Prohibido publicar fotos de la madre de Mohamed VI

La policía marroquí registra un semanario que pidió permiso al rey para dar imágenes de su progenitora

IGNACIO CEMBRERO - Madrid - 15/02/2009

Nouredin Miftah, el director de Al Ayam, el principal semanario marroquí en árabe, pidió por escrito al palacio real la autorización de publicar algunas fotografías de la madre del rey Mohamed VI, Lalla Latifa, y de la abuela, Lalla Abla. Ambas son personajes casi desconocidos para los marroquíes porque nunca sus esposos, los reyes Hassan II y Mohamed V, aceptaron que fueran retratadas para salir en la prensa.

Miftah no recibió una respuesta escrita a su solicitud, pero el martes por la noche el director de la Brigada Nacional de la Policía Judicial y una veintena de agentes se presentaron en la sede del semanario con un mandato judicial para registrarla y detener a su máximo responsable y a su redactora jefa, María Moukrim.

Ninguno de los dos estaba allí. Ocho agentes se dirigieron entonces al domicilio de la periodista para apresarla mientras que los demás recurrieron a una técnica de triangulación para averiguar de dónde partían las señales del móvil de Miftah, según informa la prensa marroquí. Le localizaron en casa de un amigo y allí le echaron el guante

El director y su redactora jefa fueron interrogados esa noche y al día siguiente y asistieron además a un segundo registro de la sede de Al Ayam. La policía se incautó, por fin, de las famosas instantáneas. Estas habían sido entregadas a María Moukrim, en París en 2005, por el nonagenario François Cléret, el médico francés de Mohamed V y también de Hassan II al principio de su reinado.

"La policía ha trasladado el resultado de sus pesquisas al fiscal del rey y éste debe decidir ahora si nos procesa", explica Moukrim, premio nacional de periodismo en Marruecos, en conversación con este corresponsal. Ella y su director ya fueron condenados, en noviembre de 2005, a cuatro meses de cárcel -no llegaron a ingresar en prisión- y a 100.000 dirhams (9.500 euros de multa) por "publicar sin autorización fotos de miembros de la familia real".

Un decreto de 1956, el año de la independencia de Marruecos, somete a autorización previa la publicación de fotos del rey y sus familiares aunque en la práctica no se aplica cuando las instantáneas son distribuidas por la agencia oficial MAP. Para cumplir con la ley y no volver a ser juzgados, como en 2005, el director de Al Ayam, pidió esta vez permiso por escrito, pero el resultado fue casi peor.

Al Ayam publicó un comunicado en el que critica "los procedimientos excesivos" de la policía judicial. Para protestar su director dimitió de su cargo de secretario general de la Federación Marroquí de Editores de Periódicos. La prensa independiente de Marruecos se ha solidarizado con el semanario. La ONG Reporteros Sin Fronteras denunció el viernes las "crecientes presiones políticas y judiciales" a las que está sometida la prensa marroquí.

Fuente:http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Prohibido/publicar/fotos/madre/Mohamed/VI/elpepuint/20090215elpepuint_1/Tes

Anyone dares to go for this tender?

Moroccan national authorities wishes to build electricity infrastructure in Dakhla, occupied Western Sahara.


In an ad in today's issue of Financial Times, the Moroccan state electricity company Office National de l'Electricité invites for a tendering round for building a 500 MW solar installation in Dakhla.

ONE claims Dakhla to lie within "the Kingdom of Morocco". No state, however, recognises this area as Moroccan. The area is considered as occupied by the UN.

The tender is thus opened for infrastructure work on occupied land. The operation date is set to December 2010.

Western Sahara was occupied by Morocco in 1975, in violation of international law. The International Court of Justice had at the time decided the Moroccan claims to the territory was unfounded.

Here are the details of the controversial tender

The details behind the energy project in occupied Western Sahara are public. Check them out here.

The Office Nacional de l’Electricité (ONE) has in July launched an invitation for the expression of interest and prequalification for three solar plant projects, two of them based in occupied Western Sahara (Dakhla and Boujdour), while a third is based in Morocco (Ouarzazate). The tender goes under the name "The Courak Initiative", and the documents from the tendering process are published on ONE's homepages.

The published documents explain all the details behind the controversial project.

