|
WEEKS 13 - 14 : 25.03. - 07.04.2007 |
SADR
26.03.07
The president of the Republic, Mohamed Abdelaziz, welcomed the newly
elected Mauritanian president, Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi. He also
congratulated Colonel Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, president of the Military
Council for Justice and Democracy, head of the Mauritanian state, for
the success of the presidential elections. [SPS]
31.03.07,
The President of the Republic underlined in a speech, during a lunch
offered on the occasion of the birth of the prophet (Maouloud) to about
a hundred people, notables, political leaders, members of government
and parliament as well as national officials, that the Saharawi people
are more than ever determined to reject “any solution which does not
respect our right to self-determination to independence”. “Moroccan
attempts to impose the colonial fait accompli through a so-called
autonomy plan, as well as being unilateral, unacceptable and illegal,
can only plunge the region into a new period of instability, war and
suffering” for both the Saharawi and Moroccan peoples. [SPS]
01.04.07
The Saharawi athlete, Salah Hmatou, among 300 runners, took the 11th 10 km race in Montélimar in 30' 58''.
05-07.04.07, 5th congress of the Union of Saharawi Women
Hundreds of delegates and several foreign delegations took part in the
congress, which had the theme “Saharawi women – a force mobilized for
independence and progress”. Aminatou Haidar took part by direct link
with the occupied territories. The delegates will elect a new secretary
general and an executive committee. In workshops they are developing
their program of short term and long term action. [SPS] [Note de presse UNFS du 3 mars 2007] [Nota de prensa, UNMS, 03.04.07] [Page spéciale en arabe] [Speach of SADR president ]
OCCUPIED
TERRITORIES AND SOUTH MOROCCO
23.03.07, testimony
A new example occurred of arbitrary police behaviour towards a Saharawi
citizen. Hussein Al-Hiri, 1984, was questioned by a plainclothes
policeman and struck in the face. Hussein pushed him away. He was taken
in a car outside the town and violently beaten. The blows stopped on
the intervention of a witness. Taken back into town, Hussein was
interrogated about the presence of flags and graffiti hostile to
Morocco. He will be prosecuted for attacking a policeman. [ASVDH]
30.03.07, repression
The authorities in El Ayoun partially destroyed the property of the
Saharawi former trades unionist, Eddia Sidi Ahmed Moussa, a delegate of
the former Saharawi workers in Phosboucraa. This act has as its
objective to ruin him economically because of his attachment to
self-determination and his opposition to the autonomy proposal. His
son, Sidi Brahim, has been protesting since 23 March by sitting in
outside the town offices against human rights abuses in Western Sahara
and in particular against the violations of the rights of Saharawi
workers. [corr.]
01-03.02.07, archeology
Several dozen African and European archeologists and researchers,
meeting in Nouakchott, in Mauritania, lauched the Nouakchott Appeal
which calls for international mobilization for the “protection and valuing of archeological remains”. [L'Appel de Nouakchott pour le patrimoine africain, Dominique Raizon, RFI, 17.03.07] [Afrique, SOS pillages. Sylvie Briet, Libération, Paris, 24.03.07].
25.02.07, phosphates
The Elver, a boat sailing under a Cypriot flag, arrived on 25 February
2007 in Baranquilla, Colombia, carrying 14,250 tonnes of phosphates
coming from El-Ayoun. [document takes a long time to upload]
28.03.2007, fishing agreement (continued)
Abderrahman El-Yazidi, secretary general of the Union of Officers of
deep sea fishing, which has 7000 members out of the 10,000 sailors in
Morocco, declared on the subject of the EU-Morocco fishing agreement:
“Nothing more can stop the European fleet from beginning to fish. This
119-boat-strong fleet…will represent…a huge fishing effort which is
bound to have unfavourable effects on various fish stocks… The fishing
sector in Morocco is dying. The advantages of this agreement for
Morocco, apart from the alleged political dimension which escapes me, I
cannot see any!” On the subject of the introduction of the goods
and services tax on gasoil: “…we must also recognized that there is
widespread traffic in motor fuel coming from the [Western] Sahara which
makes many farmers and military and civilian officials happy”. [Yabiladi.com, 28.03.07]
24.03.07, UN
The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Western
Sahara, Julian Harston, carried out a 24-hour visit to the Saharawi
Republic, in the context of his tour of the region. Harston was
welcomed by the population, officials and the wali of the wilaya of
Smara. He met shiouk, members of parliament and notables, before being
