|
|
|
SPS 28.06.05
|
|
El Aaiun (occupied territories),
28/06/2005 (SPS) an international
Campaign for the release of Aminatu
Haidar and all Saharawi political prisoners was launched
simultaneously
in occupied territories of Western Sahara and in other capitals in
Europe, the USA and Australia, announced a press
release publicised in
El Aaiun by the Steering Committee of the campaign.
"We are launching an international campaign for the release of AMINATOU
HAIDAR and all Saharawi political prisoners", indicated the press
release that coincides with the International Day in Support for
Victims of Torture (26 of June).
The text recalled that since the 21st of May 2005, Saharawi civil
population in the occupied city of El Aaiun is organising series of
"peaceful demonstrations claiming the right to self-determination for
the Saharawi people". Moroccan authorities of occupation have replied
with " savage and brutal repression and have perpetrated serious human
rights abuses: abductions, arbitrary detentions, breaking into houses
and turning out o their Saharawi owners, degrading treatment and
torture of dozens of Saharawis including some still in various
prisons", the text added.
A reason that pushed the signatories of the press release declare their
solidarity with " the victims of repression during demonstrations in El
Aaiun, Smara, Boujdour, Dakhla, Goulimine, Tan Tan, Assa and Saharawi
students in Moroccan universities".
"We demand from the Kingdom of Morocco immediately to live the military
and media blockade in the territory of Western Sahara " (…) "denounce
the ban on access to the territory for foreign delegations decreed by
the Moroccan authorities of occupation" (…) and " demand that the
Moroccan authorities bring to justice those responsible for cases of
bad treatment, torture and abuse, both those giving the orders and
those carrying them out", the press release added.
The signatories called all governments, institutions, political
organisations and movements to "exercise all the necessary pressure to
require the scrupulous respect of fundamental rights of the Saharawi
civil population in the occupied territories".
To adhere the
campaign contact: Cpl_haidar@yahoo.es (SPS)
060/090/666 280056/TRD June 05 SPS
|
SPS
|
|
El Aaiun (occupied territories),
28/06/2005 (SPS) Saharawi human rights activist and political prisoner,
Aminetou Haidar,
presented a touching testimony on the sufferings she undergoes since
Moroccan authorities put her in detention because of her activities in
favour of the defence of human rights in Western Sahara, which are
daily violated by Moroccan colonial authorities.
Human rights’ defender since 1987, Aminetou Haidar, was present during
the entire struggle for human rights’ respect in Western Sahara. Since
she was released in 1991, member to many Committees of defence of
prisoners, she suffered because of this harassments and intimidations
exercised against her by Moroccan authorities..
An international
campaign was launched demanding her release and her compatriots,
Saharawi political prisoners, to which everybody is invited to join.
The following testimony, she wrote from her cell in the Black Orison
(Carcel Negra) in El Aaiun, tell her experience since she was arrested
at the hospital in El Aaiun where she was having medical care for the
wounds she had few hours before during Moroccan authorities attack
against her. She also talks about the physical and moral torture she
underwent until she arrived to the prison waiting for a trial her
torturers are preparing for her.
Here is the complete text of the testimony:
"From my cell in the black Prison in the occupied city of El Aaiun, I
try to tell you the circumstances of my “abduction” at nigh in front of
the emergencies of the hospital "Hassan Ben Mehdi" and about the
torture I underwent with other Saharawi activists in the middle of the
street by Moroccan repressive elements under the direct command of the
following torturers:
Abou Hasan Ichi: Commander of the Groups of Urban Security (GUS).
Abdellah Abhiri: Commander-in-chief of the fast forces of intervention.
Hamid Bahri: vice-prefect of El Aaiun, person in charge for the
department of security.
Mustafa Maaza: Pasha and vice-prefect of the Governor of Aaiun.
Ahmed Salim: provincial chief of DST (direction of the territorial
surveillance).
Bucreicha Moulud: police chief of DST.
