Monthly Archives: December 2009

We will not bow to this Moroccan king

Hunger striker Aminatou Haidar must have justice. Begging Morocco’s rotten monarch won’t bring it
Paul Laverty and Ken Loach write in Guardian.co.UK., 10 December 2009
A woman from Western Sahara, Aminatou Haidar, lies on the floor at Lanzarote airport on hunger strike and near death. She was refused entry to her own country because she refused to write “Moroccan” on her departure card.
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A Letter from Aminatou Haidar on International Human Rights Day

image002.jpgToday is the 10th of December, International Day of Human Rights. During this day, when such a sacred day for Humanity is commemorated, a day for ideals and principles which guarantee basic rights; I, who have always been a human rights defender, am on the 25th day of my hunger strike because of injustice and lack of respect for Human Rights.

The Statement by Australian Council for International Development (ACFID)

The Australian Council for International Development (ACFID)  is an independent national association of Australian non-government organisations (NGOs) working in the field of international aid and development. ACFID’s membership is composed of 75 NGOs.

ACFID made on 8 December 2009 the following statement in support of Aminatou Haidar:
“The Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) joins many
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AWSA members and friends: Suggestion for Action for Aminatou

Note: The letter needs to go tomorrow, 10 Dec, international human rights day.

Email the attached letter to the UN Human Rights High Commissioner, Mrs Navanethem Pillay, tomorrow. Contact details:

United Nations High Commissionioner for Human Rights:
Mrs Navanethem Pillay
address: Palais Wilson, CH 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
tel: (41 22) 917 31 34
fax: (41 22) 917 90 50
email: [email protected]

Attachment: Letter to UN Human Rights High Commissioner

Ken Loach and Paul Laverty Support Aminatou Haidar

Scottish writer Paul Laverty and British director Ken Loach issued a joint statement on December 1st (commemorating the anniversary of Rosa Park’s refusal to give up her bus seat for a white passenger) in support of Western Saharan human rights activist Aminatou Haidar.  Haidar is in the third week of a hunger strike after being deported against her will by Moroccan authorities occupying her homeland.  You can watch Democracy Now!’s coverage of Haidar’s plight here.

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Third week of hunger strike

In Third Week of hunger strike, ailing Western Saharan human rights activist Aminatou Haidar demands Moroccan authorities allow her return to occupied homeland.
Amy Goodman of Democracy Now speaks to Mouloud Said, Washington, DC representative of the Polisario Front; Guillermo “Willy” Toledo, Spanish actor in Lanzarote airport speaking out in support of Aminatou Haidar and Stephen Zunes, University of San Francisco Professor and co-author of the forthcoming book “Western Sahara: Nationalism, Conflict, and International Accountability.”

Transcript of discussion >>

Cate Lewis, AWSA Vice-President, reports on eucoco35bcn

barcelona.JPGTogether with 36 other countries, Australia made the 37th country and the 4th continent represented at the 35th EUCOCO in Barcelona.
The European conference coordinating support for the Saharawi people has well and truly become international with many African and Latin American countries sending delegates as well as some Eastern European countries not usually represented including Russia, Poland, Slovakia and Croatia.
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