received by the coordinator with MINURSO, Mhamed Khadad and finally by
the President of the Republic. [SPS]
24.03.07, Algeria-USA
Mohammed Bedjaoui, Algerian Minister for Foreign Affairs, emphasized to
APS, after his discussions at UN headquarters, that he had “made the
different members of the Security Council aware of the historical
responsibility which could fall on them if they managed to get out of
international law by endorsing the Moroccan proposal for internal
autonomy”. Questioned after making contact with American diplomats, the
minister said he had experienced a more marked “interest” on the part
of those he spoke with, “including Mrs Rice”, who showed “a willingness
to see a solution sketched out which would re-establish stability in
the region. The Americans say they would hold to the implementation of
solutions taken within the UN.” [Elmoudjahid, 25.03.07]
27.03.07, Italy
Massimo D'Alema, Minister of Foreign Affairs, met a Moroccan
delegation, who presented the autonomy proposal to him. D'Alema stated
that he would study the proposal when it is formalized. [Ministerio AE]
27.03.07, UK
In a letter sent to Kim Howells, Secretary of State in charge of the
Near East and International Security, Labour members of the city of
London considered that the United Kingdom, as a permanent member of the
Security Council, “is well placed to play a vital role towards finding
a just and peaceful solution to the conflict of decolonization in
Western Sahara”. These MPs, who had met Ali Salem Tamek (see week
9-10/2007), called for action by Britain to guarantee his security when
he returns to Western Sahara in the near future. [SPS]
27.03.07, Colombia
The two chambers of the Colombian parliament adopted separately and
unanimously, a resolution reaffirming their support for the right of
the Saharawi people to self-determination and independence. Earlier the
Latin-American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC) had likewise adopted a
resolution unanimously, supporting the self-determination of the
Saharawi people and calling on Morocco to decolonize Western Sahara in
accordance with UN resolutions. [SPS]
28.03.07, Belgium
The position of Algeria on the question of Western Sahara “blends
completely with that of the international community” and is based on
principles established by international law, the Algerian deputy
minister for Foreign Affairs, Abdelkader Messahel, in the course of
meetings with the president of the Senate, Anne-Marie Lizin, the head
of Belgian diplomacy, Karol de Gucht and the Committee for External
Relations of the Senate. [SPS]
The same committee,
in the course of a presentation on Western Sahara, heard from the
Saharawi minister delegate for Europe, Mohamed Sidati, senators, Pierre
Galand, Josy Dubié and Jacinta De Roek.[SPS]
Two days earlier it had heard from the Moroccan delegation received by the Prime Minister, Guy Verhofstadt.
28.03.07, Italy
Rosa Iervolino Russo, mayor of Naples, questioned through a letter, the
Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, on the dramatic situation in which the
Saharawi people have been living for thirty years, exhorting him to
implement the resolutions of the United Nations on this question. [SPS]
28.03.07, South Africa
The president of the parliamentary groups of the Pan Africanist
Congress, (PAC), Mofihli Likotsi reaffirmed “the position of his party
of support for self-determination of the Saharawi people, in the course
of a reception of the Saharawi ambassador to South Africa in the
national parliament. [SPS]
29.03.07, USA
Senators Russell Feingold, Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on
Africa, Patrick Leahy, Member of appropriation committee in the Senate,
and James Inhofe, Member of Senate Armed Services Committee sent a
letter to President G.W. Bush to denounce the Moroccan autonomy
proposal, contrary to international law and to the right to
self-determination. The senators regretted that MINURSO’s mandate,
following France’s intervention in the Security Council, had not
enlarged to include monitoring of human rights. They asked their
ambassador to the UN to act in this sense during the meeting devoted to
Western Sahara.[original letter]
29.03.07, UK
The Saharawi coordinator with MINURSO, M'hamed Khaddad, was received in
the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In a statement, Khaddad
had noticed in them “a constant position in favour of a just and
lasting solution to the conflict in Western Sahara ensuring the right
of the Saharawi people to self-determination”. “The big media noise,
accompanying the travels of the Moroccan delegation in charge of
explaining the autonomy plan, explains in reality the impasse in which
Morocco finds itself…”, Khaddad pointed out. “Is it logical to ask
