New York, 10/09/2005 (SPS) Polisario Front called on the UN’s Secretary General (SG), Kofi Annan, to intervene vis-à-vis Morocco so as to release the 37 Saharawi political prisoners who are undertaking a hunger strike in Moroccan jails for more than a month so far and whose states of health reached a critical stage, underlined a written statement by Polisario Front’s Representative in the UN, Boukhari Ahmed. 

The Saharawi diplomat was received, last Friday in New York, by the vice-Secretary General of the UN in Charge of peace-keeping operations, Mr. Gehenno. Mr Boukhari delivered the vice-Secretary General a letter to Annan, about the situation of the Saharawi political prisoners whose  "states of health had seriously deteriorated", the statement stressed. 

Mr. Boukhari discussed with his interlocutor "the permanent human and political rights violations the occupying force, Morocco, is exercising against the Saharawi civil population in the occupied zones o Western Sahara", the statement underlined. 

"The UN’s official promised that the UN will be implicated in the positive resolution o this situation, which seriousness was recognised and on which the UN was permanently informed", the Saharawi diplomat concluded. (SPS) 

010/090/666/ALG/TRD 100945 sept 05 SPS

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SPS OCCUPIED TERRITORIES/INTIFADA/DEMONSTRATION Arrest of 2 persons during demonstrations last Thursday’s evening in El Aaiun

 

SPS OCCUPIED TERRITORIES/EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT European Parliament nominates Mrs. Aminetou Haidar to the Sajarov Human Rights’ Award

Bir Lehlu (liberated territories), 10/09/2005 (SPS) The President of the Republic, Mohamed Abdelaziz, solicited from the South African leader, President Nelson Mandela, to intervene vis-à-vis Morocco for the release of the  37 hunger striking Saharawi political prisoners in Moroccan jails, whose states of health reached a critical stage. 

Here is the complete text of the letter translated from Arabic. 

" HE Mr. Nelson Mandela,

107 Central Ave,

Houghton 2041,

South Africa.

Bir Lehlou, 2 September 2005 

Mr. President,  

It gives me immense pleasure to address to you this letter at the same time as the Saharawi people are reading up to commemorate, with great joy, the first anniversary of the recognition by the Republic of South Africa of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic on 5 September 2004. That momentous event demonstrated further the unwavering support rendered by the African National Congress to all just causes in the world as well as the strong conviction held by extraordinary militants like you and President Thabo Mbeki that liberation knows no borders and that the destiny of revolutionaries is overcoming injustice however and wherever it may be.  

On this occasion, I would like to bring to your kind attention that the Frente POLISARIO and the Government of the Saharawi Republic proceeded, on 18 August 2005, to implement the decision that was taken more than three months regarding the unilateral and unconditional release of all the remaining 404 Moroccan prisoners of war.  

We have made this humanitarian initiative that is indicative of our good will and genuine interest in easing tension and pushing the peace process forward in the wake of the appointment by the UN Secretary-General of his new personal envoy and special representative for Western Sahara. Nonetheless, the initiative came at the same time as Morocco continues to reject implementing the Security Council resolution 1495, and cooperating with international organisations with regard to Saharawi POWs and disappeared. Furthermore, Morocco is carrying on its campaigns of repression, detention and unfair trials against Saharawi citizens in the occupied territories of Western Sahara as a consequence of the peaceful demonstrations that erupted in the territory on 21 May in which the demonstrators were demanding a democratic right guaranteed by international legality and law, namely the right to self-determination.  

Mr. President,  

The issue of Moroccan POWs who were held by the Frente POLISARIO and had been captured in the context of self-defence and legitimate struggle (2983, 1972) is one of the humanitarian questions inherently linked to the conflict, which has been going on in Western Sahara for thirty years between the Moroccan Kingdom and the Frente POLISARIO over the decolonisation of the last territory in Africa.  

