|
NEWS |
original french
25.01.-07.02.2004
25.01.04
Peace March
Over a hundred European citizens, mostly Italians, held a
demonstration near the Moroccan wall in the region of Farsia, singing
and brandishing rainbow flags. The demonstrators heard this symbol of
the Moroccan military occupation denounced, which has divided the
Saharawi people for decades. They read an appeal addressed to Kofi
Annan, James Baker and to the Security Council asking for the
implementation of the UN peace plan and for pressure to be put on
Morocco to oblige it to accept the plan.(see SPS
technical file
about the Wall)
A similar demonstration is being planned at the beginning of April.
>> more
29.01.04
European Parlament - Appeal
On the occasion of the visit in Brussels of the UN Secretary General
Mr. Kofi Annan, to receive the "Sakharov Prize" from the European
Parliament 140 members of the European Parlament address an Appeal
for the Western Sahara to the UN SG.
29.01.04
European Parliament
The European Parliamentary intergroup "Peace for the Saharawi People"
received in Brussels, Mr Xanana Gusmão, President of East
Timor, who in a speech praised the Saharawi people. "The struggle of
our Saharawi brothers is synonymous with hope, it has been a source
of inspiration for the people of Timor in their fight for freedom..."
he declared. President Gusmão called on the UN to redouble
their efforts to resolve the conflict in Western Sahara in a just and
lasting way, by organising as quickly as possible the promised
referendum of self-determination. >> photo
29.01.04
German Parliament
Unanimous adoption of a motion presented by the Socialist, Christian
Democrat, Green and Liberal parties. This motion, entitled "Support
for the Baker plan and for a political solution to the conflict in
Western Sahara", laid down on 7 January, asks the government to
commit itself in favour of a solution to the conflict of Western
Sahara, to support the Baker plan, to make available military
observers if required, to call on WFP and ECHO to deliver sufficient
food aid to the Saharawi refugees, to put pressure on the Polisario
for the liberation of prisoners of war and on Morocco to shed light
on the fate of the disappeared.
30.01.04
Letter to Kofi Annan
On the occasion of the inauguration of a United Nations regional
centre of information in Brussels, the Socialist Senator Pierre
Galand handed personally to Mr Kofi Annan, a letter co-signed by
fellow parliamentarians, making known the concerns of Belgian
parliamentarians about the implementation of the Baker
plan.
31.01.04
The Australian Labor Party Congress, organised in Sydney from 29 to
31 January, adopted a motion
on Western Sahara supporting
"the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination and deploring
the successive postponements of the referendum".
(SPS)
31.01.04
Resolution S/RES/1523 (PDF engl)
The Security Council, through its resolution 1523, ratifies James
Baker's proposal which asked for a three month extension of MINURSO's
mandate "In order to give him time to hold new consultations with
Morocco on the subject of that country's final response concerning
the peace plan", and extends the mandate to 30 April 2004.
22.01.04
African Union: Entry-into force of the Protocol Establishing an
African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights - a significant
development, amnesty
international,
22.01.04, AI Index: AFR 01/004/2004.
28.01.04
Morocco - expulsion
Catherine Graciet and Nadia Ferroukhi, an independent journalist and
a photographer, both French, were expelled from Morocco. Apprehended
on 27 January in Tarfaya at a Royal gendarmerie road block, they were
en route to Western Sahara, where they wanted to report on the living
conditions of the Saharawi population under Moroccan occupation. "The
police officers confiscated our passports and our mobile phones and
made us turn back, escorting us as far as Agadir", Catherine Graciet
told AFP. "We were interrogated in Agadir by the DST then expelled
after 24 hours in custody, locked up in a room, guarded by a
policeman. They only complained that we had not fore-warned the
Moroccan Embassy in Paris that we were going to do a reportage on
Western Sahara", she added.
