Category Archives: Human Rights

Morocco is called to contribute to the full implementation of the peace plan (President of the Republic)

 

AU pictureSahara Press Service 1 February 2017

The President of the Republic, Secretary General of Frente POLISARIO, Brahim Gali affirmed from Addis Ababa that the accession of the Kingdom of Morocco to the African Union commits him to contribute effectively to the implementation of the UN-AU peace plan in Western Sahara and respect the sovereignty of the Sahrawi Republic over its territory.

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SADR ready to negotiate with Morocco to end occupation

Foreign minister oleak

Sahara Press Service 31 January 2017

“The Sahrawi Republic is willing to negotiate with Morocco to put an end to the colonization of our territories in accordance with the international law and the respect of the Sahrawi people’s rights,” Ould Salek told APS on the sidelines of the 28th Summit of the African Union (AU), being held in the Ethiopian capital.

He said that Morocco’s admission into the African Union represented “a victory of the Sahrawi people since Morocco had finally accepted to sit alongside its neighbor, Western Sahara.”

SPS Article >>

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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European Court Dismisses Morocco’s Claim To Western Sahara, Throwing EU Trade Deal Into Doubt

Forbes article picture

A Sahrawi refugee prepares tea on July 8, 2016 at the refugee camp of Dakhla, 170km southeast of the Algerian city of Tindouf, in the disputed territory of Western Sahara. (Photo: FAROUK BATICHE/AFP/Getty Images)

Forbes Business 

Dominic Dudley 21 December 2016

Morocco’s relations with the European Union (EU) have suffered a potentially significant setback, after the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that Western Sahara cannot be treated as a part of Morocco, meaning that no EU-Morocco trade deals can apply to the territory.

Forbes Article >>

EU Court protects Western Sahara from EU-Morocco trade deal

CJEU picWSRW  21 December 2016

“This is a wonderful victory for the Saharawi people and for those who advocate for respect of international law in Western Sahara. All those states in the EU which over so many years have advocated for the respect of international law in the territory are now proven right. The EU now has to respect the law in its relations with Morocco, and not put obstacles to the UN peace process in Western Sahara as is the wish of Morocco’s main ally, France”, stated Erik Hagen of Western Sahara Resource Watch.

WSRW Article >>

Morocco Steps Up Diplomatic Pressure On US And Europe Over Western Sahara Occupation

Moroccan protesters in the capital Rabat, on March 13, 2016, during a demonstration against statements made by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (Photo: FADEL SENNA/AFP/Getty Images)

Moroccan protesters in the capital Rabat, on March 13, 2016, during a demonstration against statements made by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (Photo: FADEL SENNA/AFP/Getty Images)

Dominic Dudley, Forbes Business, Foreign Affairs

19 May 2016

On May 18, the Moroccan government summoned the US ambassador in Rabat, Dwight Bush, for a dressing-down over the State Department’s most recent human rights report on the country, as it wages diplomatic battles on several fronts over its occupation of Western Sahara.

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Western Sahara: The Forgotten Conflict at Risk of Re-escalation

A Sahrawi woman holds a Polisario Front flag during a ceremony to mark 40 years since it proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Photo by Getty Images.

A Sahrawi woman holds a Polisario Front flag during a ceremony to mark 40 years since it proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Photo by Getty Images.

Dr Claire Spencer, Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, 16 May 2016

The Western Sahara conflict has eluded resolution for so long that the principles underlying United Nations-led efforts to seek an enduring outcome have become muddied almost to the point of cancelling each other out. Forty-one years since its inception, diplomatic language rather than arms has become the medium for the continuation of the dispute. The annual highlight is the renewal of the UN Security Council’s peacekeeping and monitoring mission …(cont.)
Chatham House article >>

Western Sahara’s moment in the sun: How the UN chief waded into a forgotten conflict with no end in sight

Annie Slemrod, Middle East Editor, IRIN
JERUSALEM, 14 April 2016

“Of all of the world’s forgotten conflicts…that of Western Sahara, with its refugees tucked away in a remote desert, ranks as one of the most consigned to oblivion. But last month, the world’s top diplomat, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, brought the issue to temporary attention with a rather undiplomatic move. After visiting part of the disputed territory, which is claimed by both Morocco and the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, he called Morocco’s presence there an “occupation.”…(cont.)

IRIN article >>