Le Gouvernement sahraoui décrète un deuil national de 24 heures suite au décès de deux étudiants sahraouis à Agadir

Bir Lehlu (territoires libérés), Le Gouvernement sahraoui a décrété un deuil national de 24 heures à partir du mercredi a la suite du décès tragique de Houssein Abdessadik Alkteyif et Khaya Baba Abdelaziz, survenu la soirée de lundi, après qu'ils furent choqués par un bus marocain, à la suite de leur participation dans un sit-in pacifique devant une station à Agadir (Maroc), a annoncé un communiqué de la Présidence publié mardi.

Les drapeaux seront mis en berne, toutes les festivités seront ajournées et la prière de "Al Ghayeb" (l'absent) sera faite au niveau des camps de réfugiés et dans les territoires libérés, a précisé le communiqué, qui a fait part des "vives condoléances du Gouvernement et du peuple sahraoui à la famille des défunts".

Le Gouvernement de la RASD a appelé également à observer une minute de silence à la mémoire des deux étudiants sahraouis.

Le communiqué précise par ailleurs que les martyrs Houssein Abdessadik Alkteyif (20 ans) étudiant en première année en sociologie à la faculté de littérature et sciences humaine à l’université d’Agadir et Khaya Baba Abdelaziz étudiant en 2ème année en économie à la faculté de droits à la même université ont été "assassinés" par les forces de répression marocaines après qu'ils furent choqués par un bus marocain devant une station de transport.

D’autres étudiants ont été grièvement blessés dont certains ont été transportés en coma à l’hôpital d’Agadir, au cours de l’intervention sauvage des forces de répression marocaines pour disperser les manifestants qui réclamaient pacifiquement leur droit au transport devant la station d’Agadir (Maroc) .

Il s’agit de : Belkadi Mbarek, Bouh Elkharrachi, Abdessalam Chtouki, Nafii Zaza, l’étudiante sahraouie, Nadia Ben Zouhra, alors que les étudiants sahraouis, Belhadef Breih, Alasla Ahmed Salem et Moustapha Ben Taleb ont été arrêtés par ces mêmes forces.

Exprimant sa réprobation de "ce crime odieux" commis contre des personnes innocentes, le Gouvernement sahraoui tient l'Etat marocain pour "responsable de ce forfait" et des "conséquences qui peuvent en découler, qui forcément ne militent pas pour la paix et la stabilité dans la région".

Le Gouvernement sahraoui a en outre attiré l'attention de la communauté internationale et des âmes éprises de justice sur "le péril de la situation explosive dans les villes occupées du Sahara Occidental, au sud du Maroc et dans les universités marocaines" (...) "engendré par la politique de répression marocaine contre les civils sahraouis sans défense".

Il a appelé l'ONU à "assurer une protection complète des Sahraouis et à leur assurer leur droit légitime à la libre expression, le déplacement, la manifestation et à lever l'état de siège sécuritaire et médiatique imposée au territoire sahraoui pour permettre aux observateurs et presse étrangers d'y accéder librement.

Le communiqué interpelle en outre l’opinion publique marocaine, notamment les partis politiques, la société civile, les intellectuels et en particuliers les étudiants marocains à dénoncer et condamner ce crime odieux perpétré par les services de sécurité marocains qui a coûté la vie à deux étudiants sahraouis.

Two Saharawi students murdered four injured and three arrested in Agadir

Two Saharawi students were murdered, four injured and three others arrested by the Moroccan authorities after a peaceful sit-in Saharawi students organised at a bus station in the Moroccan city of Agadir, human rights organisations in Western Sahara reported. The Saharawi young students, Baba Abdelaziz Khaya, (22) and Lheussein Abdsadek Lakteif, (20) were killed by a Moroccan bus that drove right on them and a group of other Saharawi students during the intervention of the Moroccan authorities who violently attacked the demonstrators to break the sit-in. The Bus, matriculated B-A 6687 drove fast towards the demonstrators to kill the two students, injured three others, namely Abouh Alkharachi who is seriously wounded and is now in coma in a hospital in the city, in addition to Ismaaili Bachri, El Qadi Mbarek and Abdslam Chtouki. On the other hand, three Saharawi students were arrested during the Moroccan police intervention against the demonstrators. The students are: Breiha El Hadef, El Asla Ahmed Salem and Mustapha Ben Taleb. The Saharawi students were protesting against the bus company, which did not respect its engagements with them to provide sufficient seats for the students who have to travel to their hometowns for the iid El adha. This is not the first time that the Moroccan authorities commit murder against Saharawi demonstrators and innocent citizens during their interventions. 7 Saharawis at least were killed before, since 2005. Three old Saharawis, namely Laamar Sidi Brahim, Taleb Oul Ali Menna and Mohamed Lehsen Sidi Brahim were killed when a Moroccan military truck drove on them in the occupied city of Dakhla. In 2005 too, the Saharawi young martyrs, Lembarki Hamdi and Likhlifi Abba Cheikh were murdered by Moroccan police, the first killed in October 30 under torture in the middle of the street in the occupied city of El Aaiun, the second killed in December 3 by a Moroccan police agents in the city of Tan Tan. In 2007, Dada Ali Ould Hamma Ould Nafaa, died in a clinic in Agadir of a cronic decease after he was denied the right to medical care for a long time. In September 2007 the young Saharawi, Sidha Ould Abdelaziz Ould Lehbib, died in a car that was transporting him to a psychiatric centre in Agadir, because of the "savage torture" the Moroccan authorities inflicted him, it should be recalled.

