Monthly Archives: April 2011

High tension expected at the Security Council on human rights in Western Sahara

Australia Western Sahara Association
Press Release: For immediate release 17.04.11

High tension is expected during Monday’s negotiations on the renewal of the UN peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara over the controversial issue of human rights in the disputed territory, and the Australia Western Sahara Association (AWSA) has joined with international Western Sahara support groups to demand that the UN mission in Western Sahara be given a mandate to monitor human rights when the whole Security

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Four Saharawi prisoners of conscience released from Salé and Casablanca prisons

The Moroccan state has released the Saharawi detainees Ali Salem Tamek, Brahim Dahane and Ahmad Naciri on 14 April 2011. The three political prisoners have spent 18 months in the prisons of Salé and Casablanca/Morocco. The Moroccan authorities have also released Ahmad Mahmoud Haddi Elkainan, who was arrested on 18 October 2009 and sentenced to four years in prison by the Court of Casablanca.
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NY City Bar Association report on legality of Moroccan natural resource use in Western Sahara

Committee on United Nations Report April 2011
The report concludes that by ” treating Morocco as an administering power in the territory – to the extent Morocco is using natural resources located within the territory of Western Sahara, unless such use is in consultation with and to the direct benefit of the people of Western Sahara, Morocco’s use of the natural resources of the territory constitutes a violation of international law”

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US Congress members call on US government to address human rights in WS

A letter from a group of US members of Congress has been sent to The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton, US Secretary of State, calling upon the US government to voice its strong support for protection of human rights in Western Sahara during the review of MINURSO’S mandate.

Letter to US Secretary of State >>

Morocco: Sahrawi Activists, Detained 18 Months, Await Verdict

Human Rights Watch: Trial Delays, Limited Evidence Raise Concerns of Politically Motivated Prosecution
April 8, 2011

The court trying the seven Sahrawi activists should without any further delay issue a verdict that properly presents the evidence and reasoning behind the verdict. Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch

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At UN on Western Sahara, Morocco Pushes To Drop Human Rights Mechanism from Draft

By Matthew Russell Lee, Inner City Press April 4, 2011

UNITED NATIONS, April 4 — In the run up to the UN Security Council’s regular fight on Western Sahara this month, Morocco has been lobbying to change Paragraph 119 of the UN’s report, about establishing a human right mechanism within the UN Mission MINURSO, Inner City Press has learned.
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has suggested the “establishment of an effective international mechanism for regular independent, impartial and sustained human rights monitoring and reporting… through a component within MINURSO,” according to a draft obtained by Inner City Press.

Noam Chomsky interview about current wave of uprisings – 8 March 2011

Noam Chomsky is speaking about Western Sahara starting from minute 7. This is an unedited version of Jeremy Paxman’s interview with Professor in linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), philosopher, cognitive scientist and political activist, Noam Chomsky.

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Prince Charles’s visit to Morocco

John Hilary guardian.co.uk,
Friday 1 April 2011

Prince Charles’s visit to Morocco is a chance to put pressure on King
Mohammed to end the brutal occupation of Western Sahara

Prince Charles and Camilla are soon to arrive in Morocco on an official visit intended to boost trade and cultural ties with Britain. The Foreign Office has advised that recent unrest in Morocco poses no threat to the royal couple, following King Mohammed VI’s announcement of a programme of reforms designed to appease protesters.

Awakening protests in Morocco and Western Sahara

Konstantina Isidoros
2011-03-17, Issue 521, Pambazuka News

Since the current wave of Arab revolutions first ignited in Western Sahara in November 2010, February and March have seen a new upsurge in protests across Morocco and its illegal Occupied Territory of Western Sahara, writes Konstantina Isidoros. As the extraordinary events sweeping the Arab world bring down republic government figureheads, a new question is whether these social reset buttons will have the tenacity to tackle Arab monarchies.