Here are the details:
Here is a general presentation of the Boujdour tender.
And here is a pdf document with technical details of Boujdour project.
Here is a general presentation of the Dakhla tender.
And here is a pdf document with technical details of Dakhla project.The projects will be developed through a so-called Independent Power Producer (IPP). This means that the awarded company will construct, operate and own the plant for a period of 20 years. There will be a Power Purchase Agreement between the company and ONE, by which ONE undertakes to buy all electricity generated during 20 years.

This scheme means that the prequalified companies must have a significant financial structure so as to be able to face the project with the necessary guarantees, not only for ONE but also for the banks or financial entities that would finance the project.

Furthermore, these projects of renewable energies grant the companies that execute them with “carbon credits”, which can be used even to finance the project itself or to reduce/balance their CO2 quota.

As far as WSRW experiences, is not normal that such a complicated and extensive project is put out on tender with such a short deadline. The companies are asked to hand in proposals before the 21st of July this year.

The projects are comprised of a solar initiative strategy that aims to build 500 MW up to 2015. The size of the projects are between 1 and 3 MW for Dakhla and between 5 and 10 MW for Boujdour.

The electricity generation technology is based on Photovoltaic (PV) panels.

The planned investment could provide the necessary infrastructure to further back up Moroccan industry and illegal settlers in the neighbouring and occupied country Western Sahara. The UN has previously asked Morocco to terminate the occupation of Western Sahara, but now Morocco offers the world electricity companies a 20 year contract in the occupied territory. As WSRW has already written, Morocco has in the offering presented Dakhla and Boujdour of being within "the Kingdom of Morocco", despite the fact that no states in the world recognises Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.

According to the International Court of Justice in the Hague, Morocco's claims to Western Sahara are baseless.

WSRW calls on power producers to withdraw from tender

The Moroccan state electricity company ONE last year launched a tender to find a company to take on the construction of power plants in occupied Western Sahara. WSRW has got the lists of the 21 companies which are prequalified. The companies, from a dozen countries worldwide, are these days being contacted by WSRW, with an appeal to withdraw from the tender.


Morocco needs more electricity to build out their settlements and industries in the illegally occupied Western Sahara. WSRW has got hold of the lists of the companies which are prequalified for their latest tender. These days, WSRW is contacting each one of the companies, in a dozen countries worldwide.

The letter to the companies points out that in the ONE tendering documents, it is erroneously mentioned that the projects are located in “the Kingdom of Morocco”. However, the Dajla and Bojador energy projects are both located in Western Sahara, which is treated by the UN as a territory pending decolonisation, as well as an area under occupation. Due to the ONE mislabelling of the area, Western Sahara Resource Watch believes that some of the companies might have been seeking the tender after a misunderstanding.

No states in the world recognise Dajla and Bojador as lying within Morocco, and the International Court of Justice has rejected Morocco's claims to the territory.

"We would like to inform you that the company who ends up winning the Moroccan tender and starts supplying power to Moroccan industry and infrastructure on occupied land, will be subject to a public campaign, by the Saharawis and by our international network of people who work in solidarity with the oppressed people of Western Sahara", the letter reads.

"We hope you will appreciate and understand the ethical, political and legal dilemmas involved in engaging in occupied Western Sahara and that you will withdraw from the tender. We hope that your company in the future does not choose to be associated with the Moroccan annexation of Western Sahara", it says.

The following companies and consortiums have been prequalified for the tender for the installation, development and operation of two Solar Power Plants in occupied Western Sahara, under what Morocco has come to call “The Chourouk Initiative”:

1. Abengoa solar PV
2. Acciona Energia
3. AES
4. Babcock & Brown
5. CDG Développement / Solar Ventures
6. Central Sun/NovEnergia/Auma
7. EDF EN
8. Gamesa Solar/First Reserve
9. Gestamp /Ensol, SL
10. Helium Energy
11. Isofoton/Isofoton Maroc/Berge Généracion
12. La companie du vent
13. Martifer Rewables/Fomentinvest Energia/Martifer Solar
14. MIP-AM Invest-IC-Denkstatt-Wentz
15. NTR
16. Solar Ecopower/Taqa/Noorweb/Solon
17. Solar Pack
18. Sorgenia
19. Suez Tractebel
20. Sumitomo
21. Tsolar & Isolux

Fertilizer company "hopes for liberation of Western Sahara"

Fertilizer producer Yara receives critisicm in Norway for its 2008 phosphate purchase from occupied Western Sahara. The company answers they hope Western Sahara "will be liberated one day, and then the inhabitants will benefit if we can receive their phosphate quickly".


