Category Archives: Political issues

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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New online publication about Western Sahara

The inaugural edition of the Western Sahara Review can be viewed online now

Note: the interesting and provocative article by Jeff Smith and Pedro Pinto Leite. Here they are presenting the idea that the time for a referendum has passed and that Western Sahara should become independent by declaration. If enough states recognise SADR, the UN could just accept its independence without a vote.

Western Sahara: The voiceless lament of the last colony in Africa

EMAJ Magazine –  an intercultural magazine, made by a network of young journalists from the Middle East, North Africa (MENA) and the EU.
Feature, January 04, 2013 | By Ana Isabel Martinez Molina

The international community is failing once again in the matter of Western Sahara, writes author Ana Isabel Martínez Molina. The EU only acts in its interest for fishing rights. Neighboring Morocco indirectly legitimizes the occupation through commercial oil treaties.

150 people disappeared, 10 deaths, 700 injured – This was the final balance reported by the Moroccan Police regarding the dismantlement of Agdaym Izik, the “Camp of Dignity”, in November 2010

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Accepting status quo on Western Sahara ‘serious miscalculation,’ warns UN envoy

UN News Centre, 28 November 2012
Christopher Ross, the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara has expressed concerns over delays in a resolution to the Western Sahara conflict. He said the conflict over the final status of the territory of Western Sahara has gone on for far too long and must be resolved, adding that any acceptance of the status quo is a “serious miscalculation.”

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European Parliament Resolution – Press release from the Polisario European office

Strasbourg 13/12/12
The European Parliament has expressed its concern at the deterioration in the human rights situation in Western Sahara, through an amendment to the annual resolution on Human Rights in the World, approved today.

Commenting on the vote, Dr. Mohamed Sidati, Polisario’s representative for Europe, said, “It is very significant that the European Parliament, as the democratic voice of the European Union – which itself has just been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize has again called for the fundamental rights of the people of Western Sahara,

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Javier Bardem: We must stand up for abused people of Western Sahara

Special for CNN,  December 13, 2012

Javier Bardem first visited the Western Sahara in 2008 for the Sahara International Film Festival, the only one of its kind to take place in a refugee camp. He went there knowing  little about the conflict in Western Sahara and returned from this visit with a determination to speak out about the Moroccan abuse of Saharawi rights and openly advocate for a resolution to the conflict.

Report and interview with Javier Bardem >>