Monthly Archives: July 2016

Open Letter to UN Security Council: The Status Quo in Western Sahara is Unacceptable

Huffington Post, Blog, 21 July 2016

The Western Sahara Civil Society, a coalition of civil society groups from Western Sahara and international supporters, has written a strongly worded open letter to the President of the UN Security Council calling on the Council to place on record the Western Sahara Civil Society’s strong belief that the status quo in Western Sahara is unacceptable…and stating that immediate action to resolve the conflict must be pursued (cont.)

Article and letter >>

Polisario elects its new leader, Brahim Ghali

ALGIERS, July 9 (Reuters) – Western Sahara’s Polisario independence movement has elected a former ambassador to Algeria, Brahim Ghali, as its new leader after the death of its chief, Mohammed Abdelaziz, who led the front through a war with Morocco and years of diplomatic struggle for self-determination.
Abdelaziz died in May aged 68 after more than three decades as leader of the Sahrawi Polisario Front and president of its self-declared Sahrawi Republic, with its base in southern Algeria since a ceasefire in 1991.

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A wave of divestments over illegal resource exploitation in Western Sahara

Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW), 27 June 2016

In recent months, several investment firms have relinquished their interests in companies that are involved in the natural resource exploitation of occupied Western Sahara.
Ever more investors are leaving the small handful of the companies that take part in the exploration, exploitation and purchase of non-renewable resources. Details of 21 such companies are provided in this article.

WSRW article >>

World’s largest wealth fund drops Cairn and Kosmos over Western Sahara

tn_cairn_609Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW)  28 June 2016

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund has announced it has excluded Kosmos Energy and Cairn Energy from its portfolios because of their oil search in Western Sahara. Approx. 54 million dollars of shares were sold.
“The Council recommends the exclusion (of Cairn and Kosmos)… due to an unacceptable risk of the companies contributing to serious violations of fundamental ethical norms through their hydrocarbon exploration offshore Western Sahara,” the council said.

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