The article below appeared on 5 February 2009 in the Norwegian daily newspaper Adresseavisen.


Yara Profits from the Occupation
The fertiliser giant Yara is the chief sponsor of the International Student Festival in Trondheim (ISFiT). The company has bought phosphate from Morocco, mined in occupied Western Sahara, where this year’s winner of the Students’ Peace Prize is from.

Adresseavisen
5 February 2009

Last summer Norwatch revealed that Yara imported phosphate from occupied Western Sahara, contrary to the request of the UN and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Yara may have paid close to 40 million kroners (4,3 million euros) to a Moroccan state-owned company. The situation has been reported to the police.

“We call it pure war profiteering; Yara has profited from the occupation,” Ronny Hansen, the leader of the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, stated.

“How do you feel about Yara sponsoring ISFiT?”

“Yara finances important work being carried out by ISFiT, and that has not hindered them from awarding the peace prize to someone from Western Sahara. But we have urged ISFiT to take up the problem with Yara,” Hansen said. Yara claims the phosphate purchase is a one-time shipment. The company has also bought phosphate from the area earlier, and in 2005 they promised to stop this after being criticised by the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry, one of Yara’s owners.

Prize Winner Criticises Yara
Elkouria “Rabab” Amidane (23 years) from Western Sahara has been awarded the students’ peace prize for 2009. “Yara has participated in maintaining the occupation. Western Sahara is losing its own natural resources. Morocco uses foreign companies to legitimate the occupation,” Amidane stated. She believes that Norwegian companies within oil and fisheries also participate in creating jobs for Moroccan settlers.

The sponsorship agreement with Yara was entered into before the phosphate purchase in the summer of 2008.

“But we would probably not have considered the case differently after the purchase became known. We were also aware of the phosphate purchase in 2005, but we choose to look forwards,” Trygve Thorson, leader of ISFiT, said. ISFiT will continually assess the collaboration in case such a purchase should recur.
“Collaborating with large international companies, including Yara, is never problem-free,” according to Thorson, who emphasises that they do not support the phosphate purchase.

The amount with which Yara has sponsored ISFiT is confidential. But the commercial sector’s total sponsorship constitutes 20% of ISFiT’s budget, which amounts to about NKR 6 million (684.000 euros).

Change in Resources for Peace Prize
The students’ peace prize receives money through ISFiT. “We disapprove of all such trade,” Thor Richard Isaksen, the leader of the students’ peace prize, stated.
He strongly recommends that the students’ next peace prize be completely separated from sponsor means. “This case has shown that it can be problematic,” he said.

The Finance and Environmental Crime Section of the Oslo police has received the Yara report, and police attorney Ragnvald Brekke has stated that they will soon consider whether they will inquire into the case. Public relations director Bente G. H. Slaatten of Yara has stated that their competitors use phosphate from Western Sahara.

“We imported one cargo last year because of our reorganisation in Norway; we wanted to test the phosphate. We hope that the country will be liberated one day, and then the inhabitants will benefit if we can receive their phosphate quickly,” Slaatten said.

She also stated that they bought phosphate in 2005 but stopped because the government advised against it.

[Translated to English by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara]

Le Président de la République félicite son homologue vénézuélien, pour sa victoire

Bir Lehlu, Le Président de la République, Mohamed Abdelaziz, a adressé, lundi un message de félicitation à son homologue vénézuélien, Hugo Chavez Frias, après sa vaillante victoire issue de la consultation populaire sur les amendements de la Constitution qui a eu lieu dimanche au Venezuela.

"En ce moment historique, je voudrais saisir cette occasion pour vous exprimer en mon nom personnel et au nom du peuple sahraoui mes plus chaleureuses félicitations pour le succès de la consultation sur les amendements de la Constitution", a écrit le président de la République, Mohamed Abdelaziz dans sa lettre à son homologue du Venezuela, dont une copie dst parvenue à SPS.

"La volonté souveraine du peuple frère du Venezuela a décidé d'ouvrir la voie pour la poursuite de la politique, économique et social, sous votre conduite, ayant pour objectif de servir le développement, la prospérité et le bien-être de la République bolivarienne du Venezuela" a ajouté le texte.