On arrival in Agadir on Sunday 25 January the two young women had
first gone to Goulimine. According to AP, quoting a government
source, the two young women were in possession "of large amounts of
documentation" favourable to the Polisario Front's position. The UJS
and AFAPREDESA have launched an urgent appeal to human rights
organisations and to the organisation Reporters without Borders to
intervene with the Moroccan authorities so as to put an end to this
kind of violation of universal human rights and to allow free access
to the occupied territories of Western Sahara to any personality or
human rights organisation.
30.01.04
Interview with Ali Salem Tamek, Saharawi activist
In a Moroccan weekly close to the powers that be, Tamek defines
himself as "a member of the Saharawi people", a people whose
existence he asserts, for they possess "their own history, their
language, their traditions, their customs and their lifestyle, which
is different from those of neighbouring peoples." The Saharawi people
should exercise their right to self-determination, an "inalienable
right", he said, adding that "the only way out of this conflict, is
to speed up the organisation of the referendum." (Maroc
Hebdo International, No 590,
30.01.04 , french)
On 5 February, in an interview with the Spanish daily, El
Mundo, Tamek declared that the present situation in Western
Sahara is characterised by "permanent violations of human rights" and
called for the international community to delegate a mission to the
region to put pressure on Morocco to respect the rights of the
Saharawis".
Reactions came thick and fast: Liberation (03.02.) invites
Tamek to leave Morocco. Aujourd'hui
le Maroc (04.02
) calls him a "traitor to the national cause" just like Islamist
"terrorist gangs". The daily calls on "the authorities, politicians,
government, political parties, NGOs and anyone who has a grain of
nationalism" to react to Ali Salem Tamek "sold body and soul to the
Polisario and to Algeria."
30.01.04
Sisters Mamia and Fatma Salek, abducted in 1976 with their parents,
imprisoned without trial for 16 years in the penal colonies of Kalaat
Mgouna, where their parents died, have denounced during a press
conference in the Canary Islands the extra-judiciary procedure by
which the body Equity and Reconciliation would "settle" the problem
of human rights abuses in recent decades. They call for respect for
human rights, for the release of political prisoners, for
compensation for the victims, and for bringing those responsible to
justice as well as for the opening of the territory and the return of
passports to human rights activists who were prevented from traveling
to Geneva in March2003. (comunicado)
(Historia
resumida de
16 años de prisión en Marruecos (word)
01.02.04
Massaoud Al Baz, a Saharawi citizen, was the victim of a brutal
attack by three Moroccan "security" agents in El Ayoun. Al Baz, who
was not aware of the motive of this attack, was then taken to the
police station and interrogated for several hours. Examined by a
doctor, he was given sick leave and sickness benefit for 20 days.
(AFAPREDESA
)
04.02.04
The European Union's Office of humanitarian aid, ECHO makes available
to WFP 3.75 millions euros for the food aid program for the Saharawi
refugees (out of 5.14 allocated recently). This should provide enough
to cover basic food needs for three months (cereals, oil, sugar,
legumes), while waiting for the rest of the program.
23.01.04
SOLIDARIDAD - ELKARTASUN
Conferencia de los Intergrupos Parlamentarios "PAZ Y LIBERTAD EN EL
SAHARA" celebrada en el Parlamento Vasco en enero de 2004. >>
Resolución
Final
25. 01.04
Stockholm
On the eve of the Stockholm International Forum on preventinggenocide
(26.- 28.01.04 ) an alternative conference was organised by 50
Swedish NGOs. Along with other topics treated such as Palestine,
Pakistan, Turkey, Colombia, the Mapucho Indians of Chili, Chechnya, a
workshop was devoted to the occupation of Western Sahara, directed by
the Swedish parliamentarian, Hillevi Larsson. At a peaceful
demonstration the demonstrators demanded the dismantling of the
Moroccan wall in Western Sahara as well as the Israeli wall in
Palestine.
