SPS OCCUPIED TERRITORIES/HUMAN RIGHTS The ASVDH calls on the UN to protect Saharawis from Moroccan repression         25.10.06

 

El Aaiun (occupied territories), 25/10/2006 (SPS) The Saharawi Association of the Victims of Human Rights Violations Committed by the Moroccan State (ASVDH) called on the UN to "put an end to the human rights violations committed by the Moroccan State against the Saharawi citizen, through the creation of a mechanism that guarantee the protection of these defenceless citizens in the occupied territories of the Western Sahara".

In this respect, the ASVDH also desired "the enlargement of the competences of the UN’s Mission for the organisation of a Referendum in the Western Sahara to include human rights", indicated a press release the Association publicised on Wednesday, of which SPS received a copy.

On another hand, the text reported "new campaigns of arrest, abduction and intimidation", targeting dozens Saharawis, especially human rights defenders that were submitted, "to the most barbarous methods of physical and psychological torture" in Moroccan police station.

The Saharawi Association expressed its solidarity with all the victims of the Moroccan repression and with the Saharawi human rights activists and political prisoners, in particular the Secretary General of the Association and the Member of the Member of the same’s Coordination Council, , Ahmed Sbai, asking for their immediate release. (SPS)

020/090/110/TRD 251150 Oct 06 SPS

 

 

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SPS SADR/SPAIN Spain for a solution to the Western Sahara’s conflict "within the framework of the UN’s resolutions" (Moratinos)

  

Madrid, 25/10/2006 (SPS) Spain supports a "just, mutually acceptable solution to the Western Sahara’s conflict, that provides for the self-determination of the Saharawi people" and conform with the "principles and resolutions" of t UN, The Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Miguel Angel Moratinos, affirmed on Tuesday.

"The Spanish Government works and will continue to work for a definitive settlement of the Western Sahara that is, I repeat, politic, mutually acceptable and provides for the exercise of the self-determination by the Saharawi people", Mr. Moratinos declared before the Spanish Parliament’s Commission for Foreign Affairs.

According to the Spanish Head of diplomacy, "what is needed is that the parties to the conflict, Morocco and Polisario Front, be willing to negotiate to find a solution within the framework of the UN, its principles and resolutions".

Before this statement, the Coordinator of the "Izquierda unida" (3rd political force in Spain), Mr. Gaspar Llamazares, said his party can not understand the reason behind Spain’s abstention during the recent vote of resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly’s Fourth Commission on Decolonisation on the Western Sahara conflict. (SPS)

020/090/700/TRD 251045 Oct 06 SPS

 

 

 

 

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SPS SADR/GREAt BRITAIN Closure of the photos exposition "Visions of Western Sahara" at the seat of London’s Mayoralty

  
London, 25/10/2006 (SPS) The photos exposition "Visions of the Western Sahara", organised since the beginning of October in an exposition in London’s Mayoralty City Hall, was closed on Tuesday evening.

The closure of this exposition, which was organised under the auspices of the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, intervenes few hours after a historical debate, held for the first time in the British House of Common, on the Western Sahara’s question.

The photos exposition, which was organised on the initiative of the British cultural Foundation Sandblast, coincided with a big demonstration that will last to this March under the theme "Black History Season 2007", which aims to present the cultural contributions of African and Caribbean countries in the enrichment of the cultural life of London.

The photos exposition, which includes pictures on the sufferings of the Saharawi refugees and the humanitarian and political dimensions of the conflict.

In his speech on the occasions of the closing ceremony, Polisario Front’s Representative in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Mr. Mohamed Sidi Omar paid tribute to Mr. Ken Livingstone, the sponsor of the demonstration, "which helped in conveying the voice of the Saharawi people in one of the biggest capitals of the world".

"The photos exposition relates the conditions of life of the Saharawi refugees, but also gives an idea about the dimension of the political problem consisting in an illegal occupation that forces the Saharawi population to live for thirteen years in exile", the Saharawi official said.

The closing ceremony took place with the participation of the Director of the Sanblast Foundation, Mrs. Danielle Smith as well as Mrs. Charlotte McAuley, Director of "Landmine Action", an organisation that is working on de-mining in the Polisario Front’s controlled territories of the Western Sahara.

