SPS SADR/MOROCCO/REPRESSION The Saharawi Government denounces "the tragic disappearance" of 35 forced Saharawi migrants 11.10.06

  

Chahid El Hafed, 11/10/2006 (SPS) The Saharawi Government denounced "the tragic disappearance" of 35 Saharawi youngsters in a shipwreck (a zodiac) in which they embarked under constraints to head for the Spanish Canaries Islands, reported a press release by the Ministry of the Occupied Territories, publicised on Wednesday.

 

In this sad occasion, the Saharawi Government "presents, on behalf of the Saharawi people, its sincere condolences and compassion to the families of the shipwrecked". And also implores the Almighty "to provide consolation to the relatives of the late victims".

 

On another hand, the Saharawi Government imputed to Morocco "this coward an cruel assassination", which intervenes t a moment when "the pitiless and bloody repression is taking more and more extent in the occupied Saharawi territories against the peaceful demonstrations that advocate, since last May 2005, the end of the Moroccan colonial occupation and demand the Saharawi people’s right to self-determination", the press release noted.

 

"We energetically denounce this inhuman practice against innocents", the text added, calling on the UN "to protect the helpless Saharawi population in the occupied territories of the Western Sahara". 

 

To the Saharawi Government, this crime illustrates "the seriousness of the situation in which the Saharawi populations are. They are not only submitted to tortures, drastic restrictions against the freedom of expression, association and gathering but are now forced to leave their country, especially for the youngsters”, stressing that this is a Moroccan strategy aimed at annihilating the Saharawi population. 

 

A new violation, through which the Moroccan Government shows its "total defiance of the fundamental human rights", the press release stressed. 

 

The Saharawi Government finally addressed an appeal to the Saharawis in the occupied territories of the Western Sahara and in the south of Morocco, "to more resistance and vigilance against the Moroccan colonial policy aiming to empty the Saharawi territories under Moroccan occupation from its Saharawi population, stressing that the future and the dignity of the Saharawis can only be on their homeland".

 

Among the shipwrecked, a group of 11 Saharawi youngsters were saved by a Belgian ship and are now in Las Palmas (Canaries Islands), the press release, of which SPS received a copy, indicated.  (SPS)

 

020/090/100/TRD 111245 Oct 06 SPS

 

Here is the list of 24 Saharawis youngsters who passed away in the shipwreck, according to the Ministry of the Occupied Territories press release:

 

  1.- ADBELMAJID

    2.- AHL TALEB AHMED

    3.- HAFID

    4.- TEKRIDA ABDLEKRIM

    5.- BURIAL MOHAMED

    6.- BURIAL HAMZA

    7.- BAL-LA HAMADI

    8.- LEFKIR CHRIF

    9.- MAHMUDI MAHMUD

    10.- SAYED HARBALI

    11.- LOUMEICH NAJEM HMAYADA

    12.- CHRIF najem HMAYADA

    13.- BEIJA CHOUEIKHA

    14.- LEHREIBLI HICHAM

    15.- Al Oumri Jamaa

    16.- ALI FEIDAL

    17.- ALBAHJAOUI HAMZA MOHAMED SEDIK

    18.- BUBAKAR MOHAMED NAJEM

    19.-LUMADAN ELHADI SALEK HASAN

    20.- Khneibila Mahjoub Lefdil Beni

    21.- Chtioui Mohamed Maati

    22.- JARBUCH HOSSEIN HAMADI AYAD

    23.- AFTICH EMBAREK HASANNA

    24.- HMEIDOUCH ABDESLAM BRAHIM ABDERRAHMAN

 

LIST OF THE 11 SURVIVERS:

 

1.- ABDESLAM BOUREGAA

2.- MOHAMED ALHAMICH

3.- BOUZEID AFREID

4.- SLEIMAN ALMAHMUDI

5.- SIDAHMED LEHMAS

6.- MAHMUD BACHIR

7.- MAHMUD MBAIDA

8.- HASAN AHL TALEB

9.- HASAN BURIAL

10.- DAHMAN MANSUR

11.- AHMED LEGHZAL

 

up

SPS SADR/DENMARK/REFERENDUM Denmark for the Saharawi people’s right to self-determination

  

Copenhagen, 11/10/2006 ( The Danish under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, M. IB Petersen, declared that his country "supports and militates for a peaceful solution that respects the right to self-determination, within the framework of the UN", after a meeting he had with the Saharawi Coordinator with the Minurso, Mr. Mhamed Khadad, on Tuesday in Copenhagen, indicated a Saharawi official press release.

