Category Archives: Human Rights

Third week of hunger strike

In Third Week of hunger strike, ailing Western Saharan human rights activist Aminatou Haidar demands Moroccan authorities allow her return to occupied homeland.
Amy Goodman of Democracy Now speaks to Mouloud Said, Washington, DC representative of the Polisario Front; Guillermo “Willy” Toledo, Spanish actor in Lanzarote airport speaking out in support of Aminatou Haidar and Stephen Zunes, University of San Francisco Professor and co-author of the forthcoming book “Western Sahara: Nationalism, Conflict, and International Accountability.”

Transcript of discussion >>

Dying for freedom – Nobel Prize nominee in grave danger

The hunger-strike of Nobel Prize nominee Aminatou Haidar has drawn the attention of the world to the plight of Western Sahara, but will the Moroccans cede to international pressure?
Reporter: Stefan Simanowitz
Holiday-makers arriving in Lanzarote airport look on with curiosity at the frail woman lying in a nest of blankets on the floor airport terminal. Few of them are aware that they are looking at the world-renowned human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Amainatou Haidar, now in the third week of a hunger strike.
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President and Nobel Laureate expresses solidarity with Aminatou Haidar

Noble Peace Prize Laureate and President Jose Ramos-Horta spoke by telephone on 27 November 2009 with the Saharawi human rights defender Aminatou Haidar.
The 1996 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate made the following statement:
“I have expressed my profound solidarity and sympathy with Aminatou Haidar, the symbol of the struggle of the Saharawi people for self-determination and independence.

Read full statement from Jose Ramos Horta >>

23 October – Aminatou Haidar, Saharawi Human Rights Activist speaks at forum

THE STRUGGLE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN OCCUPIED WESTERN SAHARA
The Congressional Defense and Foreign Policy Forum was co-hosted by the Defense Forum Foundation and the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights.
Transcript:
WELCOME: SUZANNE SCHOLTE, PRESIDENT, DFF
SPECIAL REMARKS: BOI-TIA STEVENS, ROBERT F. KENNEDY CENTER FOR JUSTICE& HUMAN RIGHTS
INTRODUCTION OF SPEAKER: JOHN TRAIN, FOUNDER AND CHAIRMAN, CIVIL COURAGE PRIZE
SPEAKER: AMINATOU HAIDAR, SAHRAWI HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2009, 12:00 P.M.
B-339 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D.C.
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Video of Jose Ramos-Horta speech at Melbourne event

image004.jpgPresident Jose Ramos-Horta supports Western Sahara independence
The Monthly.com.au
The President of Timor Leste and co-recipient of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize, Jose Ramos-Horta headlined a discussion on the status of Western Sahara, Africa s last colony, in Melbourne, Australia on 23 July 2009.

View Jose Ramos-Horta’s presentation >>

Damage on many fronts in false focus on slavery

The Canberra Times
Wednesday, July 1, 2009

A documentary on Western Sahara refugees marks a low point, writes Kamal Fadel.
Last month in Sydney, the notion of democracy took a pounding. The launch of the documentary Stolen at the Sydney Film Festival marked a low point in local film culture, and signified the tenuous grip on truth we now have in contemporary society. That such a film should be financed with about $350,000 of public money – through Screen Australia – and accepted by the prestigious festival raises questions about the nature of reality and on how it is depicted in mainstream media, such as through the medium of the film documentary.
Canberra Times article.pdf
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Sydney Film Festival: ‘Stolen’ documentary – media coverage

The following are some interesting links to media coverage of the “Stolen” controversy:

·        http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2009/06/15/2598994.htm
·        http://newmatilda.com/2009/06/26/slave-story
·        http://www.greenleft.org.au/2009/799/41153
·        http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s2598993.htm
·        http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/film/sydney-film-festival-2009/i-am-not-a-slave-says-film-subject/2009/06/11/1244664795732.html
·        http://nevamwiti.com/2009/06/12/a-film-makers-faux-pas/
·        http://artneuro.wordpress.com/2009/06/16/slave-to-the-funding/
·        http://media.smh.com.au/entertainment/red-carpet/sahara-slavery-fiercely-denied-582354.html
·        http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/newsradio/audio/20090614-outofafrica.mp3