Monthly Archives: November 2012

Amidst series of meetings, UN envoy urges resolution to Western Sahara dispute

UN News Centre, 12 November 2012

Amid the rising threat of extremist elements in Africa’s Sahel region, the dispute over Western Sahara must be resolved before lingering hostilities consume the North African territory, the United Nations top official on the issue warned today.

In a press statement released following his visit with the Foreign Minister of Spain in Madrid, the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Christopher Ross, cautioned that the crisis had lasted “far too long” and called any acceptance of the status quo a “serious miscalculation.”

Read UN News report >>

W.Sahara sands shift in UN favour: Analysts

By Guillaume Klein
Times Online, Saturday, 03 November 2012

RABAT, Nov 03, 2012 (AFP) – Morocco and the UN envoy for Western Sahara, who was spurned by Rabat in May, are back on speaking terms, but analysts say the situation over the disputed territory has noticeably altered to the kingdom’s detriment.
The rising importance of the security issue in the Sahel region, where a military intervention could take place against Islamists in northern Mali, is lending weight to the regional influence of Algeria, a supporter of Western Sahara’s independence-seeking Polisario Front.
Christopher Ross’s return to Morocco six months after the kingdom said it had no confidence in the UN envoy came without fanfare. (cont.)

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Latest news on crowd funding campaign for documentary on Saharawi women’s stories

sahara_002_1297318778.JPGAbout the project:  documentary makers, journalist Emanuela Zuccalà  and award winning Italian photographer Simona Ghizzoni write “JUST TO LET YOU KNOW THAT I’M ALIVE’ is a multimedia 25 minutes documentary that for the first time collects Saharawi women’s stories and voices with a feminine sensibility, combining video footage clips, photographs, music and valuable stock material.”

Aim:  To raise $12,200 – campaign ends in 18 days on 22 November

Total so far =$5,662  You can donate here >>

Latest news: $1,000 has just been donated by the film director and scriptwriter Maite Bulgari, passionate about documentary and committed to promote women’s rights around the world with her NGO called Agenda Sant’Egidio.

Human Rights Defender Brutally Attacked by Moroccan Police

RFK Centre for Justice and Human Rights, Press Release

Washington 2 November:  Retaliatory violence by the Moroccan government continues to rise during United Nations Envoy’s visit to militarily-controlled Western Sahara.

RFK Human Rights Laureate Aminatou Haidar is the latest victim of systemic violence and police brutality by the Moroccan government against the Sahrawi people. The Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights (RFK Center) has received multiple reports in the last week…(cont.)

Video of attack on Aminatou Haidar >>

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