Mr. Khadad asked Denmark, a non permanent member of the UN Security Council, for "a better implication of the Security Council for the materialisation of its engagements adopted in order to finish the decolonisation of the Western Sahara", which implicates according to the international legality, "the exercise by the Saharawi people of their inalienable right to self-determination".

He further asked for "the protection of the concerned populations via appropriate mechanisms and to enable them enjoy their rights conforming to the pertinent international conventions", following the "clear conclusions of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights regarding the policy of terror adopted by the Moroccan authorities in the occupied territories".

The discussions between the two parties also tackled the ongoing debates in the UN Fourth Commission of political questions and decolonisation on the Western Sahara as well as the future report of Kofi Annan to the UN Security Council, the same press release stressed.

The meeting between the two senior officials was also attended by Mr. Raddi Salek, Polisario Front’s Representative in Denmark and Jens Hansen, person in charge for the Department of the Maghreb at the Danish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, it was indicated. (SPS)

010/090/100/TRD 111108 Oct 06 SPS

 

 

 

up

SPS OCCUPIED TERRITORIES/HUMAN RIGHTS Two Saharawi NGOs express their condolences to the families of the Saharawi shipwrecked

  

Chahid El Hafed, 11/10/2005 (SPS) The Association of the Families of the Saharawi Prisoners and Disappeareds (AFAPREDESA) and the Union of the Saharawi Jurists (UJS) addressed a, on Wednesday, their sincere condolences to the families of the 24 Saharawi youngsters who passed away as a result to the shipwreck of their zodiac that was transporting them with another group of 11 Saharawis who were rescued, the two NGOs declared in a press release.

 

In this sad occasion, AFAPREDESA and the UJS "presented their sincere condolences and their vivid compassion to the families of the shipwrecked".  And also implore the Almighty "to provide consolation to the relatives of the late victims".

 

On another hand, the two NGOs considered that the Moroccan Government is the responsible of "this coward and tragic assassination", because of its "colonial policy that aims at emptying the Western Sahara from the youth".

 

They also condemned this odious crime that, "is an addition to the criminal process inflicted by the Moroccan State against the helpless Saharawi citizens in the occupied territories of the Western Sahara, since the Moroccan invasion in 1975".

 

AFAPREDESA and UJS finally launched an urgent appeal to the UN’s Secretary General to dispatch an international mission to the occupied territories of the Western Sahara, so as to "protect the Saharawi population from the Moroccan repression". (SPS)

 

020/090/110/TRD 111345 Oct 06 SPS 

 

up

SPS SADR/ITALY/SOLIDARITY "Roma Award" granted to the Saharawi people

  

Roma, 11/10/2006 (SPS) The active solidarity of Roma region’s authorities with the Saharawi people was again demonstrated through the granting of the Roma Award to the Saharawi people for their legitimate struggle for freedom and independence.

 

The ceremony of the presentation of the Award to the Wali (Governor) of the Smara refugee camp, Omar Mansour, which coincided with the 136th anniversaries of the creation of this prestigious Award, took place on Tuesday at the Valentini Palace with the presence of the civil and Military officials of the Italian Capital, and more than one hundred Mayors of the communities of the region.

 

This event was an opportunity for the Italian officials of Roma region to express their solidarity and ''strong engagement'' with the Saharawi people in their ''just struggle for self-determination and independence''.

 

The President of the region, Enrico Gasbarra, saluted ''the peaceful struggle and claims of the Saharawi people", who are "struggling since 30 years to make their voice heard". "A martyr people, who is confined in the status of refugees because of the blockages and delays of the Moroccan authorities and international bodies", he underlined.

 

''Our conviction is strong in favour of the Saharawi cause and our solidarity and presence by their side will tirelessly be pursued until the realisation of their claims", Mr. Gasbarra affirmed.

