The Moroccan authorities in El Aaiun/ Western Sahara violate CODESA right to hold its Constitutive conference.
As soon as the Preparing committee has finished the financial and moral preparations for the organisation of the Constitutive Conference of the Collective of the Saharawi Human Rights Defenders (CODESA), which was planed to take place on Sunday 07 October 2007,
under the theme “Permanent struggle for the protection and promotion of Human rights values”, Congress of the Saharawi victim of disappearance “El Hefz Hamma Mbarek”, the Moroccan authorities adopted some measures of pressures and harassment to impede the normal holding of conference:

1- Represented by the Pacha of El Aaiun city and the Caïd of the 8 District, the Moroccan authorities refused to receive the notice that define the place and time of the holding of CODESA’s Constitutive Conference.
2- They exercised pressures on the owner of the house where the Democratic Confederation of Workers (CDT) is based, so as he refuses the holding of he conference in his property.
3- They forced the section of the CDT in El Aaiun to go back on its decision to enable the hooding of the conference in CDT seat after it accepted to do it.

The Preparing Committee considers the aforementioned measures a direct obstruction to the rights of association and gathering, and declares to the public opinion the following:
1- Postponement of the Constitutive Conference to a future date.
2- Pursuit of the works of the Preparing Committee until the holding of the Conference.
3- Denunciation of the obstacles and harassment adopted by the Moroccan authorities against CODESA aiming to quite the voices of Saharawi human rights activists.
4- Attachment to our legitimate right to association and gathering.
5- Call on all the participants to the conference and militants to continue the mobilisation and the struggle for the defence of our legitimate right to the organisation of the Constitutive Conference.
6- Express deep appreciation of the efforts and steady support provided by may international and regional associations and organisations as well as the democratic forces, and calling on them to exercise more pressures on the Moroccan State to compel it respect the human rights in Western Sahara.

Ali Salem Tamek
President of the Preparing Committee
Cell phone: 0021215997571

Aminatou Haidar
Membre of the Preparing Committee
Cell phone: 0021277457114