent, as documented by international media and evidenced by testimonies of human rights organisations such as Amnesty International, the International Organisation against Torture, and Moroccan Human Rights Organisations (AMDH). We who write this letter to you are at this very moment detained at the “Black Jail” in El Aiún, the capital of the occupied Western Sahara, in harsh and degrading conditions. All of us have been arrested and brought to a show trial to face unfair sentences, only for speaking out our right. Two of our compatriots have already been cold-bloodedly assassinated. Many of us have also been seriously intimated, jailed and tortured.
Our peaceful resistance bears clear testimony to the dramatic failure of the policy that the Moroccan authorities have been pursuing for the past three decades with a view to winning the hearts and minds of the Saharawi population. Thirty years of occupation and repression have not made the Saharawis into Moroccans, for they remain attached to their identity and legitimate aspiration for living in a free and sovereign state of their own.
We find it very frustrating to repeatedly hear that Kerr-McGee claims to support the UN efforts to solve the conflict, and that your activities are to the benefit of the people of Western Sahara. You see, over the last years, there has been a very limited progress in the UN efforts to organise our promised referendum. The reason is that Morocco, in their hunger for the natural resources in Western Sahara, today refuses any referendum to take place. Your company, and your two US partners, Pioneer and Kosmos, are now the only three oil companies in Western Sahara. Through its presence, Kerr-McGee constitutes today a corner stone in Morocco’s plans for our land.
We know it might be difficult for you to understand, but since Kerr-McGee signed the contract with Morocco in 2001, the situation for us has been increasingly difficult. A UN solution seems now even more distant than only a few years back. Kerr-McGee’s important role in Morocco’s political game over Western Sahara cannot be ignored.
According to international law, an oil reconnaissance contract in an occupied territory, if it is not to the benefit or wishes of the local population, would be illegal. We invite you, Mr. Corbett, to come to El Aiún and speak with our Saharawi friends who are not yet in jail, and try to assess for yourself whether Kerr-McGees’ activities will be to the benefit of our people, as your company claims to the international press.
In view of the foregoing, we, the Saharawi human rights activists and prisoners of conscience, would like to add our voice to all those who have expressed on many occasions their disaffection and disagreement with the contract signed by Kerr-McGee with the Kingdom of Morocco to explore for oil offshore the territories of Western Sahara under Moroccan occupation.
We would also like to request Kerr-McGee to do the right thing by seizing on this historic opportunity and announce its withdrawal from Western Sahara, by choosing not to renew the contract that expires in April 2006. Only then can Kerr-McGee really claim to be supporting the UN efforts. Such a gesture will be welcomed by the Saharawi people, and by all those who believe in the rule of law and in the paramount sovereignty of peoples over their natural resources.
In doing this, you will also demonstrate that Kerr-McGee is abiding by the same ethical guidelines that led all your previous subcontractors (TGS-Nopec, Fugro, Thor Offshore) to withdraw from Western Sahara, and to the same standards as some of your previous shareholders who have been opposing your activities.
By withdrawing from Western Sahara Kerr-McGee would send a clear message to the international community that it does not support abuses of human rights and violation of international law, committed by your current contractual partner.
While in prison, we have been told by someone that Jesus said, "I was hungry and you gave me something toeat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you came to visit me."
Jesus then said, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me. Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did no do for me."
We the prisoners in Black Prison as well as all Saharawis living in prison under the Moroccan occupation, are hoping that KMG and the Christian community of Oklahoma, will not forget the words from Jesus. We won't. Please do the right thing, the Christian thing.
We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Yours sincerely,
The Saharawi Human Rights Activists and prisoners of conscience, The “Black Jail” El Aiún, the capital of the occupied Western Sahara
NB: A copy of this letter is sent to your partners, Pioneer Natural Resources and Kosmos Energy.” (SPS)
060/090/000 091808 Feb 06 SPS
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SPS "The decision of Ecuador is a rejection to the Moroccan colonial fact in Western Sahara", the Minister of Information declared
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Chahid El Hafed, 09/02/2006 (SPS) The re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic and Ecuador is "a strong message to the international community and a rejection of the Moroccan colonial fact in the Western Sahara in addition of been a complete failure of the Moroccan diplomacy", Mr. Sid Ahmed Batal, the Minister of Information, declared to SPS.
"This new defeat of the Moroccan colonial policy, is a very clear message, representing the international refusal of the Moroccan attempts aimed to by-pass the international legality an the UN’s decisions that decided the necessity of the finishing of the decolonisation process in Western Sahara via the referendum. This decision by Ecuador is a strong message to the international community and a rejection of the Moroccan colonial fact in the Western Sahara in addition of been a complete failure of the Moroccan diplomacy", he underlined.