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Portugal is in favour of the Saharawi people’s self-determination

The Secretary General of the Portuguese Communist Party, Jeronimo De Sousa, reaffirmed the support of his party to the Saharawi people’s struggle for self-determination and independence, he declared before the 18th Congress of his organisation held in Lisbon the 29 and 30 November. Mr. de Sousa, in his report presented to the Congress, hailed the just struggle of the Saharawi people. While the Congress, expressed, in its general political resolution, "its active solidarity with the Saharawi people’s struggle for self-determination and independence". A Saharawi delegation composed of the member of POLISARIO Front’s National Secretariat, Minister Councillor delegated to Europe, Mohamed Sidati and the POLISARIO Front-s Representative in Portugal, Edda Hmeim, took part to the congress. The Saharawi officials met with the SG of the party and had many encounters with the representative of the international delegations participating to the congress.

Saharawi Minister of Culture affirms that Morocco "can not absorb the Saharawi culture"

The Saharawi Minister of Culture, Mrs. Khadidja Hamdi, affirmed Sunday that "Morocco can not alienate the Saharawi culture, instead it undeliberately exposed the it." In a press conference animated at the seat of the Saharawi TV, the Saharawi Minister Mrs. Hamdi underlined that "the Moroccan regime failed to alienate the identity and Saharawi heritage". "We believe in culture as a way that can lead to the liberation and we are attached to the ties between the generations", she said, stressing that "we work for a consensus in favour of culture of liberation and human emancipation." The Saharawi minister recalled the Moroccan "hysteria" that took the Moroccan regime, and which was embodied by the organisation of many festivals in the occupied territories. She estimated that the regime of occupation "will bitterly harvest in the near future the result of what it is trying to impose the occupied territories." Talking about the 16th Festival of Culture of Culture and Popular Arts, which will take place in the wilaya of Aousserd from the 4th to the 6th December 2008, under the theme "Culture serving the Liberation and Development", the Saharawi Minister indicated that this event is "a real opportunity for the youth who will be able to have an idea on the Saharawis before occupation." The Saharawi official indicated that 2.630 Saharawi participants will be animating and acting in the cultural activities that will be organised in more than 110 traditional tents, built specially for the festival to present the deferent aspects of the life of the Saharawi people in the past. Another 1250 Saharawis will be participating to folkloric parades representing the Saharawi rituals, customs and social events. There will also be representative of the Saharawi government and institutions in addition to more than 200 foreign researcher, artists, writers from many countries, and hundreds foreign visitors coming from Spain. The Festival will also be an opportunity to open the works of the "1st International Seminar of Culture in Western Sahara", which is, according to Mrs. Hamdi a stage of research that will enable artists and foreign researchers to exchange their experiences and to get introduced to the Saharawi culture through the works of workshops on many cultural subjects such as literature, poetry, cinema, theatre, archaeological patrimony and plastic arts."

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Western Sahara’s struggle for self-determination

