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WEEKLY NEWS |
original french
19.-25.01.2003
- SADR
- OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
- REFERENDUM
- SOLIDARITY
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- NEW PUBLICATIONS
SADR
17.01.03
Ecuador
At the invitation of the Ecuador government, a Saharawi delegation
led by the SADR Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mohamed Salem Ould
Salek, accompanied by the Saharawi Ambassador in Ecuador, El Hadj
Ahmed, took part in ceremonies for the investiture of the new
president of the country, Lucio Gutiérrez.
14.01.03
Political prisoners
We have been notified of the arrest on 05.01.03 of Ezzine
Mohamed-Fadel Ali Mouloudqui who is awaiting trial in the prison of
El Ayoun. His arrest is thought to be related to demonstrations in
November 2001. (corr)
16-18.01.03
Campaign for human rights
At the University of Agadir, Saharawi university students organised
three days on the human rights situation in Western Sahara. The
activities included information stands, a photographic exhibition,
debates and a march. The level of participation was high: students
from other universities, student organisations, human rights
defenders, and former political detainees, including Mohamed Daddach
all took part. Among the topics raised: in first place human rights
abuse in all its forms including plunder of natural resources, but
also the conflict of Western Sahara and the right to
self-determination. (Detailed reports in french:
BIRDHSO-NEWS
+ ARSO
)
20.01.03
Hunger strike
After giving notice with a hunger strike on 13-14 January, political
prisoners in the Carcel Negra (black prison) in El Ayoun, started a
second hunger strike on 20 January, which they intend to pursue until
the 25th. In a "statement"
they call for support for their action, which aims to get an
improvement in prison conditions and the granting of political
prisoner status to them.
You can send messages of support by fax to the prison in El Ayoun to
the following fax number : 00 212 48 89 45 09.
20.12.03
New organisation for defence of human rights
A steering committee of Saharawi survivors from secret detention
centres in Morocco, has been set up with the goal of creating an
association aiming to disclose the truth about disappearances, obtain
compensation for the victims and their families, and work in general
for the respect of human rights. (Communiqué)
REFERENDUM
21.01.03
Socialist Internationale
A Saharawi delegation led by Mohamed Sidati, Minister counselor and
member of the National Secretariat of the Polisario Front,
accompanied by Omar Mih, Polisario representative in Italy and
Fatimatu Mahfud for the National Union of Saharawi Women, took part
in a meeting of the Council of IS in Rome. A resolution on the
conflict in Western Sahara was adopted which reaffirms without
ambiguity the support of the Socialist Internationale for the right
of the Saharawi people to self-determination as laid down in the
peace plan and Houston Agreement. (full
text)
21.01.03
UN - Secretary General's Report - S/2003/59
Finalised on 16 January, the day before his envoy's tour of the
region, the report of Kofi Annan makes an assessment of the last 6
months since the adoption of resolution 1429 on 31 July 2002 which
asked for any solution to be studied "which provides for
self-determination".
The main new facts are listed: the pursuit of electronic archiving of
the identification commission's findings, which will be finished in
April, de-mining operations on both sides of the wall, the lifting of
restrictions imposed by the Polisario Front in January 2002 on
MINURSO observers, the release by the Polisario Front of 216 Moroccan
prisoners of war in 2002, a request for the speedy release of the
1260 remaining, for the most part captured over 20 years ago, the
trip of Mohamed Daddach to Norway and his reunion with his mother and
sister.
A serious problem noted: the insufficiency of humanitarian aid with
the consequence of an increase in the rate of malnutrition. Thanks to
the mobilisation of the UNHCR, WFP and ECHO food needs were able to
be met in 2002, but the present stocks will not provide for all needs
in 2003.
The putting in place of confidence-building measures, means of
communication and reciprocal visits between families in the camps and
the occupied territories, is hitting a stumbling block over the
choice of beneficiaries. The Polisario Front demands the
implementation of the proposal of the UNCHR according to which the
beneficiaries should be persons, on one side of the wall or the
other, on the provisional voter list, while Morocco rejects any
reference to the electoral list. In his observations and
recommendations the SG refers to the latest mission of Baker and his
new proposal, without revealing its contents, and asks for an
extension of 2 months for MINURSO's mandate to give the parties the
possibility of studying it and of responding. (Report english
HTML
- PDF:
) (Rapport S/2003/59, français: HTML
-
PDF:
) (Informe castellano: HTML
- PDF)
23.01.03
Extension of MINURSO's mandate
In a press statement, the President of the Security Council, Mr
Jean-Marc de La Sablière (France) announces that the members
of the Council have taken note of the Secretary General's report of
16.01.03 and that they have decided to extend the mandate of MINURSO
to "give the parties time to study the proposal which has been
presented by the Personal Envoy of the Secretary General, James Baker
III". (Press
Release SC/7640)
SOLIDARITY
23-28.01.03
Another world is possible
A delegation of the Spanish Coordination of solidarity associations
with the Saharawi people (Coordinadora estatal de asociaciones de
amistad con el pueblo saharaui) led by Abba Salek, secretary general
of the Union of Saharawi Lawyers is taking part in the World Social
Forum in Porto Alegre (Brazil). During the opening ceremony, the
group walked through the streets of the town wearing traditional
dress: darra and melhfa. During the coming days the Saharawi
delegation will organise workshops, talks and debates to make known
the struggle of the Saharawi people for their independence.
(corr.)
REFERENDUM NOW - Action Campaign for the Implementation of the Peace Plan - new documents:
INTERNET
OPINION
NEW PUBLICATIONS
[External
links to newspapers may not be valid after some days because the
servers are restarted]
Français
Les dépêches, articles, etc, sont accessibles aux non-abonnés sur Sahara-Info, liste de courrier (français et espagnol): http://es.groups.yahoo.com/group/sahara-info/messages
English
English publications on Sahara Update mailinglist: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sahara-update/messages
Castellano
Todos los despachos, articulos de prensa, etc, son acessible por no-abonados en Sahara-Info, lista de correo (castellano y francés): http://es.groups.yahoo.com/group/sahara-info/messages
Revista de la prensa española de la semana: http://www.nodo50.org/fpolisario/Prensa.htm
Noticias de prensa, Recopilación semanal de todos los articulos de la prensa de España: http://www.nodo50.org/labarored/interpueblos/Sahara/
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