Yearly Archives: 2008

A Voice for the Voiceless

21/11/2008- Forbes.com
By: Congressman Joe Pitts
A “ghost, a living dead, a young woman back from a kind of hell that bears no name.”

These are the words of Aminatou Haidar, a human rights activist from Western Sahara, upon her release in 1991 from captivity by Moroccan security officials. Ms. Haidar hails from Western Sahara, a coastal nation just south of Morocco.

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Trade unionists call for solidarity with Western Sahara

By Margarita Windisch

The 6th Congress of the Western Sahara General Union of Saguia El Hamra and Rio de Oro Workers (UGTSARIO) took place from October 19-21, 2008, in El Aaiun, one of four Saharawi refugee camps in the Hamada desert in south-west Algeria.
Three Australian trade unionists (two from the Australian Workers Union –AWU — and one from the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance — MEAA) travelled thousands of kilometres to attend the congress
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Aminatou Haidar address, 25th Annual Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award

Remarks by Aminatou Haidar
25th Annual Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, November 13th, 2008
Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC

Saharawi human rights activist addressed the audience participating to the reception organised on her honour last Thursday in Washington where she received the Robert Kennedy Award for Human Rights.

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Robert Kennedy Human Rights Award to Saharawi woman, Aminatou Haidar

Commentary
Africa’s Last Colony
Gilonne d’Origny 11.15.08, 12:00 AM ET

On Nov. 13 in Washington a brave woman named Aminatou Haidar was presented with the Robert Kennedy Human Rights Award. She has risked her life under Moroccan oppression to protect her fellow Sahrawi, the people of Western Sahara, who have suffered oppression, torture, kidnappings and murder at the hands of Morocco.

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National Workshop on the Future of Phosphorus; 14 Nov 2008

The National Workshop on the Future of Phosphorus organised by Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) http://www.isf.uts.edu.au/contact/index.html was held on 14 November 2008.
Radio program:  Western Sahara is mentioned at:  02.01.00
http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bth_20081114_1106.mp3

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Australia Western Sahara Assoc. – Press release 14 Nov 208

Shareholders question Wesfarmers over divestment by ethical fund-holders. Phosphate importations from Western Sahara to blame

A group of Western Sahara friends including Wesfarmers shareholders asked many questions to the management of Wesfarmers during its Annual General Meeting held in Perth on 13 November 2008: http://www.wesfarmers.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=60.   The questions concerned the involvement of Wesfarmers subsidiary CSBP in the illegal exploitation of phosphate rock from Western Sahara. Continue reading

Spaniards in Australia ask why Spanish Sahara was never decolonized

A large audience of over a hundred was welcomed to Melbourne Filmoteca by Tristan Vasquez for their special film night in collaboration with the Australia Western Sahara Association entitled “Whatever happened to the Spanish Sahara?” held on 7 October at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Federation Square, Melbourne.
Two Spanish films : the charming and wistful, Lalia by Silvia Munt and the interesting and amusing Cubarawi Women by Antonio Marquez, were both received enthusiastically. Continue reading