countries to support a plan whose content they are ignorant of, and
which, on top, asks the international community to bury international
law and to legalise the colonial fait accompli?”, Khaddad wondered. [SPS]
30.03.-01.04.07
The European Community Organisation of Socialist Youth (ECOSY), in a
resolution adopted during its 8th Congress in Warsaw, rejected the
Moroccan autonomy proposal for Western Sahara, calling the proposal
“unilateral, illegal and anti-democratic”. [SPS]
02.04.07, EU
The German Minister for Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier,
president of the EU, received Abdelkader Messahel, Algerian deputy
minister for Foreign Affairs. The two parties discussed developments in
the question of Western Sahara. Steinmeier underlined the unchanging
support towards all the efforts deployed, notably within the framework
of the United Nations, to reach a peaceful and consensual solution. [Press statement]
02-03.04.07, Italy-Morocco
The Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs D'Alema, this time on an
official visit to Morocco, pronounced himself in Rabat in favour of
direct dialogue between Algeria and Morocco to find a solution to the
problem in Western Sahara. [agencies]
02-03.04.07, Italy
Khaddad, Saharawi coordinator with MINURSO, met in Rome representatives
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, members of parliament as well as
political officials from the opposition and the coalition in
government. [SPS]
02.04.07
The President of the Norwegian Parliament, Thorbjorn Jagland, on a
visit to Morocco from 31.03. to 04.04., raised with the authorities in
Rabat the question of human rights in Western Sahara. [Verdensmagasinet X, 02.04.07]
04.04.07, UN
The British President of the Security Council for the month of April,
Emyr Jones Parry, announced during a press conference that the Moroccan
autonomy proposal would be presented on 10 April to the Council. Jones
Parry doubts that a lasting solution will be found in the coming
months, but he is certain that MINURSO’s mandate will be renewed.
[Reliefweb]
05-04-2007, France
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Philippe Douste-Blazy, received
another Moroccan ministerial delegation led by Taieb Fassi-Fihri,
deputy Foreign Minister. The talks had bearing on the coming deadlines
in the United Nations concerning the Western Sahara issue. The ideas
presented by the Moroccans “seem to provide a possible basis for taking
up negotiations again…the process which is opening offers the
possibility of leading to an agreed political solution by all the
parties within the framework of the United Nations”, a spokesperson
from the Quai d'Orsay said. [point de presse 05.04.07] [point de presse 06.04.07, plus détaillé]
24.03.07
The American law firm and lobby consultancy, Tew Cardenas http://www.tewcardenas.com/ signed a contract with the Moroccan American Center for Policy (MACP), a pro-Moroccan organisation http://www.moroccanamericanpolicy.com/ to promote Morocco with American political officials. [Tel Quel, Maroc, 266]
24.03.07, statement
According to Fouad Ali El Himma, Moroccan deputy Minister for the
Interior, “as an organization, the Polisario Front itself, which
retains a Marxist-Leninist ideology, is not associated with Al Qaeda.
On the contrary, certain individuals have, in their own right, made
links with GSPC which controls southern Algeria.” No formal proof has
to this day been provided by the Moroccan security service on alleged
links of the Polisario Front with terrorist organizations. [Le Journal Hebdo, Maroc, 24.03.07]
27-29.03.07, Council of Human Rights, Geneva
Interventions:
M'Hamed Mohamed Cheikh, in the name of the International Movement of
Youth and Students for the United Nations and the International
Organisation for the Development of Education; [texte complet] Keltoum Irbah (sociologist), in the name of Interfaith International [texte complet]; Gianfranco Fattorini, Secretary General in the name of the Movement against Racism and for Friendship between Peoples (MRAP) [texte complet]
28.03.07,Amnesty International
Visit to the French branch by Ali Salem Tamek, human rights defender. [compte-rendu]
04.04.07
The President of the Saharawi Republic, Mohamed Abdelaziz, asked the UN
Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, to publish the report of the UN
High Commission for Human Rights concerning its inquiry into human
rights in Western Sahara in May and June 2006. He hopes that MINURSO
will be provided with “mechanisms capable of protecting the Saharawis”.
[SPS]
21.03.07, UNHCR
In a long letter to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio
Gutierrez, the president of the Saharawi Red Crescent refuted the
arguments having led to the reduction in food aid and invites Gutierrez
to visit the refugee camps.
