Monthly Archives: April 2008

25 April. Amnesty International. Public Statement

Morocco / Western Sahara:  Allegations of torture of Sahrawi human rights defender must be investigated

Amnesty International deplores today’s expulsion by the Moroccan authorities of a delegation of Action by Christians against Torture (Action des chrétiens pour l’abolition de la torture, ACAT) as another setback against human rights defenders working on Western Sahara. Continue reading →

Bardem swaps red carpet for sand

EL PAÍS, 19 April 2008
The actor is part of a strong Spanish contingent supporting Sahrawi film festival

The world’s only film festival to be held at a refugee camp opened Friday in the Algerian desert. Several prominent actors and directors from Spain, including the Oscar-winning Javier Bardem, are scheduled to attend Fisahara, the International Film Festival of Western Sahara. Continue reading →

Javier Bardem visits refugees

javier.jpgThe Oscar winner jetted off to southwestern Algeria near the border with the Western Sahara to partake in the cinema gala’s fifth installment Thursday and took time out of his schedule to visit the Dakhla refugee camp in Tindouf, Algeria. There, the 39-year-old was welcomed with open arms by numerous exiled Sahrawi families.
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18 April, New York; Statement of Ahmed Boukhari

STATEMENT OF AHMED BOUKHARI, Representative of the Frente POLISARIO in New York
The Frente POLISARIO has taken note with satisfaction of the latest report of the Secretary-General on the situation concerning Western Sahara and its recommendations particularly those calling for the intensification of direct negotiations between the Frente POLISARIO and the Kingdom of Morocco. Continue reading →

Free Western Sahara, writes Emhamed Khadad in Wall Street Journal

Opinion, By EMHAMED KHADAD
April 17, 2008
In the coming days, the United Nations is scheduled to debate the fate of Africa’s last colony. Since it was illegally invaded by Moroccan troops in 1975, Western Sahara and its indigenous people known as the Sahrawis have been fighting the torpid responses of the global community and the aggressive policies of the Moroccan monarchy. Western Sahara must be brought out of the margins and into the light.,
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Report on visit to occupied territories by international trade union delegation

An international trade union delegation visited the occupied territories in Western Sahara from 17 to 22 February 2008.
The visit was undertaken to meet a commitment taken on during the trade union meeting in support of the Saharawi People held in October 2005. A delegation from CCOO in Spain, the Italian CGIL and the French CGT, comprised Juan Ortega and Victoria Montero, Leopold Tartaglia and Jean Jacques Guigon.
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Kicking Western Saharan sand in Nicolas Sarkozy’s face

By Emhamed Khadad
France’s clamour for an EU-Mediterranean trade partnership ignores Morocco’s illegal annexation of a neighbour, writes a leader of Polisario.
On the face of it, French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s vision of a Europe-Mediterranean trade body makes perfect sense – most obviously for the EU. EU exports already account for a major share of overall economic activity in the Maghreb. An economically developed region would open up a market of 75 million-plus consumers. A common market would also unlock the barriers to intra-Maghreb trade, which remains a trickle.
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