 

Declaring to be honoured by this distinction granted to the Saharawi people, Mr. Omar Mansour recalled in his intervention the extremely hash conditions of life in the Saharawi refugee camps and in the occupied territories, especially with the ''Moroccan authorities continues violation of human rights".

 

He also evoked the recent report of the UN High Commissioner’s report, which accuses Rabat of gross human rights violations, as well as the decision taken by Morocco in annulling the European Parliament ad hoc delegation’s visit that was planed for last October the 5^th to the occupied territories of the Western Sahara. (SPS)

 

010/090/700/TRD 1714 oct 06 SPS

 

up

SPS SADR/SPAIN/SOLIDARITY Spanish singes recorded a CD to the profit of the Saharawi children

   

Madrid, 11/10/2006 (SPS) More than ten Spanish singers recorded a CD, which revenues will be destined to the reconstruction of a boarding school in the Saharawi refugee camps, namely the 9^th of June School, which was destroyed by the torrential rains and floods last February 2006.

 

Famous Spanish starts such as Joaquin Sabina, Diego el Cigala, Isabel Pantoja, among others participated to the recording of this CD.

 

The CD, entitled "Children glance" is produced by Sony BMG, and was presented last Tuesday in Madrid during a press conference animated at the Circle of Lectures, with the presence of the Saharawi Minister for Culture, Mrs. Mariam Salek, and Polisario Front’s Representative in the Spanish Capital, Mr. Brahim Ghali.

 

In her intervention during the event, Mrs. Mariam Hmada thanked the promoters of this solidarity initiative, which has, she said, a special significance at a moment when the "the international aid to the Saharawi refugees was reduced by 43 %".

 

Mrs. Mariem denounced this reduction, which will "have as a consequence, if nothing is done to overcome it, a real famine among the Saharawi children and women", living in the refugee camps.

 

She launched an appeal to the Spanish public opinion to act on a double plan. On the one hand, to oeuvre so as to help break the blockage imposed by Morocco on the occupied territories of the Western Sahara, and on the other hand, to enounce the reduction of the international humanitarian aid in favour of the Saharawi refugees.  

 

Mr. Paco Martin, Artistic Director in Sony BMG, hoped that this CD would be "the first of many other projects of solidarity", with the Saharawi people. (SPS)

 

010/090/700/TRD 111709 oct 06 SPS

 

up

SPS MOROCCO/UN/MINURSO/FLAGS Minurso lowers Moroccan flag from its Headquarters in the occupied city of El Aaiun, an impartiality requirement, UN’s mission affirms

   

El Aaiun (occupied territories), 11/10/2006 (SPS) The Moroccan flag, which was flying within the Headquarters of the UN’s Mission for the organisation of a Referendum in the Western Sahara (MINURSO) was, finally, lowered last October the 2^nd by the same mission, by concern of "impartiality", the Minurso affirmed in a press release publicised last Tuesday in the occupied capital of the Western Sahara, El Aaiun.

 

"As the United Nations and MINURSO need to be strictly impartial in the conflict in Western Sahara to fully exercise our peacekeeping and mediating roles, the presence of national symbols of the two parties could cause problems in our future work to assist the parties in maintaining the ceasefire", stressed Minurso’s press release, of which SPS received a copy.

 

In this respect, "a number of national symbols were removed in MINURSO compounds both east and west of the Berm", the text stressed, adding that as a continuation of this process, "the flag of Morocco flying within the Mission HQ in El Aaiun was lowered on 2 October 2006, at 18:15hrs".

 

This action is "was in agreement with the spirit and the letter of article 9 of the SOFA (Status of Force Agreement) signed on 11 February 1999 between the United Nations and the Kingdom of Morocco, which specified the right of the United Nations Mission, MINURSO, to fly the UN Flag at its offices", Minurso further emphasised.

 

MINURSO is present in the Western Sahara since the enforcement of the cease-fire signed by Polisario Front and Morocco in 1991 within the framework of the UN Settlement plan that was supposed to lead to a self-determination referendum for the Saharawi people. Morocco still refuse to organise this referendum, it should be recalled. (SPS)

 

010/090/666/TRD 111347 oct 06 SPS

 

up