In October, a three-member delegation of Australian unionists visited the Western Saharawi refugee camps in the Hamada desert, South West Algeria. Western Sahara has been illegally occupied by Morocco since 1975. Green Left Weekly’s Margarita Windisch spoke with Sid’Ahmed Tayeb, the minister of public health for the exiled Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, in 27 February refugee camp. Margarita Windisch: The Saharawi refugee camps have now existed for close to 33 years in extremely inhumane surroundings. What has led to the Saharawis becoming refugees and what are the challenges facing the Saharawi people? Sid’Ahmed Tayeb: Firstly, I would like to thank you very much for your visit. It shows us that we are not alone. This is important support that international community can give us. All along, the Saharawi community has been conscious of its historic responsibility and the sacrifice it has made and still has to make in its fight for national sovereignty. Our sacrifices have been necessary to preserve the history of our people and liberate our territories from Moroccan occupation. Western Sahara was invaded in 1975, by a monarch who needed to stabilise his throne and expand his territory. Living as refugees is a disgrace and is marked by scarcity in all senses of the word. The biggest impact of displacement is on health. During the first years after the Moroccan invasion, we not only lost many lives during the resistance war but we also had to come to terms with moving away from our natural habitat. We were overwrought with a lack of perspective on how to survive in this new environment, a very hard geographic space without natural life — no vegetation or animals. We have had no experience in how to live in such inhumane conditions. We had many deaths in the camps from 1975 to 1983 that were related to the difficulty of adapting psychologically and physiologically to a radically different and highly stressful terrain. To resolve this critical problem we needed to employ all the material resources available to us. In the face of massive adversity, the main moral, political and sociological task of Saharawi society was to draw strength from the little available to restructure itself and mature against all odds. And I can confidently say that we managed this task with excellence. When we started to organise the Saharawi state in the camps, we were conscious that health is one of the main vulnerabilities. That’s why especially the first years of restructuring in the camps, one fifth of Saharawis were employed in the health field, focusing on prevention. Health prevention today is still one of our main political tools. We started with the promotion of health issues in all its aspects initially, because the only thing we had available at that time was human resources. Our society, which was predominantly Bedouin and nomadic, had to undergo a brutal change once we arrived at the camps. People had to settle and face unhealthy dietary change. Saharawi diet was based on milk, meat, malt, rice and some wheat breads. In the camps, which concentrated big social groups in restrictive areas, the refugees suddenly had to survive from emergency food aid, which comprised mainly legumes, adding to the already adverse and stressful circumstances However, due to our strategy of health prevention, we managed to make some important improvements rather quickly. Humans never know their capabilities until they reach a point where problems have to be confronted; as much on an individual as a societal level. Saharawi Bedouins’ life is very tough, but they still like this kind of life. A Saharawi is not very interested in comfort, such as sofas or television. These are not big attractions. The Bedouin adores nature and appreciates coexistence with his animals, like the camels. We are close to our animals, because they are our means of subsistence. Our society needed a total reorganisation. We had to create administrations in order to manage every district and municipality of the camps according to their specific necessities. We decided to prioritise schooling and community health clinics over individual family needs. Sometimes we had three to four families share one tent so there was a tent for each school and clinic available. Margarita Windisch: Saharawis have had to live for over 30 years on emergency food aid. How are you dealing with the consequences? Sid’Ahmed Tayeb: The characteristic of any refugee camps is health vulnerability, and nutrition is an important part of that. We have achieved some very good results. In more than 20 years we have had no type of disease epidemic, even though we have had to live in drastic climatic circumstances where we face massive temperature changes from a high of 58°C in summer to -6°C in winter. On top of this, our diet is hyper glutei — made up of 95% of carbohydrates — because it is the cheapest and easiest accessible form of aid available for the camps. This diet is highly deficient for our immune system. It also creates a different human organism to normal. Women and men are born into this state of scarcity — which is impacting especially on the mother but also the child. We not only develop general health programs, but also diagnostic programs that look at the health risks and causes. We create workshops with all the Saharawi health professionals, and our specialist friends and sympathisers, to arrive at a good scientific diagnosis. At the moment we are working with Norwegian health professionals on a four-day nutrition seminar. We identified this as a priority because in February we did a nutritional study that looked at levels of anaemia and malnutrition, especially in the most vulnerable sectors; women of childbearing age and children under 15. We found alarmingly high levels of anaemia and malnutrition. These findings compelled all of us involved in health to get together and develop a realistic diagnosis and find realistic solutions. Our problems will persist as long as we are refugees. However, the only way to minimise the impact is for us to unite our strengths, make the situation as dignified as possible and apply all our knowledge. Margarita Windisch: What benefits does the high level of Saharawi control and organisation in the camps bring? Sid’Ahmed Tayeb: Saharawi people live a precarious existence; we are in a place of being or not being. We have only got two choices — a sovereign Saharawi state or total dispersion of Saharawis across the world, without a homeland, memories and no responsibility for the future. We are conscious of this responsibility for our society in its totality; we have to organise ourselves in order to survive. We have to develop the level of organisation in order to meet the challenges coming our way every minute. We have now lived for quite a few years with neither peace nor war, since the 1991 ceasefire with Morocco. When we were engaged in war, the perspectives were clear, even though we didn’t know how many lives our resistance struggle would cost us. We were engaged in armed combat in very unequal conditions with a militarily superior Morocco. It was not only Saharawi society that paid a big price for the caprices of the Moroccan king. Moroccan soldiers were also victims of his Machiavellian mind; they, their families and Moroccan society in fact have paid dearly for the king’s expansionist ambitions. Margarita Windisch: We noticed an encouraging high participation of women at the recent General Workers’ Union of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro (Western Saharan trade union organisation) congress, but also more generally women are very visible in public life in the camps. Sid’Ahmed Tayeb: Our society is a very naturalist society. We share our responsibilities in a collective manner, which includes extended families along ancestral lines. Because of our ways of life, women occupy a critical rank. In a nomadic society, the woman is everything. The man of the family is itinerate; he is either looking for pastures or is at the markets hundreds of kilometres away and may be absent for weeks. Once we arrived at our refuge in South West Algeria, women organised the state and constructed the institutions, from the smallest to the biggest. Women have also been combatants during the years of war. In incredibly harsh conditions, women were both the backbone of the camps and the revolution. In Saharawi society, women are not discriminated against because of their specific physiological make up. Margarita Windisch: Cuba has educated many Saharawi children. Why is this the case? Sid’Ahmed Tayeb: Cuba, such a small country with minimal material resources, has extended humanitarian help to many countries. Most importantly, Cubans have helped with education and health. The Saharawi people are one of those peoples that are eternally grateful to the Cuban people. Only Cuba, on the other side of the word, opened the doors for us and took our kids to educate them into doctors, engineers, lawyers and technicians of all types. Cuba has also helped with medical support. In 1976, we only had four qualified nurses — a consequence of more than 100 years of Spanish colonial rule. So imagine, in times of war and an extreme refugee situation, we had to make do with only four nurses to try and deal with our health problems! Now, the leaders, functionaries and youth you see working in the camps are all a result of the support and education provided by Cuba. Cuba, with the little they have, still shares with others, independently of their obligations in their geographical region, culture, religion or skin colour. We, Saharawis are conscious that it was Cuba that has helped us to walk on our own two feet since the Moroccan invasion. Margarita Windisch: Western Sahara is Africa’s last colony and the conflict is still unresolved. How can we best give our solidarity to Saharawi people? Sid’Ahmed Tayeb: There is only one solution to our existence as refugees: our return to our sovereign homeland. There is no other solution. I can only mention the need to unite all our societies along the lines of peace and true justice. It is this unity, not aggression that we need so all of us can enjoy happiness instead of destitution and humiliation. From: International News, Green Left Weekly issue #777 3 December 2008.