Drunk-Aabeid Karrab: Kaid – a high official in the Makhzen in charge
for the Wilaya of Aaiun.
Maati Mudrik: Commander of Moroccan police in Aaiun.
In June 17, 2005, at 19:30 GMT, with a group of Saharawi activists, I
was preparing for a peaceful demonstration in Smara Avenue aiming at
denouncing the flagrant violations of human rights, perpetrated by the
Moroccan repressive corps against Saharawi citizens during the Intifada
of independence which started on May 21, 2005. The police forces: GUS,
CMI and auxiliary forces cruelly intervened against the demonstrators.
The above mentioned high officers moved towards us, and without
introduction, they started beating us savagely. They tortured us
wildly, our wounds were so serious that each one of us was completely
covered with its blood.
My companions Lidri Husein and Fatma Ayach, also suffered from serious
wounds on the level of their heads and on other parts of their bodies.
In addition, we were subjected to insults, vexations, humiliations and
ill treatments.
Our companion, Saharawi human rights’ defender (ex-disappeared), Hmad
Hammad, was informed of the situation, he came and took us in his car
to the emergencies of the hospital, he was preoccupied about us because
we had lost much blood and were unconscious. I was informed after that,
that he was arrested by agents of the GUS and the CMI, who tortured him
without pity and in public in front of the hospital. He is currently in
a serious state.
At the hospital, I had 10 stitches in the head, my companion Lidri had
four. We were examined but the doctors refused to deliver us medical
certificates. That was the same case with all the victims of the
INTIFADA. It should be noted that inside the hospital was full with
police agents and the outside surrounded by police forces: GUS and
agents of the secret service, which prohibited the entry to Saharawis
who came to support us.
At the exit of the emergencies of the hospital at 23:30 GMT, agents of
the criminal police and members of the GUS led by their respective
chiefs Hamid Bahri and Abou Husein Ichi, arrested me and took me to the
central police station in Smara Avenue.
In 18/06/2005, they transferred me to another police station, in the
"November 24" street. Agents of the criminal police and agents of other
repressive corps, such as the royal gendarmerie, DST, military
intelligence and secret service, proceeded to my interrogation.
At 19:30 GMT of June 19, 2005, they forced me to accompany several
agents of various security corpses to the seat of Saharawi Association
of the Victims of the serious violations of the humans’ rights
perpetrated by the Moroccan State in Western Sahara. They ransacked the
seat of the association, breaking the door, they confiscated placards,
photos and the archive of this association. They then questioned me
about all the confiscated material and on the activities of the
association.
In June 20, 2005, 13:00 GMT, they presented me before of the Attorney
General of the Court of Appeal of El Aaiun, deploying considerable
measures of security.
He decided my transfer to the black Prison, to present me before of the
examining magistrate, charging me of many allegations that have nothing
to do with the truth.
In the presence of my lawyer, Erguibi Lehbib, I did not sign the
declarations, I denied all the charges, in addition I asked for the
opening of an investigation on the torture to which I was subjected
like my companions and deposited a complaint against the persons
accountable for these crimes, while expressing my determination to
defend the inalienable right of my people to self-determination and
independence in conformity with United Nations’ and Security Council’s
resolutions.
Currently, I share a cell with prisoners of common right, under
precarious sanitary conditions, I am extremely suffering, because of
the deep wounds in my head and my back, on which I already had a
surgical operation (L 4) at the level of the column during the year
1992, few time after I was released with other Saharawi ‘disappeareds’
in June 1991.
I also have health problems in my stomach and heart, and I suffer from
haemorrhoids and rheumatism.
I asked for medical care for my wounds on several occasions, the
administration of the black Prison refuses to answer my claims. And
this situation reminds me of the 3 years and half disappearance I went
through between 1987 and 1991.
This prison does not apply for the minimal conditions a penitentiary
institution should provide for. We do not have right to daily visits,
to radio nor to reading (press, newspapers....). We do not have the
right to the minimum basic food, drugs and other personal needs.
