Monthly Archives: June 2011

Time to drain the reservoir of indifference on Western Sahara

Stefan Simanowitz reports from a refugee camp in the desert in Algeria
Monday, May 30th, 2011

Addressing a meeting in a refugee camp in the desert in Western Sahara recently, former United Nations Assistant Secretary-General Francesco Bastagli described the ongoing 35-year occupation of Western Sahara as “a simple problem made complicated by the collusion or indifference of a small number of powerful nations”.
Bastagli, who resigned from the UN in 2006 in protest over the organisation’s inaction on Western Sahara, was back in the refugee camps to attend the Sahara International Film Festival, known as FiShara, from May 2-8.

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Amnesty International urges Morocco to end violent crackdown on protests

2 June 2011 – Morocco has seen continuing demonstrations since 20 February

Moroccan authorities must not use excessive force against protesters, Amnesty International said today, as activists called for renewed pro-reform demonstrations  across the country on Sunday.

Scores of protesters in Morocco have been physically assaulted by security forces in recent weeks.

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