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The University of Pretoria hosts a conference on Western Sahara as a case of study on multilateralism and International Law

The Government of South Africa will organise, the 4th and 5th December in the University of Pretoria, a conference on Western Sahara as a case of study on multilateralism and International Law. The conference will be marked by the participation of jurists, researchers, parliamentarians, diplomats, journalists as well as representatives of the South African civil society and students. The South African Ministers: Sue Van Der Merwe and Aziz Pahad will give interventions during the conference, and some eminent political personalities from the ANC, the Communist Party, COSATU and the ANC Youth League will also attend the event, it was indicated. According to the organisers, there will be many speakers on the floor, especially Mr. Hans Corell, ex-under Secretary of the UN for Legal Affairs, Mr. Francisco Bastagli, ex-Special Envoy of the SG to Western Sahara, Mr. Frank Ruddy, ex-under Special Representative and President of the Commission of Identification, Senator Pierre Galand from Belgium, in addition to the President of the Platform of Jurists for Timor Leste, and many eminent jurists from Mexico, Portugal, Spain, Algeria, Tanzania, Ghana, Italy, USA, UK, Norway, Japan, Australia and others.. FRom the Saharawi side, the conference will be attended by Mr. Mhamed Khadad, Member of POLISARIO Front’s National Secretariat Coordinator with the MINURSO, and Dr. Sidi Omar. The conference will also be marked by the presence of the Saharawi human rights activist and Laureate of the Robert Kennedy Award of Human Rights 2008, Ms. Aminatou Haidar.

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Les forces d’occupation marocaine répriment une manifestation des travailleurs et retraités de la société Phosbucraa

El Aaiun (territoires occupés), Les forces d’occupation marocaines ont procédé jeudi à disperser par la force un sit-in organisé par les travailleurs et retraités de la société Phosbucraa, pour réclamer leurs droits dont la société s’était engagée auparavant à résoudre, a indiqueé une source proche du ministère sahraoui des territoires occupés et de la diaspora.

La police s’était intervenue brutalement contre les manifestants, blessant au mois dix citoyens sahraouis âgés majoritairement entre 65 et 80 ans, selon un manifestant cité par la même source.

Par ailleurs, un étudiant sahraoui, Hassan Maarass a été arrêté mercredi dernier à la faculté de droits d’Agadir (Maroc) par des agents de la police marocaine déguisés en civil et l’ont conduit vers une destination inconnue avant de le transférer au centre de la police d’Agadir.

La famille de Maarass se trouve devant les locaux de la police d’Agadir afin de savoir le sort de leur fils et les raison de son arrestation et de la torture dont il a été l’objet en dehors des locaux de la police, a conclu la même source.

New Danish Committee of support to the Saharawi people created in Copenhagen

A new Danish Committee of support to the Saharawi people was created last Thursday in Copenhagen and is calling on the European Union not to grant a so-called Advanced Status to Morocco, unless the occupied Western Sahara is specifically excluded from the agreement. In a press release issued Friday, of which UPES received a copy, the Danish Support Committee for Western Sahara (DSCWS), also called on the “UN Secretary General Mr. Ban ki-moon to resume the negotiation process between the Moroccan government and POLISARIO Front with the aim to enable the people of Western Sahara to exercise freely their right to Self-determination”. On the other hand, the text indicates that the new Committee aims to “raise awareness and promote the Solidarity with the Saharawi people”, as well as to “campaign for a free and fair referendum on self-determination for the Saharawi people”. The Committee further expressed concerns about the serious human rights situation in the occupied territories of Western Sahara, and declared its willingness to campaign “against the illegal exploitation of Western Sahara’s natural resources, and Promote intercultural exchange between The Saharawi and the Danish people”. “Morocco commits widespread human rights violations against Saharawi people in the occupied territories who strive for self-determination in Western Sahara. More than 500 Saharawi have disappeared since Morocco invaded the territory in 1975”, the text adds. The Danish Support Committee for Western Sahara, finally, “underlines that Morocco continues to be an illegally occupying power in Western Sahara, in violation of over 100 UN Resolutions which call for the Western Sahara’s people’s right to self-determination. Western Sahara is an occupied and annexed territory. Furthermore, the International Court of Justice has rejected Morocco’s claims over Western Sahara, and the UN considers the Western Sahara case as a decolonisation issue”. The new Committee is constituted few days after a propaganda claims spread by Rabat media according to which the representation of Western Sahara in Copenhagen has been ordered to close down by the Danish government. "Rubbish," say Danish sources, adding the false information comes as an answer to Danish media reports over a sex scandal at the Moroccan Embassy. Asking several sources in Denmark why Moroccan government-controlled media would publish such a story at this moment, all independently told AFROL News that there had to be a connection with "the very amusing story" in Denmark’s conservative daily ‘Jyllands-Posten’ about a sex scandal at the Moroccan Embassy in Copenhagen. Consul Raddad el Okbani at the Embassy is accused of sexual harassment and corruption by the Danish-Moroccan population, out of which around 200 took to the streets on 15 November to demand his resignation. Protesters told ‘Jyllands-Posten’ how the Consul repeatedly had demanded bribes and sexual services to get his signature on official documents. He was also reported to have taken photographs of visitors to the Embassy, threatening with reprisals in Morocco if his personal demands were not met. The Consul has been removed from the Moroccan Embassy in Copenhagen, probably having been sent home to Rabat. But the demonstrators are not satisfied, still demanding legal actions to be taken against him. Ms Pedersen, notably amused by the seldom scandal in the diplomatic landscape, holds that there may be a connection. The false Polisario office closure story was published "to take away the attention" from the Embassy scandal, she holds. Polisario representative Malainin agrees Moroccan officials had spread the false story "to cover and attract the public opinion from the scandalous shame in Morocco’s Embassy in Denmark." But, Mr Malainin adds, the scam was also a reaction to Polisario’s relative successes in Denmark and other Nordic countries, where some political parties now even are in favour of recognising Western Sahara as a sovereign state, in line with the AU. "The Moroccan system is worrying about the raising awareness and solidarity of the just cause of the Saharawi people ... in all Scandinavia," he holds. "This increasing awareness and solidarity reached to a point that Moroccan system propaganda machine can not influence it," Mr Malainin adds.

