Author Archives: appleton

Amnesty International: Morocco military trial of Sahrawi civilians flawed from the outset

169098_moroccan_forces_dismantle_a_camp_housing2.jpg1 February 2013

“The trial of civilians before a military court does not meet internationally recognized standards for a fair trial. The 24 accused must be brought before a civilian court with all the human rights guarantees that go along with it, and in no event must anyone be sentenced to death.”  (…cont.)
Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Director for the Middle East and North Africa , Fri, 01/02/2013

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AWSA Press Release 1 February 2013: Time to set them free

Australia Western Sahara Association (AWSA)

Press Release 1 February 2013: Time to set them free
For immediate release

In an open letter to the Moroccan Minister for Justice, the Australia Western Sahara Association called for the release of 25 Saharawi prisoners who have been held illegally for over 2 years without trial.

Today, 1 February 2013, their trial is due to be held in Rabat (local time).  However, this trial has twice been scheduled and postponed.
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Western Sahara: who benefits from exporting fish and phosphates? – video

The Guardian, 28 January 2013

By Celeste Hicks who recently travelled to Western Sahara with the International Women’s Media Foundation

“Western Sahara is rich in phosphates and fish, but Saharawi activists say those resources are not being harnessed to improve the lot of the indigenous population…… They argue that exploitation of the territory’s resources should stop until a solution to the conflict is found….(cont.)

Watch video and read article >>

In remote Western Sahara, prized phosphate drives controversial investments

By Kristen Chick, Correspondent
The Christian Science Monitor, January 24, 2013

“Laayoune and Boucraa, Western Sahara : Morocco’s mining of the lucrative fertilizer ingredient in occupied Western Sahara has sparked charges it is violating international law – and that global customers are looking the other way….(cont.)

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From Dining in Refugee Camps to dOCUMENTA 13: The Art of Seeking Sahrawi Independence

Huffpost Arts & Culture, 01/22/2013

By G. Roger Denson, Cultural critic, essayist, novelist and screenwriter published with Parkett and Art in America

“There are few recurring global exhibitions of contemporary art more renown, prestigious and selective than dOCUMENTA, held every five years in Kassal Germany. Which is what makes it so very remarkable that one of the highlights of last year’s dOCUMENTA 13 was the inclusion of a refugee encampment made by what are arguably among the least known people on the face of the earth–the Sahrawi of North Africa…..(cont.)

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MARIEM HASSAN: MUSIC IS MY WEAPON

ABC Radio National, Summer Features, 11.05am Wed 23 January 2013

“On the 9th of November, 2011, one year after the violent dismantling of a peaceful Saharawi protest which Noam Chomsky calls the beginning of the Arab Spring, Hassan performed for her people in exile. Her intense voice marked the moment in history.

During her visit to the Saharawi refugee camps in Algeria, Hassan also launched a weapon – a music school. ….(cont.)
Listen to music and read transcript >>

European Parliament to report on human rights situation in Western Sahara

NTA NewsTime Africa, World News 21 January 2013

by Peter Kenworthy, Africa Contact
“Dr Tannock is not in a position to answer your questions as the report has not been written and dates have not been set yet,” the personal assistant of the recently appointed Special Rapporteur of the European Parliament for Human Rights in Western Sahara, Dr Charles Tannock, wrote in a reply to Africa Contact……

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Regional Instability Threatens Already Tense Western Sahara

BY LARISA EPATKO

“Larbass Abid, a Sahrawi, was born in Laayoune — Western Sahara’s largest city and its capital — in 1983..His people have been seeking independence from Morocco since 1976, when Spain abandoned its colonial claim. He’s one of the younger Sahrawis who has taken up the disputed territory’s independence struggle, going as far as helping organize a massive protest in 2010. ….(cont.)

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Photo essay: Scenes of Western Sahara

Danish delegation stalked by Moroccan police during visit to occupied Western Sahara

by Peter Kenworthy
NTA NewsTime Africa, 20 January 13, 2013

”When we left our hotel, we discovered that we were being followed by a small army of Moroccan security officers. They obviously did not want the truth about the occupation of Western Sahara to be revealed,” says Danish MEP Søren Søndergaard.(…cont.)

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