28.03.07, Spain
1000 tonnes of rice sent by AECI, the Spanish agency for international
cooperation, arrived in the Saharawi refugee camps, transported from
Oran with the assistance of 46 trucks. The distribution of a kg of rice
a month per person will be possible for 8 months. The AECI’s program
comprises sending a further 166,000 litres of sunflower oil as well as
the purchase, on the ground, of basic foodstuffs. [Afrol spanish]
18.03.07, Australia
The Australia Western Sahara Association (AWSA), sent a letter to the UN Secretary General on the occasion of his appointment. [Letter]
http://awsa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/letterunsecgenmar071.pdf
24.03.07, Santa Cruz de Tenerife
At the instigation of the Association of Saharawi émigrés
in Tenerife, about 300 Saharawi gathered to condemn the repression
exercised by Morocco in Western Sahara against the civilian population
and the unilateral proposal for autonomy. [SCSCanarias]
24.03.07, Stockholm
The Swedish Committee for Western Sahara, in a political statement
approved during its annual meeting, expects its government to continue
to defend international law, particularly in the Security Council, and
asks it to recognize SADR. [Sweden must defend international law in Western Sahara]
25.03.07, Italy
In the course of his meeting with the Saharawi Minister for
Cooperation, Salek Baba Hacena, Monica Donini, the President of the
Legislative Assembly of Emilia Romagna, who visited the camps in April
2006, reiterated the wish of her region to “support the Saharawi people
in its peaceful struggle for independence”. She recalled the motion
voted on 23 November 2006 by the Legislative Assembly of the region and
expressed her concern for the “precarious situation”, which the
Saharawi population in the refugee camps are experiencing, following
the reduction in international humanitarian aid. [SPS] [Risoluzione 23.11.06]
26.03.07, Canaries
The Canarias Prize, awarded by the local government, was given in the
domain of actions of altruism and solidarity [Acciones Altruistas y
Solidarias] to the Asociación Canaria de Amistad con el
Pueblo Saharaui. [corr.]
27.03.07, London
A Saharawi cultural evening was held at Canning House, the second of
this kind in the space of a week, at the initiative of Sandblast,
within a campaign to raise awareness of the Saharawi question in the
United Kingdom.
28-29.03.07, Madrid
Jornadas de agrónomos: "Una ventana abierta al Sáhara", Madrid. Para más información : http://www.etsia.upm.es
29.03.07, Stockholm
Conference and debate on “the situation in Western Sahara and the
occupied territories in particular” at the Olof Palme international
centre, chaired by Anne Lind, international relations officer of the
Swedish Social Democrat party. Among the speakers were the Swedish
journalist,
Lars Bjork, the director of the review 20 May, the central organ of the
Polisario Front, Hamdi Hafed, and B. Johanssen, responsible for
external relations for the city of Stockholm. [Palme Center]
27.03.07, Death of Dr. David H. Smith, pioneer of the Saharawi cause in the United States and father of Teresa K. Smith de Cherif [--> opinions], at the age of 90.
Barcelona,
Concentració amb pancartes i xiulets davant la
Subdelegació del Govern espanyol (carrer Mallorca núm.
278) a les 19 hores. 12 d'abril. Comitè català Aminetu
Haidar per l'alliberament de tots els presos polítics
sahrauís. Per a més informació:
sah_ahaidar@yahoo.es
Segovia, Sahara en el Corazon, Jornadas de acercamiento a la cultura
saharaui, Escuela Universitaria de Magisterio, 12 y 13 de abril, desde
las 18 h. Infos: ceas-sahara[at]ceas-sahara.es - http://www.uva.es/voluntariado
Bruxelles, Conférence « Ressources naturelles et droits de
l'homme », 17.4.2007 de 9.30 à 12.30 H. au Parlement
européen, Rue Wiertz 60 Salle 1G3. Infos:
sahraoui.comite[at]oxfamsol.be
Madrid, concentración de 12:00 a 14:00 horas del sábado
día 21 de abril de 2007, en la C/ Buen Suceso, esquina C/ Ferraz
de Madrid, bajo el lema de: La legalidad internacional repudia la
autonomia como solución en el Sahara Occidental. Comunidad
Saharaui en España. Email: justiciaparasahara[at]saharalibre.es
Documents
NEW
PUBLICATIONS
[External
links to newspapers may not be valid after some days because the
servers are restarted]
Français
>> Revue de la presse internationale francophone
http://fr.groups.yahoo.com/group/revue-de-presse-sahara-occidental/messages
English
>> English publications on Sahara Update mailinglist: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sahara-update/messages
Castellano
>> Revista de la prensa en español http://es.groups.yahoo.com/group/revista-de-prensa-sahara-occidental/messages
Nuevo libro
Los últimos de África. Crónica de la presencia
española en el continente africano, Pablo de Dalmases, Almuzara
Ediciones, Córdoba, 2007, Páginas: 172
Italiano
Attualità in italiano: El Ouali Bologna:
http://www.saharawi.org/saharawi.htm + Radio for Peace
http://www.radiokcentrale.it/du.htm
Deutsch
Norsk
Svensk
[Summary
Weekly News,]
[Western
Sahara Homepage]