Finally, I would like to recall you that I am a mother to two children.
I was arrested before in November 21, 1987 in El Aaiun by Moroccan
torturers: Aalabuch, Saleh Zemrag, Brahim Ben Sami, Ben Hima, Esanhaji,
Ahriz Laarbi, Eromi Ayad, Etaifi, Abou Hasan Ichi, Lehliui Bachir, Abd
El Hak Rabii, and Mohamed Elgaruani, whereas a technical delegation of
the United Nations was in visit in the Sahara Occidental. I was unable
to continue my studies, the Moroccan authorities refused to give me a
passport during the last 17 years. Because of my determination to
defend my opinions, my political position and my activities with
regards to the defence of human rights the Moroccan administration
deprived me of my salary knowing that I used to work as an employee in
the town of Boujdour.
El Aaiun, black Prison, 24.06.05"(SPS)
060/090/666 281230 June 05 SPS
|
SPS
|
|
Oslo, 28/06/2005 (SPS) 13 Norwegian
NGOs called their Government today to put pressures on Morocco to stop
its “atrocities” committed against Saharawi population in Western
Sahara “in the absence of international media and observers”. They
expressed their preoccupation about this “alarming” situation in the
non-self-governing territory and called for the protection of the
Saharawi civilians under Moroccan occupation, indicated a press release
signed by the NGOs.
Declaring that “the situation for the Saharawi people in occupied
Western Sahara is alarming, and the Kingdom of Morocco commits
atrocities in the absence of international media and observers”, 12
Norwegian NGOs “join the Rafto Foundation in calling on the Norwegian
Government to put pressure on Morocco to immediately stop the
repression of the Saharawi people”, in all Saharawi occupied cities,
south Morocco and in Moroccan universities, the press release indicated.
Underlining the peaceful nature of the Saharawi demonstrations the
occupied territories witnessed since the 21st of June 2005, the 13 NGOs
denounced “the brutal repression” with which Morocco responded to
Saharawi legitimate and peaceful claims for their right to
self-determination and for the implementation of the relevant UN
resolutions on the decolonisation of Western Sahara.
“The Moroccan authorities have responded to these peaceful
demonstrations with brutal repression, thus violating the most
fundamental human rights principles of the right to demonstrate and
freedom of expression. According to reliable sources more than 300
people have been wounded, and some of them are now suffering from very
serious injuries, struggling to survive and are denied any medical
assistance in hospital. 85 people are imprisoned, and more than 30
people are missing. Protesting Saharawi students in Morocco have been
subjected to violent reprisals, brutalised by Moroccan police, being
dismissed from universities and having their dorms plundered”, the text
put.
Recalling that “the winner of the Bergen- based Rafto award for 2002,
Sidi Mohammed Daddach, yesterday sent an urgent appeal to Norwegian
NGOs, urging them to defend the rights of the Saharawis under
occupation”, the 13 NGOs stressed on the dangers Saharawi human rights
activists are living under the state of siege the territory is
subjected to by Moroccan colonial authorities since its bloody invasion
of the territory 1975.
"Human rights activists are in particularly targeted by the Moroccan
security forces. Aminatou Haidar, a prominent and courageous women's
rights activist, was tortured in public in Smara Street, El Aaiun on
Friday, June 17, 2005 . She was arrested the same night as she was
leaving the hospital. The injuries on her head and back are causing her
health troubles. She has been denied sufficient medical treatment. The
Moroccan authorities also denied her a medical certificate to prove the
injuries from torture”, the press release gave as an example.
The NGOs finally expressed their firm belief that this “serious
situation must be dealt with urgently by the international community,
using all available political and diplomatic means”.
They called on their Government to work with the UN Secretary General,
Kofi Annan, and other governments to “Ensure that national and
international media have access” to the sealed territory, “to urgently
establish an international commission of inquiry” to investigate the
“atrocities committed against civilians in Western Sahara and Morocco”
and to “authorise permanent international observers and human rights
observers with the aim of protecting the civilian Saharawi population,
harassed by the Moroccan army, police, and other representatives of the
Moroccan Government.
