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WEEKS 37 - 38 : 05.09.-18.09.2004 |
05.09.04
Madagascar
The Saharawi Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mohamed Salem Ould Salek,
was received in Antananarive by the Madagascan Minister for Foreign
Affairs, Marcel Ranjeva, to whom he handed a message from President
Mohamed Abdelaziz concerning bilateral relations and the latest
developments in the question of Western Sahara.
06.09.04
Panama
Navarro, reaffirmed his support for the "struggle of the Saharawi
people for independence" during a meeting with a Saharawi delegation
led by the President of the Parliament, Mahfoud Ali Beiba,
accompanied by the Minister Counselor to the Presidency, Ahmedou
Souilem and the Saharawi Ambassador in Panama, Salama Teyeb. The same
declaration was made by the President of the Panamanian Parliament,
Jerri Wilson, two days later to the delegation, meeting with all the
members of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee.
08-09.09.04
African Union
Mohamed Abdelaziz attended in Ouagadougou the Extraordinary Summit of
the Heads of State and Government from the African Union, devoted to
"Strategies for job creation/promotion and sustainable improvement in
the means of subsistence". Mr Abdelaziz was accompanied by a
delegation comprising Mohamed Salem Ould Salek, Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Mohamed Khaddad, Coordinator with MINURSO, Malainin Sadiq,
Minister Counselor to the Presidency, Zannan Mohamed Brahim,
Ambassador for the AU and Aabdati Breika, Press Adviser to the
President.
11.09.04
Statement
Mohamed Sidati
about terrorism.
12-14.09.04
Spain - Popular Party
The Secretary of External Relations of the Spanish Popular Party
(PP), Jorge Moragas, paid a visit to the Saharawi refugee camps. "My
trip is a response to an invitation from the Polisario Front, he
declared, with the aim of informing ourselves on the ground, about
the situation in which over 120,000 Saharawi refugees find
themselves, to find out how the Saharawi authorities assess the
present state of the UN peace process and finally to reiterate to the
Saharawi people the PP's position on the conflict", a position which
"is in favour of a negotiated solution between the parties within the
framework of the United Nations resolutions". It is the first time
that the PP, which has always maintained contact with the Polisario
Front, has sent a leader on an official visit to the refugee camps.
Moragas met the Secretary General of the Polisario Front, the Prime
Minister together with members of the government, as well as the UN
Special Representative, Alvaro de Soto. Moragas asked the Spanish
government again not to modify the position of the previous
government and underlined that the vagueness and improvisation of the
new socialist government had aroused distrust and suspicion among the
Saharawi population. [La
Razon,
12.09.04]
15.09.04
Diplomatic Recognition - Embassy opening
South Africa announced its official recognition of SADR in a joint
statement signed by the South African Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Dlamini-Zuma and her Saharawi counterpart, Ould Salek, bringing to
pass a promise made by Nelson Mandela 8 years ago in
1996.[week27/1996]
South Africa had justified its long "postponement", which has not
prevented very close relations between the two partners, on account
of "advice" from friendly countries dating from their struggle
against apartheid (Morocco, France, the USA as well as some Arab
countries, as it happens) and on the pretext of not wanting to
interfere in the process of self-determination in progress. The final
step was motivated, according to official sources, by a decision in
keeping with the principles and aims of the AU and the UN Charter. It
is a consequence of Morocco's intransigent attitude, which, after
having accepted the UN Peace Plan for some years, now refuses any
solution which supports the right to self-determination of the
Saharawi people. Even though, according to official sources, the
decision had already been made known to Morocco last month, and was
well-founded, the reaction of the authorities of the Kingdom was
brisk: immediate recall of the ambassador and virulent words.
The SADR Embassy was officially opened on 16.09 in Pretoria in the
presence of the Saharawi Minister of Foreign Affairs and members of
the Saharawi delegation to the Pan African Parliament which is in
session at the moment at Midrands (SA). During the inaugural session
of this body of the AU, created last March, President Thabo M'Beki
described as "shameful" the fact that the people of Western Sahara
had not yet been able to exercise their right to self-determination.
He called on the members of the Parliament to work for a solution to
the conflict." Special
page- Page spéciale - Pagina
especial
[press revue, reactions, etc]
18-19.09.04
Official Visit of the Venezuelan Minister for Energy and Mines,
Rafael Ramirez, emissary of Hugo Chavez, President of the Bolivarian
Republic of Venezuela.
27.08.04
Summary Sentence
On 21 August 2004 Mohamed Mahmoud Fakak, born in 1973 in El Ayoun,
was arrested for having destroyed a photo of the king on a poster in
street in Smara. He was tortured for six days before being forced to
signed a false statement (drug trafficking...). He was sentenced on
27.08.04 by the Court of First Instance in El Ayoun, in the absence
of his lawyer and his family, to 2 years in prison. He is in the
Black Prison. These facts only became known later due to the new
method of the authorities which consists in keeping secret arrests
and those held in custody. Sentences are given quickly without
lawyers or outside observers.
