|
WEEKLY NEWS |
original french
11.-17.05.2003
- SADR
- OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
- REFERENDUM
- SOLIDARITY
- COMING UP
- INTERNET
- NEW PUBLICATIONS
SADR
14.05.03
The president of the party of democrats of the left (Democratici di
sinistra), Massimo D'Alema, met two representatives of the Polisario
Front in Italy and reaffirmed on this occasion solidarity and support
for self-determination of the Saharawi people by his political
group.
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
09.05.03
Late sentence
More than three years after the offence of which they are accused,
the court of first instance in Agadir sentenced five young Saharawis
to two months in prison and a fine. They are two men students,
Mohamed Fadel Abou ElHassan and Moustafa Hamadi and three women
students H´Jaiba Manaoui, Saadia Bayan and Batoul Aalali. The
sentences relate to acts which took place back on 29 February 2000
( >>week
09/2000),
when Saharawi students were demonstrating outside Inzegan prison
(Agadir) to protest against the imprisonment of three Saharawi
political prisoners, Cheikh Khaya, Brahim Najem Laghzal and Larbi
Saïd. (>>week
51/1999)
12.05.03
Repression
Hedi Mohamed Fadel alias El Kainnan, has been sentenced by the court
of first instance in Agadir, in an emergency sitting, to three years'
imprisonment for insulting the king and the government. He had been
apprehended during a clash with police. El Kainnan spent 6 months in
the "black prison" of El Ayoun in 2002, sentenced following an
altercation with Police Superintendant Alkoufili Hassan.
From the beginning of the month Moroccan authorities have been reinforcing security measures in the occupied Territories, deploying large contingents of police particularly in areas where Saharawis are living, in the aim of preventing any demonstration on the occasion of the anniversaries of the foundation of the Polisario and the start of the liberation struggle on 10 and 20 May. In Smara leaflets and Polisario flags were distributed at night. Several people have been apprehended and released after interrogation, among them Moujahid Ayachi Mohamed and Bouhali Dah Omar Ahmed. The first has just come out of prison at Aït Melloul pardoned by the king on the occasion of the birth of the heir to the throne.
REFERENDUM
Intense diplomatic activities before the treatment of the question of Western Sahara by the Security Council. The Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs had talks in New York with Kofi Annan on the question of Western Sahara, she is going to Algiers on 17 May to meet the Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs. Moroccan ministers have met heads of state of member countries on the Security Council, bearing a royal message about the conflict in the Sahara. Even ex-Prime Minister Youssoufi is taking part in this lobbying.
You can read Baker's proposal in French /PDF and the response of the Frente Polisario in English.
19.05.03
The UN Secretary General will deliver his report on Western Sahara.
Consultations on the subject will start on 23 May with the Security
Council.
12.05.03
On the initiative of the Association Japan-Sahara, and the Japanese
campaign for Western Sahara, an open letter,
signed by several university figures and Japanese NGOs was sent to
the Japanese government before the third TICAD (Tokyo International
Conference on African Development).
The signatories criticised the invitation to Morocco to take part in
this conference, while this country which is illegally occupying
Western Sahara. is not a member of the African Union, on the
contrary, SADR is a founder member of this organisation, and has not
been invited.
17.05.03
A Saharawi Woman speaks out.
Fatima Mahfoud, the first Saharawi woman to visit Australia, arrives
in Sydney on Saturday 17 May. She will tour Australia and New Zealand
until the end of June raising awareness about the situation of the
Saharawi people, seen from a woman's perspective. On 20 May there
will be an official
welcome
with a reception in the NSW state parliament.
Spain
Amistades Peligrosas va a realizar en los campamentos de refugiados
de Tinduf la grabación del video clip "La larga Espera" como
homenaje al pueblo Saharaui y a sus años de continúa
lucha por la libertad, "La larga espera" da
título al primer single del próximo
y esperado disco de Amistades Peligrosas.
Las voces de Cristina del Valle y Alberto Comesaña
serán el hilo argumental del relato de una historia con unos
protagonistas -hombres, mujeres y niños-, y unos escenarios
-los Campamentos "27 de febrero"-, de un pueblo y una causa en el
olvido.
El Campamento de Semara, las dunas de "Aaiún" y la escuela de
mujeres, han sido los lugares escogidos para llevar a cabo la
grabación del vídeo. Realizada por AQTfilms, la
grabación desplazará a los Campamentos a un equipo de
20 profesionales. Mientras que el viaje se realizará durante
los días 13 al 17 de Mayo.
COMING UP
Netherlands
On 23, 24 and 25 of May, Sahrawi culture will be presented during a
big festival of world music in Rotterdam. The festival is organized
by the Dunya Foundation. Will participate a musical group from the
refugees camps, and 2 Sahrawi poets. A special program entirely
dedicated to Sahrawi culture will take place in a theater
the evening of 23th of May preceding the festival itself, with
poetry, Sahrawi music and dance and a projection of pictures during
the performance. The poems will also be read in Dutch translation. On
the 24th of May, one of the poets will read poems in the evening
session of the literary program, during which the Free Word Award
will be given (to a Tchechene poet).
On the 25th of May, the 2 poets will read again, this time
accompanied by Sahrawi musicians, in the traditional way. The music
group will perform shortly in a special program for the official
guest, and in the late afternoon, the music group will have its long
performance on one of the stages. P
Madrid, Casa de América (Pº de Recoletos nº 2): 20 de Mayo, horas 19'30 : "Los baúles del retorno", largometraje de la directora canaria María Miró, con guión de ella misma y Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón. Este film, estrenado en 1995, narra una hitoria de ficción ubicada en el contexto histórico de los refugiados saharauis en los campos de Tindouf, desde la huída al desierto tras la invasión de Marruecos. En él participan multitud de saharauis además de actores profesionales españoles, entre ellos Silvia Munt.Entrada: 2 euros.
Euskadi
jugará en el Sahara
La selección de fútbol de veteranos de Euskadi
disputará el próximo día 20 de mayo un partido
contra el combinado saharaui en el campo de refugiados de Tinduf
(Argelia) como gesto de apoyo a la causa de este pueblo africano, que
reclama la independencia de Marruecos.
INTERNET
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
Noticias de prensa, Recopilación semanal de todos los articulos de la prensa de España: <http://www.nodo50.org/labarored/interpueblos/Sahara/>
Deutsch
Portugais
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