Friday, October 27, 2017

MEPs denounce Morocco denying them access to Al-Aain

Brussels, Oct 28, 2017 (SPS) - The euro-deputies have denounced on Friday the Moroccan occupying authorities to deny them access to the city of Al-Ayun, in Western Sahara.
They were going to visit the occupied territories to inquire about the situation of human rights.
"Upset" by her expulsion from the city of Al-Ayun, President of the European Parliament’s Intergroup "peace for Western Sahara", Jytte Guteland said that the purpose of her visit to the occupied territories of Western Sahara is to observe on the spot the situation of the human rights.
"We have come here as members of the European Parliament to see by ourselves the situation on the ground and to have the opportunity to listen to civil society. As parliamentarians, we want to be sufficiently informed about the situation in Western Sahara, especially as we will be asked to speak about a modified EU-Morocco association agreement," she said in a statement.
The MEPs said that the visit to Western Sahara occupied territories was "particularly important" since the European Commission is currently in talks with Morocco about an additional agreement  to the  EU-Morocco Association Agreement, in compliance with the ruling of the European Court of Justice (ECJ)

In its decision of 21 December, the ECJ said that Morocco and Western Sahara are two "separate and distinct" territories and that no international agreement can be applied to it without the consent of the Sahrawi people. (SPS)

Thursday, October 19, 2017

Horst Köhler, the Special Envoy of the SG of the UN Antonio Guterres's visit in the camp of Saharan refugees

Horst Köhler, the Special Envoy of the SG of the UN Antonio Guterres's visit in the camps of Saharawi refugees since yesterday Wednesday 18 October has met today Thursday 19 representatives of the Sahrawi youth in a debate that has lasted for hours to collect their opinions about the reality of the conflict that pits them against the Kingdom of Morocco, which occupies 80% of the territory of the Sadr. Women as managers and leaders in this process have made it hear. 

In his first tour of the area Kohler arrives to the Saharawi refugee camps and is received in the Wilaya of Auserd Governor Mariem Hmada and Sahrawi authorities, as well as a multitude that stands out the female omnipresence coreo the slogans of freedom and independence as a living expression of the will of the Saharan people.

Thursday, October 12, 2017

International day of the girl, 10 Conference on women being held in Johannesburg

in the Pan-African Parliament on 12 and 13 October, discussions on development goals relating to human rights, security and peace 

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

A delegation composed of representatives of different institutions and agencies of the Canary Islands meets with the Organization of the National Union of Sahrawi women

A delegation composed of representatives of different institutions and agencies of the Canary Islands meets with the Organization of the National Union of Sahrawi women (UNMS) at the Cultural Center and communication of the UNMS within the framework of cooperation with the Saharawi women.

Sunday, October 8, 2017

The Executive of the National Union of Sahrawi women carries out a monitoring visit to the homes of women in the different Wilayas

The Executive of the National Union of Sahrawi women carries out a monitoring visit to the homes of women in the different Wilayas in the framework of the follow-up of projects implemented in the first half of the annual plan 2017/18. The visit of work has begun in the Wilayas of Boujdour and Smara directed by the general secretariat of the UNMS Fatma Mehdi.

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Pretoria (South Africa), October, 04 2017 (SPS) - South African President Jacob Zuma and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday reaffirmed their country's firm solidarity with the just struggle of the Sahrawi people

.Pretoria (South Africa), October, 04 2017 (SPS) - South African President Jacob Zuma and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday reaffirmed their country's firm solidarity with the just struggle of the Sahrawi people
The communiqué of the meeting between the President of South Africa and the President of Zimbabwe underlined the need for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to hold a conference in solidarity with the Sahrawi people.

The meeting of the two heads of state came after a ministerial meeting held on October 2, 2017 and a meeting of senior officials of the two countries from September 28 to 29

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

UN General Assembly: Community of Latin American and Caribbean States supports efforts to reach a political solution to the dispute in Western Sahara

New York,  October 3, 2017 (SPS)  -The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) affirmed on Monday that it will continue to "strongly support the efforts of the Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy to achieve a political, just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution that will lead to the free determination of the people of Western Sahara in the context of agreements compatible with the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations and General Assembly Resolution 1514 (XV) and other relevant resolutions. "

CELAC further trusts that multilateral efforts will continue to promote more intense and substantive negotiations between the parties under the auspices of the Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy and in accordance with international law and that the relevant resolutions be implemented to reach a definitive solution to litigation.


The Permanent Mission of the Savior to the United Nations made the intervention on behalf of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in the Debate on Decolonization of the seventy-second session of the General Assembly held in New York on Monday

Adala UK condemns Morocco's brutal repression of protests in El Aaiun

The Moroccan occupation authorities have allowed the police and security forces in the Occupied Zones of Western Sahara to use excessive force against Saharawi protesters.
The Royal Moroccan Government must end the violence against Saharawi civilians and when any members of the security forces are found to have violated people's human rights, they must be brought to justice.
The Moroccan occupation authorities and their police security forces and their auxiliaries, some of whom were dressed in plain clothes, launched a violent attack against Saharawi protesters, using excessive violence to disperse peaceful protests. The protests were in solidarity with Saharawi political prisoners and to denounce the clandestine move of the Gdeim Izik group of prisoners to Moroccan prisons. The authorities of the Kingdom of Morocco used excessive, unnecessary, unjustified and disproportionate force against peaceful protesters who did not represent any threat and they acted outside of the law.
Members of Adala UK documented the way in which members of the security forces beat protesters, using batons and throwing stones and driving at protesters in their armoured vehicles. The list of victims includes:
*Aziza Biza, who writes for a Saharawi news website, was badly cut on her head as a result of being hit several times by a member of the security forces.
* Hassna Duhei, a human rights activist, who was hit with a baton all over her body, including her face. Her glasses were smashed on her face which has left her with many cuts.
* a member of Equipe Media was held by the police and hit in the face. They confiscated his camera and the money in his pockets.
Dozens of protesters were taken to the regional hospital in occupied El Aaiun as many were quite severely hurt as a result of the beatings they had received. Those with less severe injuries were treated in the houses of other Saharawi citizens.
The use of violence by the police and occupation forces has provoked increased anger from Saharawi society in social media. The Moroccan authorities have failed to launch and independent and impartial investigation into the conduct of the officers.  The government continues to use a variety of different repressive tactics on Saharawi society including harassment, arbitrary detention, torture and beatings in the street, aimed at those who support self-determination and express their fundamental human rights.
At the same time Saharawi citizens, many of whom are human rights defenders or political activists, feel that the risk they face when expressing their points of view in the Occupied Territories of Western Sahara has risen. The aim of this action by the occupation forces is to suppress the freedom of expression and association of peaceful protests.
Despite the deterioration of the situation in the Occupied Territories and the flagrant abuses of human rights, democratic countries throughout the world remain silent and refrain from publicly criticising the Kingdom of Morocco. By remaining silent, the international community, including the EU and other influential countries, fuels Morocco's attempts to silence voices in Western Sahara which seek the self determination of the Saharawi people.
According to international law, the citizens of an occupied territory can only be imprisoned within their territory, not in that of the occupying power. Their rights under international laws and treaties must be respected.

The Moroccan government must offer unrestricted freedom to all Saharawi political prisoners, given that no real evidence has been found against them and the trials at which they were sentenced did not meet the minimum international standards of a fair trial.