06-08.09.04
News from the occupied territories and southern Morocco
SMARA , 06-07.09.04:
A sit-in of unemployed graduates was brutally dispersed. The next day
the town was decorated in Saharawi flags and leaflets promoting
independence which were removed at dawn by the highways
department.
TANTAN, 06.09.04 :
Saharawi flags and banners hostile to the Moroccan authorities were
put up in the streets. The police and the army redoubled their
controls and check points.
ASSA, 07.09.04:
A protest demonstration against administrative dysfunction and poor
living conditions led to claims for independence and protest against
the Moroccan authorities. The police intervened.
On 14 September, another demonstration brought out the greater part
of the Saharawi population into the streets of the town, protesting
against poor living conditions, but also calling for independence. On
arriving outside the prefecture, the demonstrators were blocked by
the forces of "order". [AFAPREDESA]
06.09.04
Testimony
A journalist, a special reporter from the Spanish daily, La
Vanguardia, met in Smara, a Saharawi human rights activist,
sentenced to five years in prison for his presumed links to the
Polisario Front. After his release from prison he was again detained
for several months in the Black Prison of El Ayoun, after having met
Spanish journalists during a visit of Mohamed VI to the Sahara. He
was later appointed President of the Committee of Victims of Smara
2001. He testified to the rejection of the pro-Moroccan policy of the
new Spanish government by the Saharawi human rights defenders and
their desire to see the Baker plan
implemented.[La
Vanguardia, 06.09.04]
14.09.04
The Saharawi activist, Ali Salem Tamek received a warm welcome during
his visit to Dakhla. Meetings were organised with young people, shop
keepers and officials to discuss human rights abuses committed by the
authorities of the occupation towards Saharawi citizens.
[corr.]
16.09.04
Two political prisoners, Mohamed Mustafa Hadad and Mohmed Mahmud
Fakak, recently sentenced, saw their prison terms made longer at
appeal. During his trial, Mohamed Haddad rejected the false charges
brought against him and protested at the torture he had undergone. He
admitted to the act of having replaced a Moroccan flag with a
Saharawi flag to show his support of self-determination of the
Saharawi people. The sentence of 8 months in prison and 5000 dirhams'
fine was increased to 2 years by the court of appeal.
Mahmoud Fakak accused the police and the examining magistrate of
having falsified the accusation statement (drug trafficking confessed
under torture) and affirmed loud and clear his conviction in favour
of self-determination, recognising that he had torn down a photo of
the King Mohamed VI, symbol of the Moroccan occupation. His speech
was punctuated by statements in favour of independence and was
disturbed by the intervention of policemen who, on the order of the
judge, tried to silence him and ended up taking him out of the
hearing room. His prison term of 2 years was doubled to 4 years by
the appeal court. As usual the trial of Saharawi activists was the
occasion for a large police presence.
[corr.]
06.-
14.09.04
Tour of the region of UN Special Representative and Personal Envoy of
the UN Secretary General, M. Alvaro de Soto.
Morocco:
06.-07.09.04
Mr Alvaro de Soto was received in Meknès by King Mohamed VI.
The audience took place in the presence of Mohamed Benaïssa,
Moroccan Minster of Foreign Affairs, Al Mostafa Sahel, Minister of
the Interior, Taib Fassi Fihri, Minister delegate for Foreign Affairs
and Cooperation and Mohamed Bennouna, Permanent Representative of the
Kingdom of Morocco with the United Nations. According to the official
statements the sovereign recalled his position in favour of a
negotiated political solution within the framework of "the
sovereignty of the Kingdom" and respect for its "territorial
integrity". The Special Representative then went to El Ayoun, to the
headquarters of MINURSO.
SADR:
11.-12.09.04
On the eve of the visit of the UN Special Representative, the
Saharawi President, in a statement recalled that:
- the question of Western Sahara is a problem of decolonisation,
- the Polisario Front wants to continue its cooperation with the UN
but regrets the departure of Baker,
- Morocco is responsible for the blockages,
- the mission of Mr Alvaro de Soto "cannot go outside the framework
defined by Security Council resolutions 1495 and 1541, which call for
the implementation of Mr Baker's Peace Plan, as an optimal political
solution to the conflict of Western Sahara".
- the Polisario Front rejects "any attempt to take the problem of
Western Sahara outside the context of decolonisation".
[SPS]
It is the Saharawi Prime Minister who received the UN envoy, in the
presence of Mr M'Hamed Khaddad, member of the National Secretariat
and Coordinator with MINURSO. At the end of the meeting the Prime
Minister declared that "any attempt to get around the right of the
Saharawi people to self-determination and independence is bound to
fail." He warned that the Baker plan "cannot be remodeled or
readjusted" and that it is "a whole to take or leave as laid down by
its author and accepted as such by the Polisario Front".