ACTU calls on Australian government to play “an active and positive role” on the issue of Western Sahara at the UN

the Australian Council of the Trade Unions (ACTU) called on the Australian Federal government to play “an active and positive role” on the issue of Western Sahara at the UN, in a letter it sent to the Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs last June. ACTU recalled Minister Stephen Smith of the position adopted by the Labour Party in its last three national conferences, and indicated that Australian Trade Unions are paying a growing attention and concerns to the situation in Western Sahara. Here is the letter sent by the ACTU, signed by the President of the Australian main Umbrella trade union, Sharon Burrow, and the Secretaries of the organisation in West Australia and New South Wells, respectively Dave Robinson and John Robertson, in addition to Peter Jennings, Executive Officer of the Union Aid Abroad APHEDA. ---------------------------- ACTU 27 June 2008 The Hon Stephen Smith, MP Minister of Foreign Affairs Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Dear Minister, I am writing to draw your attention to the question of Western Sahara. The issue of Western Sahara is a decolonisation issue. There are striking similarities between Western Sahara and East Timor. Both East Timor and Western Sahara were abandoned by the former powers and occupied by neighbouring countries in 1975, but while East Timor gained its independence, Western Sahara is still on the UN’s list of the Non-Self-Governing territories waiting for the right to self-determination. Morocco constructed a 2.000 km wall to seal the Territory while it embarked on hideous human rights abuses. It also forced thousands Saharawis to flee their homeland and seek refuge in neighbouring Algeria where they have been living in dire conditions for the past 33 years. The issue of Western Sahara has an impact on issues that are relevant to Australia’s foreign policy such as the role of the UN, international peace and stability. Western Sahara is also relevant to Australia because it concerns issues of human rights, respect of international legality and the illegal exploitation of natural resources. We are proud of the fact that the trade union movement in Australia, as well as the ALP, have been very supportive for the struggle for freedom and emancipation in Western Sahara. We are delighted that the ALP has adopted during its past three National Conferences a very positive Policy on Western Sahara. (Please see Chapter 14 of the last ALP Platform-The text is attached herewith.) Since the ALP position on this issue is clear and positive I hope that the Federal government can play an active and positive role on this issue at the UN as we did in the past. Australia contributed a contingent of signals to the UN peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara (MINURSO) in 1991 and voted in favour of resolutions supporting the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination. We would be grateful if you could kindly clarify the position of the Federal Government on this issue and whether our government still supports the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination. We would appreciate an early response as our organisations are very concerned about the present situation in Western Sahara. Yours sincerely Signed by: Sharon Burrow, President of the ACTU Dave Robinson, Secretary Unions WA John Robertson, Secretary Unions NSW Peter Jennings, Executive Officer Union Aid Abroad APHEDA ALP Platform: http://www.alp.org.au/platform/chapter_14.php#14western_sahara Western Sahara 139- Labor supports the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination and is concerned about allegations of human rights abuses in the occupied areas of Western Sahara. Labor believes in maintaining an appropriate dialogue with the Polisario Front, the legitimate representative of the people of Western Sahara. In government Labor will support UN efforts to organise a free and fair referendum on independence in Western Sahara, and calls on the UN to press Morocco to implement all UN resolutions pertaining to Western Sahara. 140- Labor urges the Australian Government to extend all due assistance to the UN in its efforts to organise a free and fair referendum in Western Sahara, and to maintain an appropriate dialogue with the Polisario Front, the legitimate representative of the people of Western Sahara. Labor calls on the UN to press Morocco to implement UN resolutions with regards to the decolonisation process in Western Sahara, the last non-self-governing African territory on the UN decolonisation list.

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"L’armée sahraouie est prête pour le retour aux hostilités si cela est nécessaire", (commandant de la deuxième région militaire)

Tifariti (territoires sahraouis libérés), Le membre du Secrétariat national du Front Polisario, commandant de la deuxième région militaire, Brahim Ahmed Mahmoud a déclaré que l’armée de libération populaire sahraouie (ALPS) "est prêté pour le retour aux armes si cela est nécessaire".

Le commandant sahraoui qui se prononçait après les défilés militaires célébrant la deuxième édition Art Tifariti, a réaffirmé en présence des artistes et de la presse internationale, que "l’ALPS se charge de la protection du patrimoine et des sites archéologiques sahraouis".

Les participants à cette édition qui prendra fin mardi prochain, ont visité les sites archéologiques de la région de Tifariti libérée, a-t-on indiqué.