He also considered that it is not for nothing that "countries so powerful and respectful of the international legality such as South Africa, Kenya or Uruguay have decided to recognise the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic. These free countries decided such a strong political action so as to say No to the Moroccan colonial policy and to the persistence of the violation of the international legality and to human rights by Rabat".
On another hand, the Saharawi Minister estimated that this joint decision, adopted both by Ecuador and the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, "is also a message to the UN, which is still hesitating in enforcing its resolutions on Western Sahara, so as to exhort it accelerate the decolonisation of the Western Sahara conforming to the international legality via the organisation of a free and regular self-determination referendum for the Saharawi people", he underlined.
This new victory of the Saharawi diplomacy "strengthens the ties of friendships that links us to the countries an peoples of Latino America", he concluded.
The Republic of Ecuador and the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic announced the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the two States, The Ministries for Foreign Affairs of the two countries declared in a joint press release publicised this February the 08th 2006, it should be recalled.
On Monday the 26th of December 2005,the Oriental Republic of Uruguay announced, its official recognition of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), according to a press release co-signed the day in Montevideo by the Saharawi and Uruguayan Ministers for Foreign Affairs, respectively Mr. Mohamed Salem Ould Salek and Mr. Reinaldo Gargano.
Proclaimed in February the 27th 1976 and a founding Member of the African Union (AU), SADR, which will commemorate its 30th anniversary in 2006 in the liberated territories, in Tifariti, is recognised by more than 70 countries world wide, it should be recalled. (SPS)
060/090/100 091532 Fev 06 SPS
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SPS Algeria and Brazil support a solution to the Western Sahara conflict on the basis of pertinent UN’s resolutions
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Algiers, 09/02/2006 (SPS) The Algerian President, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, and his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, reiterated on Thursday "their support to the efforts of the United Nations for a solution of the Western Sahara’s question on the basis of the pertinent resolutions of the UN’s General Assembly and Security Council", indicated a joint press release publicised by the Algerian Press Service after the visit of State undertaken by the Brazilian President this February the 8 and 9th to Algeria.
The two Head of States, reiterated, in fact, "their support to the efforts deployed, within the framework of the United Nations, for a solution to the Western Sahara’s question conforming to the international legality on the basis of the pertinent resolutions of the UN’s General Assembly and Security Council", underlined the press release publicised after the private meeting the two Presidents had on Thursday in Algiers, broadened afterwards to include the members of the delegations of the two countries.
The two States, further, "reaffirmed the support of Algiers and Brazil to the enforcement of the peace plan adopted by the Security Council of the organisation of the United Nations in its resolutions 1495", known as the Baker Plan II, considered by the Council as an "optimum solution" to the conflict.
It should be noted that Mr. Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, President of the Republic of Brazil, accompanied by an important delegation composed of members of the government and representatives of many sectors undertook, this February the 8 and 9th 2006, a visit of State to Algeria, the first of a Brazilian President since 1983, in response to the invitation of the Algerian President, Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, APS said.
This visit, which comes within the framework of the strengthening of the traditional ties of friendship and cooperation between Algeria and Brazil, was preceded by a visit undertaken last May 2005 by Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika. It also represents an important stage in the political dialogue and exchange of point of view between the two countries on regional, international and common subjects of concern, the Algerian Press Agency concluded. (SPS)
060/090/700 091858 Feb 06 SPS
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SPS President Bouteflika: "the international legality will have the last word" regarding the settlement of the Western Sahara question
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Algiers, 09/02/2006 (SPS) The President of the Algerian Republic, Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, affirmed on Thursday that Algeria is "convinced that at the end the international legality will have the last word" regarding the settlement of the Saharawi question, which "is under the responsibility of the Security Council for 30 years", already, underlined the Algerian President in a toast he pronounced during an official launch he offered on the honour of the Brazilian President, Mr. Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, who is undertaking an official visit to Algeria.
"The question of Western Sahara, which opposes the kingdom of Morocco and Polisario Front, is a decolonisation problem, which solution lies in the exercise by the Saharawi people of their right to self-determination", he declared, estimating that "the international legality will have the last word".
On another hand, he underlined that his country "is not directly concerned" by the conflict of Western Sahara, despite the Moroccan attempts aiming to implicate Algeria in this question. He, further, affirmed that his Government is "concerned" about this conflict because it threatens "peace and stability in our region", reported Algerian Press Service, APS.
The Algerian President, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, and his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, reiterated on Thursday "their support to the efforts of the United Nations for a solution of the Western Sahara’s question on the basis of the pertinent resolutions of the UN’s General Assembly and Security Council", indicated a joint press release publicised by the Algerian Press Service after the visit of State undertaken by the Brazilian President this February the 8 and 9th to Algeria. (SPS)
060/090/700 092300 Feb 06 SPS
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SAHARA
PRESS SERVICE