[SPS]
Alvaro de Soto, for his part, made clear that "the Secretary General
asked me to continue to work with the parties and the neighbouring
countries to seek a political solution which is just and lasting and
acceptable to the parties", a solution "which gives
self-determination to the people of Western Sahara following terms
and conditions of the UN Charter".[Exploratory
tour of the UN Representative for Western Sahara, UN News
14.09.04]
Algeria:
14.-15.09.04
In Algiers, Mr de Soto had talks with the Algerian Minister of
Foreign Affairs, who recalled the position of Algeria, which "is
neither the guardian nor the spokesman for the Saharawis". The head
of Algerian diplomacy underlined that "Algeria held to the settlement
plan, international law and the peace agreement adopted by the United
Nations".
14.09.04
Spain - parliamentary debates
Debates on the policy of the Zapatero government on Western Sahara
took place in both parliamentary chambers.
The Senate adopted a motion from the Popular Party which insists on
the government adopting actions in favour of a referendum of
self-determination for the Saharawi people. Formulated in restrictive
terms, it rejects steps towards bilateral or regional negotiations
and demands the implementation of the Baker plan. For this reason it
did not receive approval from the PSOE, which abstained. As for the
Congress, it adopted an agreed text unanimously by all the groups,
including the PSOE. The text asks the government to defend a solution
to the conflict within the framework of the UN, in accordance with
international law, and to promote any political initiative capable of
contributing to an agreement by the parties,and which respects the
right to self-determination in conformity with the UN Charter.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Moratinos expresses his annoyance
after the vote in the Senate and declares that the Baker Plan is not
"sacrosanct". This makes observers say that Spain, which is president
of the Security Council this month, rather than arguing for a
technical extension of MINURSO's mandate, could, with France, argue
for the Baker Plan to be put back in the melting pot.[Mocion
publicada en el Boletín Oficial de las Cortes Generales,
Senado, Serie I, número 68, de fecha 13 de septiembre de
2004). (Núm.
exp. 662/000023]
[Proposición no de Ley sobre la situación del
pueblo saharaui. (162/000121), Texto
completo PDF]
14.09.04
The president of Eusko Alkartasuna (EA), Begoña Erratzi, met
the head of the Spanish government and asked him to continue to
demand a referendum in Western Sahara and the implementation of the
UN's resolutions.
15.09.04
France - Spain
On the question of knowing if France was ready to respond positively
to Moratinos' appeal to work in concert with Spain to draw up a joint
position and initiative on the case of Western Sahara, the spokesman
of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs replied: "You know that
France favours the search for a realistic and lasting political
solution to the question of Western Sahara, which will attract the
agreement of both parties within the framework of the United Nations.
In this context, we fully support the action of Mr Alvaro de Soto,
Special Representative of the UN SG. On this subject, we regularly
work with all the members of the Security Council, including
therefore, Spain." [Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, France,
15.09.04]
15.09.04
Brussels - European Union
The new intergroup of the European Parliament "Peace for the Saharawi
People" re-constituted itself in the course of this summer's
elections. About fifty parliamentarians are members of it. Karen
Scheele, MEP, an Austrian socialist, was called to chair the group
and an executive was elected. The inaugural session examined the
principal lines of future activity and made a survey of the present
situation, with a contribution from Mohamed Sidati, Saharawi Minister
responsible for Europe.
03.09.04,
Balearic Islands
En torno a mil quinientas personas se manifestaron el pasado viernes
03.09.04 por las calles de Palma de Mallorca bajo el lema de
"Sáhara, no más traiciones", en defensa del pueblo
saharaui y su derecho a la autodeterminación.
06.
-09.09.04
L'association espagnole Plataforma de Mujeres Artistas contra la
Violencia de Género (women artists against gender violence),
accompagnée de personnalités politiques, du monde de la
culture et des médias d'Espagne, soit près de 150
personnes, a organisé un voyage à Alger où elle
a été rejointe par une forte délégation
de femmes sahraouies et algériennes.
Le but de la manifestation était de remercier le gouvernement
et le peuple algérien pour leur soutien à la cause
sahraouie et d'appeler au respect de la légalité
internationale concernant la question du Sahara Occidental. Au nom de
la délégation la chanteuse espagnole Cristina Del
Valle, ambassadrice de la paix de l'ONU, a appelé le
gouvernement espagnol à "réparer la faute historique
commise il y a plus de 30 ans à l'encontre du peuple
sahraoui". De nombreuses rencontres avec la société
civile algérienne, des femmes parlementaires, des institutions
(Sénat, APN et APW), CNASPS. Un grand concert pour la paix
avec des artistes espagnoles, algériennes et sahraouies a
couronné l'événement. Le CNASPS accueille les
délégations espagnole et sahraouie. Soutien à la
femme et à la cause sahraouies, [La
Nouvelle République,
Karima Bennour, 08-09-2004] [Declaración
final]
14.09.04
An evening of solidarity with the Saharawi people was held at the New
South Wales Parliament in Sydney to launch a documentary about the
Australian visit to Western Sahara and the refugee camps last April.
The function was hosted by the President of the Legislative Council,
the Hon Dr. Meredith Burgmann, MLC, who had led the Australian
delegation. She said "The Saharawi are very dedicated, very focused,
very united and they only want one thing, to be able to return to
their own country and live in freedom."
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