D’autre part, le représentant du Front Polisario en Grèce, Sleiman Ahmed a réaffirmé dans une déclaration à la SPS, que "Art Tifaritri constitue un soutien culturel artistique et médiatique à la cause du peuple sahraoui".

"Cet évènement artistique et culturel exprime également la solidarité internationale avec la question du Sahara occidental, à travers la présence massive des artistes venus de l’Amérique latine, de l’Europe et de l’Afrique", a ajouté le diplomate sahraoui.

"Le Maroc est isolé au niveau international, en raison de son occupation illégale d’un pays membre de l’Union africaine", a-t-il précisé, soulignant "qu’aucun pays au monde ne reconnaît la souveraineté du Maroc sur le Sahara occidental".

Le diplomate sahraoui a enfin dénoncé la répression marocaine contre les citoyens sahraouis sans défense dans les territoires occupés du Sahara occidental, qui mènent l’Intifada pacifique réclamant le droit de leur peuple à l’autodétermination et à l’indépendance.

MUA concerned about shipment of phosphate from Western Sahara

The Maritime Union of Australia expressed concern about some Australian companies shipment of phosphate from the occupied territories of Western Sahara, the Union stressed in a written statement. In the statement signed by its WA Branch Secretary, Mr. Chris Cain, and his assistants, the Australian union considered its concerns “legitimate as the phosphate mined in Western Sahara and subsequently shipped to the Fermantle Ports do not belong to the beneficiaries of the trade but is a resource belonging to the Saharawi people, not the foreign occupiers of Western Sahara”, referring to Morocco. The text recalled that the Moroccan exploitation of Saharawi phosphate and other resources, with the complicity of some international companies and countries, “has been condemned in many international forums, principally in the UN”. Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa, is still awaiting for the UN to fulfil its “mandate to organise a referendum of the Saharawis to determine the future of their land and resources”, MUA considered. Consequently, MUA estimated that “trading in phosphate before such a plebiscite jeopardises its results and, further, places into question future trading relations with companies complicit in the current trading arrangements”. On the other hand, MUA expressed concerns about the human rights violations “carried out by the Moroccan government since its occupation of Western Sahara since 1975”. The statement further incriminated “the forceful separation of the Saharawis by Morocco’s construction of a military wall dividing the territory and physically separating the inhabitants”. Such abomination, “is witness to the contempt the Moroccan government has towards the indigenous inhabitants” of Western Sahara, MUA said. MUA, and the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), the statement indicated are lobbying the Australian government to convince it carry out he policies adopted on Western Sahara by the Australian Labour Party in three previous National Conference. It is also campaigning against the Australian companies that export Saharawi phosphate to convince them give up these dubious trade. MUA, finally, declared it will keep on campaigning and raising awareness about the question of Western Sahara “until the Saharawis can determine” their future and the future of their resources. Melbourne plays host to African Studies conference Cate Lewis, AWSA Many scholars from around Australia and abroad attended the “31st annual conference of the African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific” (AFSAAP) hosted by Monash University. It was held in the centre of Melbourne at the State Library of Victoria’s conference centre 26-28 December 2008, and entitled Building a common future, Africa and Australasia, see http://www.meetings.com.au/africa/. The Australia Western Sahara Association held an information stall about Western Sahara and had the opportunity to talk with many conference-goers from Australia and overseas. It was useful to raise the profile of Western Sahara in a few cases where people confessed ignorance of the conflict. However, most congratulated us on our presence. Many greeted the stall warmly, being familiar with the issue over many years. A man from Somalia said it was high time Western Sahara achieved its independence. The conference recognises that Australia-Pacific region’s growing economic, political, social and cultural ties with Africa provide an opportunity not only to explore our communalities further but also to work together on shared issues, such as climate change, education, health and security, to develop sustainable, mutually beneficial solutions. Since 1978, the annual African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific (AFSAAP) conference has been bringing together Africa-focused scholars, students, government and diplomatic staff, business, industry and individuals to discuss Africa and the issues, challenges and opportunities which the continent faces.

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Le Congrès des députés espagnol réaffirme le droit du peuple sahraoui à l'autodétermination

Madrid, La commission des Affaires étrangères du Congrès des députés espagnol (Chambre basse du Parlement) a adopté jeudi, à l'unanimité, une résolution appelant le gouvernement socialiste de José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero à défendre la nécessité d'une solution "urgente, juste et définitive" au conflit du Sahara occidental "dans le cadre du Conseil de Sécurité de l'ONU et conformément à la légalité internationale".

Initié par les groupes parlementaires de la Gauche républicaine catalane et de la Gauche Unie-Initiative pour la Catalogne des Verts (ERC-IU-ICV), le texte demande également à l'exécutif espagnol de "promouvoir toutes les initiatives politiques qui contribuent à aboutir à un accord consensuel" entre le Maroc et le Front Polisario, devant " respecter la légalité internationale et le droit légitime du peuple sahraoui à l'autodétermination, à travers l'organisation d'un référendum, en accord avec la Charte des Nations unies et les résolutions du Conseil de Sécurité".

Les parlementaires espagnols l'ont invité aussi à amener les autorités marocaines à "libérer les prisonniers sahraouis incarcérés en raison de l'exercice de leurs droits et libertés fondamentales et à garantir le respect des droits de l'homme dans ce conflit".

Dans ce contexte, ils ont invité leur gouvernement à signer des accords avec le Maroc pour permettre à une délégation non gouvernementale et parlementaire espagnole de "visiter sans restriction les territoires sahraouis occupés" afin de "connaître de près la réalité" des citoyens dans ces territoires.