Morocco is still unwilling to cooperate with the International Committee of the Red Cross with regard to the 151 Saharawi POWs and to account for the fate of 500 Saharawi disappeared whose cases have been documented by specialised international organisations. Moreover, it still maintains a defensive wall equipped with more than five million landmines including the internationally banned antipersonnel mines, a wall that continues to divide the territory and its people into two halves and to cause many deaths among the civilians every year. Morocco also refuses to cooperate with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in order to continue the visits exchange among Saharawi families who, owing to the conflict, are divided between the refugee camps and the liberated territories on the one hand and the cities and towns under Moroccan occupation, on the other. This enduring tragic humanitarian situation has resulted in real suffering amid hundreds of Saharawi families who are still waiting anxiously for someone to help them obtain information about their members, to dismantle this deadly wall and to persuade Morocco to engage again in the process of family visits exchange.  

These issues constitute a real challenge to all defenders of human and peoples’ rights, among whom you are an unparalleled figure, and render their noble mission and good intentions a glimpse of hope for the Saharawis who have been enduring the tragedies and consequences of the Moroccan occupation of their homeland.  

Mr. President,  

The leadership of the Frente POLISARIO took a voluntary and definitive decision, during its extraordinary session held on 4 May, regarding the release of the last group of Moroccan POWs held by it, in consonance with our humanitarian traditions and in consideration of Security Council resolutions and calls made by friendly individuals and countries among which was your country that we hold in high regard. We postponed the implementation of the decision in view of the escalating systematic repression carried out by Morocco, since 21 May, following the peaceful demonstrations underway in the territory in which the demonstrators have called for enabling the Saharawi people to exercise their democratic right to self-determination through a free, democratic, fair and UN-supervised referendum.  

The United Nations has pointed the finger at Morocco as the responsible for hampering the original settlement plan, which was approved by the Security Council in its resolution 690 (1991), and as the party that is unwilling to implement the additional agreements that were signed in 1997 by the two parties in Houston under the auspices of former US Secretary of State, Mr. James Baker III. Morocco also is still reluctant to engage in the implementation of the Security resolution 1495 (July 2003) that unanimously endorsed the “peace plan for self-determination of the people of Western Sahara”, which was elaborated painstakingly, objectively and professionally by Mr. James Baker III in his capacity as the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara. More seriously, Morocco has declared officially (in its letter dated 29 April 2004) its rejection of the principle of a self-determination referendum, a position that made Mr. Baker tender his resignation, and brought the UN settlement efforts to a deadlock, putting thus the region in the current situation of tension that may open up the conflict for all possibilities.  

The Moroccan rejection of the legitimate and democratic solution to the conflict is what has led the Saharawi citizens in the occupied territories of Western Sahara as well as in the south of Morocco and in Moroccan universities, where Saharawi students study, to take to the streets and demonstrate in a peaceful and civilised way in order to demand to be enabled, without delay, to exercise their legitimate and democratic right to self-determination. The Moroccan authorities reacted by engaging in campaigns of systematic and massive repression that was reported and aired by many international media, and denounced by several human rights organisations (Amnesty International’s report of 2 August 2005), and which remains a cause of great concern for many countries including South Africa. The explosive humanitarian situation in the occupied territories has led Morocco to impose a military siege and an information blackout on those territories and to continue expelling delegations of international observers and media and engaging in many repressive practices against peaceful demonstrators and human rights activists, and resorting to torture, kidnapping, unfair trials and arbitrary detention against dozens of Saharawi citizens. Among these are 37 Saharawi prisoners of conscience (whose list is enclosed herewith) who have been on an open-ended hunger strike since 8 August. Their health situation is deteriorating dramatically and some of them have already fallen into deep coma and their life is in danger unless something is done by an institution like yours or exceptional human rights advocates like you who have made of the defence of human rights and democracy a universal concern that goes beyond geographical borders. Intervention is thus urgently needed before the Moroccan authorities in order that they: 

-        ensure the immediate and unconditional release of all Saharawi prisoners of conscience and revoke the unfair sentences passed on some of them on account of their peaceful demonstration, of which some mount to 20 years imprisonment;

-        allow access to the territory by international observers, organisations and media;

-        release the 151 Saharawi POWs and account for the fate of the 500 Saharawi civilians who have been disappeared since the start of the conflict;

-        engage in the implementation of the Security Council resolution 1495 and allow the legitimate and democratic solution to the conflict, which is based on the principle of a popular plebiscite held under the supervision of the United Nations to express the wishes of the majority of the Saharawi people as regards either integration to Morocco or independence.  

