Monthly Archives: January 2017

23 Jan 2017: Press release from ASVDH – the trial of the Gdeim Izik prisoners resumes

The trial of the Gdeim Izik prisoners resumes in a civil court in Rabat on 23 January 2017.
ASVDH –  (Saharawi Association on human rights abuses committed by the Moroccan state) has issued the following Press Release

El-Aaiun: January 21st, 2017
The Gdeim Izik Detainees group is expected to appear on January 23, 2017 at  the Court of Appeals in Rabat-Salé. This will be the second trial after the decision of the Court of Cassation which annulled and canceled the sentences against the members of the group by the military court in Rabat. These sentencing varied from two years to life imprisonment. That Cassation ruling made it clear that the law  provisions were not considered as factual and legal evidence provided by the requirements of articles 365 and 370 of the Criminal Procedure Code were ignored. This made the Court of Appeal´s ruling illegitimate…..(cont.)
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Obituary: Sidi Ahmed Eddia Moussa 1948-2017

Meeting Christopher Ross, personal envoy for Western Sahara of the UN Secretary General

Meeting Christopher Ross, personal envoy for Western Sahara of the UN Secretary General

Sidi Ahmed Eddia, Secretary General of the Confederated Union of Saharawi Workers (CSTS – Confédération Syndicale des Travailleurs Sahraouis) was born in El Aaiun in 1948 and died there on 3 January 2017.

Leading a street protest 2010

Leading a street protest 2010

He was well known for his activism, not only for workers’ rights, but also for many other causes supporting Saharawi rights in general.

After his military service with the Spanish army, and work with the construction service, he took employment at the phosphate mine,

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North Africa’s next war….New York Times 16 Jan 2017

The New York Times, The Opinion Pages
Hannah Armstrong, 16 January 2017

TIFARITI, Western Sahara — “Uninhabited and less than three miles long, the rocky, flat area known as Guerguerat falls under no formal government rule. It lies near North Africa’s Atlantic coast, some 40 miles north of Nouadhibou, a thriving Mauritanian port city…… Since August, this remote area has been the site of a standoff between two enemies that have been at an impasse for more than two decades: Morocco and the Polisario Front. Not since 1991 have they been closer to war….(cont.)

NYT article >>