28.01.04
Catalunya
La Generalitat potenciará las relaciones institucionales con
el Frente Polisario y aumentará las ayudas al pueblo saharaui,
anunció el conseller de Relaciones Institucionales y
Participación, Joan Saura.(agencias)
30.01.04
Madrid.
Un grupo de solidari@s madrileñ@s rebautizó la
estación de metro de ´Banco de España´,
pasando a llamarse ´Sahara Libre´, con la intención
de dar a conocer el conflicto del Sahara Occidental. ver el
panfleto
repartido durante la acción y fotos
31.01.04
Barcelona
Despedida
de la 10ª Caravana Catalana
solidaria
para el Sahara desde el Parlamento de Catalunya
Los ciudadanos y ciudadanas de Catalunya despidieron la "10ª
Caravana Catalana Solidaria para el Sàhara" el sábado,
31 de enero, desde el Parlamento de Catalunya. A este acto de
despedida asistieron representantes de la Generalitat de Catalunya y
de organizaciones políticas, así como alcaldes de
diferentes municipios, sindicatos y el Intergrupo Parlamentario "Paz
en el Sáhara" al completo.
03.02.04
Sevilla
La empresa de relojería Valentín Ramos S.L.
donará relojes a los niños saharauis. Comunicado
de la Asociación Provincial de Amistad con el Pueblo Saharaui
de Sevilla
COMING UP... >> AGENDA
Sevilla
Fiesta de clausura del proyecto "Caravana por la paz" de la
Asociación provincial de amistad con el pueblo saharaui de
Sevilla: 15 de febrero, en el parque del Alamillo.
«West-Sahara:
ein vergessenes Land» Dia
Vortrag von Mag.a Noriko Aoyagi, Sonntag 22. Februar 2004, 18:00
Beginn
Kulturverein Kanafani, Laimgrubengasse 19/1, 1060 Wien.
Eintritt frei.
La Delegación Saharaui para Cantabria y la ONG Cantabria por el Sahara han organizado un nuevo viaje al campamento de refugiados de Tinduf, en Argel, desde el aeropuerto de Parayas. El viaje tendrá lugar entre los días 21 al 28 de febrero. Info: mahbes@nodo50.org. WEB
Vol "Catalunya
amb el Sahara"
Setmana Santa 2004: 07 -12 de Abril, data exacta no encara confirmat.
Contact, informació: Associació Catalana d'Amics del
Poble Sahrauí, secció territorial de SAHANDREU, e-mail:
mailto:sahandreu@yahoo.es
The Sahrawi workers´ trade union UGTSARIO will held its 5º Congress of UGTSARIO at Tindouf (south Algeria) 18-20 May 2004. Contact : ugtsario@yahoo.com, tel/fax: 00 213 49 921 309
Musique
sahraouie - Musica saharaui: Mariem Hassan y su grupo:
Belgique:
12.02.04 Bruxelles, Espace Senghor
13.02.04 Anvers/ Antwerpen, Quixote
España:
28.02.04, Bilbao, Antxokia,
22 horas.
05.03.04, Salamanca, Cafe Corrillo, 22 horas
07.03.04, Madrid, Sala Clamores, direccion Alburquerque 14, 20.30
horas
12.03.04, Huesca, Eden, 23.30 horas
9, 10, 11, 12, 13 y 14 de Mayo, Forum
de las Culturas de Barcelona,
la Plaza de las Culturas
(Nubenegra publicará el disco dedicado al MEDEH (cantos
antiguos saharauis), con lo que son ya seis los discos publicados de
música saharaui desde que en el 1997 iniciá la
colaboración con el Ministerio de Cultura de la
RASD.)
Deutschland:
30.05.04 : Africa
Festival Würzburg
Reminder: daily news on the arso NEWS-Blog
NEW
PUBLICATIONS
[External
links to newspapers may not be valid after some days because the
servers are restarted]
Français
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
Arabe
Portugais
[Summary
Weekly News,]
[Western
Sahara Homepage]