This organisation is now working in the liberated territory of Tifariti in a programme of de-mining and training of Saharawi specialist as a part of an accord signed last year between the organisation and Polisario Front.

The exposed photos were shot in the Saharawi refugee camps by Saharawi amateurs and also by the famous British photographer, Miss. Kyna Gourley who had already publicised many photos in big magazines such as the "Marie Claire" magazine.

Thidea, Mrs. Danielle Smith says, came after the destruction cause by the torrential rains and floods last February 2006, which showed a part of the hard conditions of li these refugees, are living. (SPS)

020/090/700 251034 Oct 06 SPS

 

 

 

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SPS SADR/GREAT BRITAIN Historical debate in the UK House of Commons in favour of a referendum in the Western Sahara

 
London, 25/10/2006 (SPS) The British Minister for the Middle East, Dr. Kim Howells, declared on Tuesday that the United Kingdom supports the UN’s efforts to achieve a " just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution that will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara".

Answering the questions of labour’s deputies on Tuesday during a historical debate on the Western Sahara’s question in the UK House of Commons, Dr. Kim Howells also recalled that the UK has voted in favour of the UN’s General Assembly Fourth Commission’s resolution that "restated past UN resolutions, including support for the Baker plan".

M. Howels further stressed that "the Security Council will discuss MINURSO tomorrow, and we will play an active role in those discussions. We support the extension of MINURSO’s mandate for a further six months", before he underlined that the "status of Western Sahara has been undetermined for more than 30 years. Resolving that would have a positive benefit for the region and its people".

During the debate, the first of its kind on Western Sahara in the UK House of Commons, Mr. David Drew (Labour) gave a briefing on the evolution of the Saharawi cause, especially in the Security Council, recalling the engagements of the international community with the Saharawi people, mainly the organisation of a self-determination referendum.

The Labour’s Parliamentarian also evoked the human rights’ situation in the occupied territories of the Western Sahara on the light of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN HCHR), asking the UK Government to demand the publication of its report, which was only available to the public after it leaked and unveiled the Moroccan occupation’s reality.

Mr. David Drew called on the UK Government to work for the creation of a mechanism for human rights’ monitoring in the Western Sahara.

Mr. Jeremy Corbyn declared to be disappointed because of the failure of the international community to organise a self-determination referendum, while the UN has promised to hold it more than 13 years ago, before he recalled the UN’s resolution that recommends the organisation of a referendum in "the last colony of Africa".

"The United Kingdom has a vital role to play in resolving the dispute, which has gone on far too long. It has a legal responsibility under the UN charter as a permanent member of the Security Council to protect the people of Western Sahara from continuing Moroccan oppression", Mr. Corbyn said. SPS)

020/090/700/TRD 251030 Oct 06 SPS

 

 

 

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SPS OCCUPIED TERRITORIES/SPAIN A Galician delegation succeeded in entering the occupied city of El Aaiun

Madrid, 25/10/2006 (SPS) A delegation from the Spanish autonomous region of Galicia (North-West Spain) succeeded in entering the occupied capital of the Western Sahara, in the weekend, and to record ''systematic violations'' of human rights in this territory, declared the State Coordination of Spanish Associations supporting the Western Sahara (CEAS-Sahara).

CEAS-Sahara underlined that it is the first time a Spanish delegation succeeds in entering the occupied city of El Aaiun and investigate in situ the human rights situation in the occupied territories of the Western Sahara Morocco is colonising.

The same source added that the aforementioned delegation met many Saharawi human rights activists during its visit and was able to note "the terrible conditions" in which the Saharawi population is living under "detentions, tortures and innumerable atrocities" committed by the Moroccan State.

On another hand, the Spanish newspaper "La Voz de Galicia", in its Tuesday edition, indicated that the delegation was interpellated by the Moroccan police on Monday in the El Aaiun’s airport and confiscated some documents containing testimonies of some Saharawis the delegation collected during its visit.

The delegation was composed of the Deputy-President of the Galician Association of Solidarity with the Saharawi people, Mrs. Maria José Andrade, Journalist Maria Villar, Galician Nationalist Bloc’s (BNG) National Councillor, Duarte Correa, and a representative of the Galician Fund of Cooperation, José Maria Permuy.