The press release, of which SPS received a copy, is signed by The Rafto
Foundation, Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, Norwegian
Council for Africa, Norwegian People's Aid, Norwegian Church Aid,
Norwegian Students' and Academics' International Assistance Fund, Union
of Education Norway, Norwegian Committee for Solidarity with Latin
America, Norwegian Association of Students, Norwegian Labour Youth, The
Socialist Left Party of Norway and Norwegian Center Youth. (SPS)
060/090/ALG 282110 June 05 SPS
|
SPS
|
|
Madrid, 28/06/2005 (SPS)
Spanish Senate (Second Chamber of Parliament) unanimously adopted, on
Tuesday, a motion in which it exhorted its Government to oeuvre for a
"just and definitive" solution to Western Sahara conflict that respects
''the principle of Self-determination of the Saharawi people through
the organisation, as soon as possible, of a referendum'' in the
non-self-governing territory, reported Algerian press agency, APS.
The motion, which had the agreement of all Spanish Parliamentarian
groups, during a plenary session of the Senate, calls on the Government
to undertake steps ''at bilateral levels and within the United
Nations'' as well as vis-à-vis of the UN’s Secretary General
aiming at ''urgently designating a Special Envoy and a Personal
Representative for the Western Sahara".
The text, presented after the demonstrations in the different Saharawi
cities under Moroccan occupation, which were repressed by Moroccan
colonial forces, called on the Spanish executive to "pressure Moroccan
Government respect Human rights and democratic liberties" and put an
and to the violence with which it answers Saharawi population’s
peaceful demonstrations in the occupied territories.
The motion finally asked the Spanish Government to guarantee ''a
sufficient humanitarian aid'' to Saharawi people.
During the debate that preceded the adoption of the motion, the
spokesperson of the Popular Party (PP), Luis Eduardo Cortes, recalled
that Moroccan authorities ''systematically denied'' their engagement to
collaborate to the organisation of a referendum on self-determination.
On his part, the Senator of Izquierda unida (IU- Unified Left) and
spokesperson of the mixed group, Eduardo Cuenca, estimated that the
policy of the Spanish Government regarding Western Sahara consisted, he
said, of "defending” Rabat’s thesis resulted to a complete failure.
Eduardo Cuenca accused the Government of ''turning the head away'' of
the repression Saharawis in El Aaiun are undergoing, describing this
attitude as ''political myopia''.
Socialist Senato, José Castro, underlined that Western Sahara is
a question on which opposition and Government have got to ''act in
agreement'' and which is a subject on which there is an unanimity among
Spanish people’'. He claimed for a "firm position" in the face of the
attitude adopted by Morocco on the conflict for years, describing it as
''completely unacceptable and which we can not defend nor justify'', he
said. (SPS)
060/090/700 282356 Juin 05 SPS
|
SPS
|
|
Dar Es Salam, (Tanzania)
28/06/2005 (SPS) The Government of the United Republic of Tanzania
welcomed the decision of the Government of the Saharawi Arab Democratic
Republic, SADR, to establish its Diplomatic Mission in Dar Es
Salam, reported, Today, a press release by the Saharawi Ministry for
Information.
"In a communiqué by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the
Republic of Tanzania, the Tanzanian Government expressed its
satisfaction about the decision by SADR to establish its Embassy in the
Tanzanian capital, Dar EsSalam", indicated the press release, of which
SPS received a copy.
"This decision, indicate3d the press release of the Tanzanian Ministry,
is an important step in the consolidation of the excellent relations
that exists between the two countries".
Intervening only three days after the establishment by Kenya and SADR
of diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level, the decision "will be a
contribution to the strengthening of the relations of cooperation and
friendship between African countries, and a new step for stability and
development of our continent", concluded Saharawi ministry press
release. (SPS)
060/090/ALG/100 282359 June 05 SPS
|
|
SAHARA
PRESS SERVICE