Tout en exigeant du gouvernement espagnol de "s'abstenir de soutenir toute mesure unilatérale affaiblissant ses possibilités de jouer un rôle équitable dans la recherche d'une solution juste au conflit", les députés lui ont demandé de "reconsidérer les ventes d'armes (au Maroc) dans le cadre de la loi en vigueur sur le commerce des armes et du Code de conduite de l'Union européenne".

Le gouvernement espagnol est appelé, d'autre part, à "poursuivre et intensifier la collaboration avec le Front Polisario dans le domaine de l'aide humanitaire et la coopération technique, particulièrement à travers les ONG espagnoles, dans les campements de réfugiés sahraouis.

Dans ce sens, les parlementaires ont insisté auprès du gouvernement espagnol pour qu'il poursuive et renforce les mesures nécessaires visant à prévenir de manière urgente une crise alimentaire dans les campements sahraouis, en apportant les fonds nécessaires au Programme alimentaire mondial (PAM).

Les parlementaires ont souligné, par ailleurs, qu'en se rapprochant des thèses du Maroc dans ce conflit, le gouvernement espagnol "n'a pas respecté l'orientation marquée par le Congrès des députés".

Le Congrès des députés avait adopté à l'unanimité, le 17 mai 2005, une résolution sur le Sahara occidental dans laquelle il demandait au gouvernement espagnol de promouvoir toutes les initiatives politiques pour parvenir à un accord entre les parties (le Front Polisario et le Maroc), devant respecter la légalité internationale et le droit légitime du peuple sahraoui à l'autodétermination.

Les parlementaires ont également reproché au gouvernement d'avoir "soutenu
activement le récent accord de pêche signé entre l'UE et le Maroc, qui inclut
les eaux du Sahara occidental, ce qui a été interprété par le Front Polisario
comme un alignement sur les positions expansionnistes de Rabat".

Australian Maritime Union protests shipment

The bulk vessel Furness Karumba arrived this port in Perth, Australia, in August.


In August, Western Sahara Resource Watch wrote about the arrival of the bulk vessel Furness Karumba to Perth, Australia. The vessel contained phosphates from occupied Western Sahara, thus supporting the Moroccan illegal plundering of Western Sahara.

Upon the arrival of the vessel, the West Australian Branch of The Maritime Union of Australia on 3rd of September personally handed over a letter to the captain of the vessel, protesting such trade. The letter was also sent to the companies involved in the transport, as well as to Wesfarmers CSBP, the local importer.

Art Tifariti is an opportunity to defend Saharawi people’s right to self-determination

--(Sahara Press Service-Special Envoy)-- The President of the Association of Friends of the Saharawi people in the capital of Andalusia, Seville, Fernando Berita, said that the Seminar “ArtTifariti” is "an opportunity to defend Saharawi people’s right to self-determination". In a statement to the SPS, Fernando said that "ArtTifariti is not a neutral art, it’s in fact a way to defend peoples’ rights, in particular the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination". He denounced the repression imposed by the Moroccan authorities against defenceless Saharawi citizens in the occupied territories of Western Sahara, who demonstrate peacefully demanding their right to freely choose their future. In this regard, Fernando paid tribute to the Saharawi human rights activists, including Aminetou Haidar, who has just been awarded the Robert Kennedy Human Rights Award in recognition for her activism in favour of the respect of human rights in Western Sahara. On the other hand, POLISARIO Front’s representative in Andalusia, Bouchraya Abidine, said that the massive presence of artists from different continents, will help promote the just cause of Western Sahara at the international level. The Saharawi diplomat reiterated that ArtTifariti "is another front and a peaceful expression that backs up the rights of the Saharawi people to self-determination", denouncing the repression perpetrated by Morocco against Saharawi citizens, including the Saharawi human rights defenders in the occupied territories of Western Sahara, Southern Morocco and the Moroccan universities. The second edition of the ArtTifariti continues in the town of Tifariti in the Saharawi liberated territories, in the presence of international artists from different continents who came to express, through art, their support and solidarity with the Saharawi.

Inaugural launch of the Australian Parliamentary Friendship Group with Western Sahara