Je ne doute pas que cette brillante victoire mènera au bien dans la consolidation des relations étroites et fraternelles qui unissent nos deux pays, la République Arabe Sahraouie Démocratique (RASD) et la République bolivienne de Venezuela, a conclut la lettre.

Le chef d'une délégation parlementaire américaine exprime son soutien au droit à l'autodétermination du peuple sahraoui

Alger, M. Gabriel Neville, chef de la délégation parlementaire américaine actuellement en visite en Algérie a exprimé lundi à Alger son soutien au droit à l'autodétermination du peuple sahraoui.

"Le peuple sahraoui a droit à l'autodétermination", a déclaré M. Neville, chef du cabinet du représentant républicain de Pennsylvanie au Congrès, M.Joseph Pitts, à l'issue d'un entretien avec le ministre algérien, délégué chargé des Affaires maghrébines et africaines, M. Abdelkader Messahel, cité par l'Agence de presse algérienne (APS).

"Nous avons eu la volonté d'avoir notre autodétermination il y a 200 ans et le peuple sahraoui a également droit à l'autodétermination", a affirmé M. Neville, selon la même source.

Une ONG espagnole "inquiète et préoccupée" par le contenu de la visite au Maroc d'une responsable socialiste

Madrid, Le président de la Coordination espagnole des associations de solidarité avec le peuple sahraoui (CEAS), José Taboada a exprimé son "inquiétude et sa préoccupation" sur le contenu de la visite qu'effectue au Maroc la responsable des relations internationales du Parti socialiste ouvrier espagnol (PSOE-au pouvoir), Elena Valenciano.

M.Taboada a exprimé, dans un communiqué, son "profond rejet" de voir inclure dans le programme de visite de cette responsable socialiste une entrevue avec des membres de "l'organe (NDLR: le Conseil royal consultatif pour les Affaires sahariennes –CORCAS-) avec lequel le Maroc tente de légitimer son occupation illégale du Sahara Occidental".

La Secrétaire chargée de la politique internationale et de la coopération du PSOE s'est rendue à Rabat pour "se réunir avec des membres du Gouvernement marocains, des partis politiques et du Conseil royal consultatif pour les affaires sahariennes (CORCAS) afin de connaître l'état du conflit du Sahara Occidental", selon les médias espagnols.

"Cet organe ne représente que le Gouvernement marocain et le roi qui l'a désigné", affirme M. Taboada qui rappelle que "ni elle (Mme.Valenciano) ni le Gouvernement socialiste espagnol ne doivent oublier que, selon l'ONU, le Front Polisario est le seul représentant légitime du peuple sahraoui".

"Les autorités marocaines d'occupation ne pourront jamais usurper le droit à l'autodétermination et à l'indépendance des sahraouis, à travers l'organisation d'un référendum libre, juste et transparent comme prescrit par les Nations-Unis depuis plusieurs décennies", affirme encore M.Taboada dans son communiqué.

Il a également rappelé que le mouvement solidaire avec le peuple sahraoui a toujours souligné que les "bonnes relations hispano-marocaines ne peuvent se faire au détriment du peuple sahraoui et sous le chantage permanent des autorités marocaines".

M.Taboada a estimé, par ailleurs, que l'Espagne et l'Union européenne (UE) "peuvent jouer un rôle très important dans la démocratisation du Maroc", bien que cette dernière, a-t-il précisé, "ne sera jamais fondée sur des bases solides si l'on récompense les bourreaux et l'on punit les victimes, et si l'on tente de donner une couverture à l'invasion illégale et par la force des armes d'un territoire voisin sur lequel nous continuons d'avoir une grande responsabilité historique, politique, voire juridique".

Dans ce contexte, le président de la CEAS a rappelé que, pour l'ONU, l'Espagne "demeure la puissance administrante" de cette ancienne colonie espagnole, et que les "droits de l'homme y continuent également d'être violés quotidiennement".

Enfin M. Taboada considère que le PSOE devrait mettre à profit des visites comme celle de Mme Valenciano au Maroc pour "demander à ses amis marocains de respecter les droits de l'homme dans le territoire qu'il occupe illégalement et de cesser une fois pour toute d'entraver la mise en œuvre intégrale des résolutions de l'ONU" sur le Sahara occidental.