More than fifteen Spanish and international delegation, composed of parliamentarian, journalists and members of associations were not allowed to visit the occupied territories of the Western Sahara since the starting of the Saharawi Intifada last May 2005. (SPS)

020/090/700/TRD 251040 Oct 06 SPS 

 

 

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SPS OCCUPIED TERRITORIES/HUMAN RIGHTS/JOURNALISM Saharawi Journalists and Writers Union denounces the expulsion of Norwegian journalists from the occupied city of El Aaiun

 

ِِِ ِِِChahid El Hafed, 25/10/2006, (SPS) Saharawi Journalists and Writers Union (UPES) denounced the expulsion by Moroccan authorities, on Tuesday, of two Norwegian journalists, Miss. Anne Torhild Nilsen and Mr. Radmund Steinsvag, upon their landing in the airport of the occupied capital of the Western Sahara, El Aaiun, reported a press release publicised Wednesday by the UPES.

 

"In 24 October 2006 at 11.00 GMT, two Norwegian journalists, Miss. Anne Torhild Nilsen and Mr. Radmund Steinsvag, were denied entry to the occupied capital of the Western Sahara, El Aaiun, by the Moroccan authorities while they were planning to do their work as journalists and investigate on allegations of human rights violations committed by the Moroccan State in the Non-Self-Territory", the text indicated.

 

In a written statement the two journalists affirmed they had applied for press visas last January 2006 from the Moroccan Ambassador in Norway, been the representative of the colonial administration, in vain.

 

"The Moroccan strategy of not answering applications from unwanted journalists is clever. When they do not answer, there is not much anyone can do. It seems like they just follow the rules of any democratic country, demanding that their laws should be followed, and that the problem is not the visitor, but details when it comes to paperwork. This leaves the impression that visiting journalists are "the bad guys" breaking the rules, and not being professional enough to wait for an answer that of course will be positive, it just sometimes takes time", she underlined.

 

UPES, "denounces these administrative manipulations frequently used by the Moroccan authorities, which deny entry to the territory to many journalists, Medias, delegations, observers, NGOs, without directly giving a clear rejection to their applications".

 

The Saharawi organisation expressed "its open solidarity and support to these journalists, paying tribute to their efforts aiming to inform the international public opinion about the reality of the situation in a sealed Non-Self-Governing territory, the Western Sahara".

 

It further calls "the international community, the UN and also national and international organisations, especially Medias and human rights organisations, to break the media siege imposed on the territory and to divulge the reality of the Moroccan occupation in Western Sahara".

 

The journalists, it should be recalled, had already worked in the Saharawi refugees’ camps and in the liberated territories of Western Sahara without any obstacle last March 2005.

 

In April the 14th, 2005 they decided to penetrate the occupied territories of Western Sahara, "to present the story and the different aspects of the question" declared Miss. Nilsen to the journalist of SPS then.

 

In April the 17th, 2005 at 11.00 GMT,  Mr. Radmund Steinsvag, got arrested for an hour because he tried to take pictures of a peaceful demonstration organised by tens of Saharawi citizens in the "Meca" street in front of the hotel of ''Negjir", where Minurso members live.

 

It should be recalled that this is not the first case of the kind. The Norwegian independent journalist, Erik Hagen, was expulsed on April the 5th, 2004 by the Moroccan colonial authorities, who drove him out by force to the neighbouring Mauritania, after having interrogated him for many hours in the police station.

 

Two other Norwegian journalists, Tor Dagfinn Dommersnes and Fredrik Refvem, were expulsed in June the 16th 2004 by the Moroccan authorities because they were planning to interview Ali Salem Tamek, the Saharawi ex-political prisoner and human rights activist.

 

On another hand, French freelance journalist Catherine Graciet and her compatriot photographer Nadia Ferroukhi, were deported to Agadir While they were planning to visit El Aaiun for the same up mentioned reasons, and were questioned at length by Moroccan authorities then deported to France in January the 28, 2004, it should be recalled. (SPS)

 

060/090/000 252346 Oct 06 SPS

 

 

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