Your intervention, Mr. President, to end the plight of these prisoners of conscience will be another achievement to be added to your record rich in noble positions taken in defence of the rights and dignity of men and women everywhere. I have to admit that the Saharawi people and leadership count very much on your playing an important role in leading an international campaign for the respect for human rights and the right to self-determination in Western Sahara. In doing so, you will be cherishing the memory of our comrades from the ANC, who have devoted their lives for defending just causes around the world, and contributing, as you have always done, to overcoming injustice and decolonising the last territory in our continent.   

Mr. President,  

Whilst we convey our regret as to the plight endured by Moroccan prisoners while in captivity as well as our profound appreciation of the humanitarian concern for them, I would like to underline that it is the Moroccan Kingdom that is fully responsible for their plight as it was the one that pushed them into a war that was waged in violation of international legality and resolutions (the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice issued on 16 October 1975, the report of the UN visiting mission dated 12 October 1975 and the General Assembly resolution 3458 adopted in 1975). It is also the one that obstructed the UN settlement plan that provided for the exchange of the prisoners of war immediately after the beginning of the transitional period; moreover, until very recently the Moroccan Kingdom had been denying the existence of its own POWs. Indeed, at a time when the UN settlement efforts were intensifying, the Frente POLISARIO decided in 1989, as a gesture of good will, to release 200 Moroccan POWs, but Morocco denied their existence for six years; we thereupon had to launch several appeals to the world, which resulted in the intervention in 1995 by the United States of America and other members of the Security Council leading to the repatriation of the POWs to their country.

The Moroccan Government is also fully responsible for any outcome to which the conflict may drift on account of its intransigent positions and its rejection of international legality and resolutions, particularly those related to the principle of a self-determination referendum, as President Thabo Mbeki noted in his historic letter addressed to the King of Morocco on 1 August 2004. The repressive policies and curtailing of fundamental liberties pursued by the Moroccan Government in the occupied territories of Western Sahara, which have been on the rise during the past months, are very dangerous and may endanger the UN settlement efforts and worsen the situation at any moment.  

Mr. President, 

I would like to avail myself of this happy opportunity to extend to you, on behalf of the Saharawi people, an invitation to visit the Saharawi refugee camps so that the Saharawi people may extend to you personally, and through you to the ANC and South Africa, our profound gratitude for the principled positions in support for our just cause. We look forward to your visit, as it will be a significant step that will leave a good impression on the future of settlement, respect for human rights and democracy.  

Please accept, Mr. President, the assurances of my highest consideration. 

Mohamed Abdelaziz,

Secretary-General of the Frente POLISARIO,

President of the Saharawi Republic, 

Annexe: 

List of Saharawi Prisoners of Conscience who have been on hunger strike in Moroccan jails 

1.       Aminatu Haidar

2.       Ali Salem Tamek

3.       Noumria Brahim

4.       Mohamed Moutawakil

5.       Houssein Idri

6.       Arbi Massoud

7.       Hmad Hamad

8.       Boukerfa Abdelrahman

9.       Lehssan Zreighnat

10.     Hassna Hairish

11.     Bouamoud Mohamed Salem

12.     Dawadi Omar

13.     Baba Arabi

14.     Hamadi Karsha

15.     Alwat Sidi Mohamed

16.     Bachir Baba

17.     Ndour Houssein

18.     Hafed Tawbali

19.     Abdelaziz Dai

20.     Nafaa Boushama

21.     Alamin Bada

22.     Shreih Hamou

23.     Slami Mohamed Salem

24.     Daaki Mohamed

25.     Moussaoui Sid Ahmed

26.     Mohamed Mahmoud Fak

27.     Ahmed Mahmoud Hadi Kainan

28.     Mahmoud Moustapha Haddad

29.     Hadi Shrief Ahmed Fal

30.     Hassana Meki

31.     Rashid Mohamed Bahia

32.     Shtioui Mahdjub

33.     Balla Sidi Mohamed

34.     Tahlil Mohamed

35.     Djenhi Khalifa

36.     Houeid Mahmoud

37.     Wali Admidan". (SPS) 

010/090/100/ALG/TRD 101732 sept 05 SPS

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