The Australian “Parliamentary Friends of Western Sahara Group” was officially launched Wednesday night (26 November 2008), during a dinner held at Parliament House in Canberra. The inaugural dinner was attended by many members of Parliament from all parties, members of the Diplomatic Corps, representatives of NGOs and trade unions as well as members of the Australian Western Sahara Association (AWSA). The Friendship Group is composed until now of about 20 members from all the main Australian political parties and from the two Houses of Parliament (House of Representatives and the Senate). The Chair of the Group is from the governing party, the Labour Party, the Deputy Chair of the Group is from the main opposition, Liberal Party and the Secretary of the Friendship Group is from the Australian Greens Party. Ms. Janelle Saffin, Member of the House of Representatives and member of the Friendship Group, spoke during the launch ceremony, on behalf of the Chair of the Group. Ms. Saffin, MP, pledged the support of the members of Parliament to the Saharawi people and their just cause. She underlined the fact that the Saharawi cause enjoys the support of all political parties in Australia. She said that Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara is illegal and must end. Ms. Saffin explained that she has witnessed first hand the difficulties of life in the refugee camps during a visit few years ago. The Representative of Polisario Front in Australia, Mr. Kamal Fadel, expressed the sincere thanks and gratitude of the Saharawi people to the members of Parliament who have joined the “Parliamentary Friends of Western Sahara Group”. He also thanked the group of Ambassadors who have attended and all those who were present and particularly the members of the AWSA, who contributed towards the success of the launch event. The Saharawi Representative further explained that the launch of the Group is a historic and very significant event. The number of Parliamentarians who have joined and “the fact that they represent all the main political parties in Australia is important”, he stressed. He said that this initiative will help raise the profile of Western Sahara in Australia. He also outlined about how Western Sahara is relevant to Australia because Australia is interested in the role of the UN and the respect of international legality. Australia also gives high priority to the respect of international human rights standards and is dependent on the phosphate imported from Western Sahara, though its illegal to exploit natural resources of Non-Self-Governing territories. The Representative of Polisario explained the background of the issue of Western Sahara and its similarities with East Timor in which Australia played an important role. He hoped that the Australian people will continue their support to the Saharawi cause until they achieve their freedom and return to their homeland to live in liberty and dignity. Ms. Lesley Osborne, Deputy President of the Australia Western Sahara Association (AWSA) spoke during the event, stressing her association’s great satisfaction that the Friendship Group has been established. She reaffirmed AWSA’s support to the Group, explaining that the association has been active in promoting the Saharawi cause in Australia and is very pleased that a great number of Parliamentarians have joined this noble struggle for international justice.

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Un activiste sahraoui interdit de poursuivre ses études universitaires à Agadir (Maroc)

Agadir (sud du Maroc), L’étudiant sahraoui, Lamine Sahel a été refusé d’enregistrement à la faculté des droits d’Ibn Zuhr à Agadir de la part des autorités marocaines, en raison de ses opinions politiques en faveur de l’autodétermination du peuple sahraoui.

L’administration de l’université avait dans un premier temps donné son accord, mais brutalement elle a changé d’avis en refusant l’enregistrement de cet activiste sahraoui, sans donner les raisons, a déploré une source du ministère sahraoui des territoires occupés et de la diaspora.

Un comité d’étudiants sahraoui qui voulait agir afin de permettre à leur compatriote de poursuivre ses études, a été surpris par la décision de l’administration de l’université, visant à empêcher les activistes sahraouis des droits humains qui souhaitent poursuivre leurs études.

"L’enregistrement des activistes sahraouis dépend de l’accord du ministère de l’intérieur marocain, parce qu’ils sont des ennemis du régime marocain", a précisé le directeur de l’université Ibn Zuhr.

Il est à rappeler que l’interdiction à l’étudiant sahraoui, Lamine Sahel, l’enregistrement à la faculté des droits, des sciences économiques et sociales d’Ibn Zuhr, intervient après celle du défenseur sahraoui des droits humains et ex prisonnier politique, Ali Salem Tamek.

Les Pays-Bas pour l'autodétermination du peuple du Sahara occidental (M. Verhagen)

Alger, Le ministre des Affaires étrangères des Pays Bas, M. Maxime Verhagen, a exprimé mercredi à Alger le soutien de son pays aux efforts des Nations unies pour le droit à l'autodétermination du peuple du Sahara occidental.

"Les Pays-Bas soutiennent le secrétaire général de l'Onu dans ses efforts pour arriver à une solution politique qui prévoit l'autodétermination du peuple du Sahara occidental", a affirmé M. Verhagen lors d'une conférence de presse à Alger animée conjointement avec le ministre algérien des Affaires étrangères, M. Mourad Medelci.

Le ministre hollandais a indiqué qu'"une solution durable au conflit ne servira pas uniquement le Sahara occidental et le Maroc, mais ouvrira les portes de la coopération dans la région du Maghreb".

"Nous soutenons le secrétaire général de l'Onu ainsi que son envoyé spécial au 5ème round des négociations (de Manhasset) entre le Front Polisario et le Maroc", a-t-il souligné.

M. Verhagen, qui était lundi la veille en visite au Maroc, a précisé qu'il avait fait la même déclaration à Rabat concernant le conflit entre ces deux pays. "J'ai dit la même chose au Maroc et je pense que cela est clair", a-t-il encore dit.

Arrestation de six citoyens sahraouis au cours d’un sit-in pacifique à la ville occupée d’El Aaiun

El Aaiun (territoires occupés), les forces de répression marocaines ont procédé mardi à l’arrestation de six citoyens sahraouis dont des ex prisonniers politiques, avant de les transférer au juge d’instruction pour comparaître ce mercredi devant le procureur du roi à la cour de première instance d’El Aaiun, a rapporté le CODESA.

Les citoyens sahraouis, Moustapha Karim, Jamaa Ramdan, Limam Khalil, Moustapha Raqaoui, Elhanafi et Alabadilla ont été arrêtés au cours d’un sit-in organisé par les chauffeurs sahraouis des minibus réclamant l’amélioration de leurs situations et la fin de leur harcèlement de la part des autorités marocaines.

Les forces de répression ont également procédé au quadrillage du lieu où devait se tenir le sit-in, par le déploiement des agents de la police marocaine épaulée par des forces auxiliaires, afin d’empêcher les manifestants, majoritairement des diplômés sahraouis contraints au chômage de protester contre leur marginalisation de la part des autorités marocaines.

Ces mêmes forces ont contraint les manifestants à quitter le lieu du sit-in, arrêté à peine 20 bus, qui les ont conduit au parc de la police marocaine à la ville occupée d’El Aaiun, a jouté la même source.