AL-Mustaqilla

Malainin Lakhal On the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara The West often portrays itself as the champion of democracy, rule of law and human rights. Yet, when we look at Western Sahara, the hypocrisy and dishonesty in such portrayals are laid bare. The story of Western Sahara – the plight of its people and their struggle for freedom – is willingly and deliberately ignored by Western powers and mainstream international media despite the fact that it is the last colony standing in the African continent. Western Sahara – bordered by Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and the Atlantic Ocean – first fell under Spanish rule in 1884, becoming a Spanish province in 1934. In 1975, the colonial master signed an illegal pact – known as the Madrid Agreement – with Morocco and Mauritania abandoning the North African territory to invasions. Following the pact, Morocco and Mauritania moved to annex the territory while Spain ensured its interests in the exploitation of natural resources in the region. Fr...

United Nations efforts for the resolution of the Western Sahara issue have been undermined by Moroccan hindrances, said Thursday in Algiers Mohamed Salem Ould Salek, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). "UN efforts to resolve the Sahrawi issue have been hampered by Morocco's obstacles," Ould Salek told the press following his discussions with Minister of State, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ramtane Lamamra, adding that Polisario Front and the Sahrawi government are working with the UN for the decolonization of Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa. The Sahrawi Foreign minister called on the international community to assume its responsibilities regarding the Sahrawi people, their right to self-determination and the implementation of UN resolutions. Ould Salek thanked Algeria and President of the Republic Abdelaziz Bouteflika for his "position of principle supporting the legitimate right of Sahrawi...

(SPS- 63 foreign visitors expelled from Western Sahara and South Morocco last 2 days., reported the website of Norwegian Support Commitee for Western Sahara. The expulsion of 63 foreigners happened in 20 different incidents. They were from Norway (56 people), Sweden, the Netherlands, Lithuania, US, Canada and Poland. Recalling that the Moroccan occupation authorities imposed tight blockade in the occupied Western Sahara to prevent international observers and activist from entering to review the serious human rights situation.

Members of the European Union (MEP) reaffirmed that the Western Sahara conflict is “a decolonization issue,” to settle in accordance with international law, which grants the Sahrawi people the right to self-determination, reiterating their call to provide the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) with a mandate to monitor Human Rights. In a resolution proposal tabled in the European Parliament following a statement made by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini on the Union’s priorities for the sessions of the Human Rights Council in 2016, MEPs of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) underlined once again, that “the conflict in Western Sahara is a decolonization issue.” “According to international law, the Kingdom of Morocco has no sovereignty over Western Sahara and is considered as the occupying power,” they said in their resolution proposal, regretting that the Western ...

MADRID- The participants in the workshop on human rights and the occupied territories denounced Saturday in Madrid the violations and acts of violence by the Moroccan forces in the occupied Sahrawi territories, and called for the immediate cessation of human rights abuses and the release of all Sahrawi political prisoners held in Moroccan jails. "We continue to support the struggle of Sahrawi people in the occupied territories," said the participants in the workshop of the 40th International Conference for Support and Solidarity with Sahrawi People (EUCOCO). They called for "rapid holding of the referendum on self-determination of Sahrawi people." They also called for the "cessation of human rights abuses and the release of all Sahrawi political prisoners," adding that "the international organization (the United Nations, the European Union, and the UN Human Rights Commission) should urge the Moroccan government to implement the adopted resolutions....

MADRID-President of the European Conference of Support and Solidarity with the Saharawi people Pierre Galland accused Friday the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU), of "complicity" with Morocco, which continues colonialist policy in the Saharawi occupied territories. "The UN has promised to hold a referendum of self-determination of the Saharawi people in 1991 to end the conflict in Western Sahara," said Galand during his speech at the opening of the 40th edition of EUCOCO in Madrid, lamenting that "25 years later the referendum is not organized." "The Saharawi people still live under this terrible and illegal occupation since 1975", he In this regard, Galand called on the UN to assume its responsibilities towards the Saharawi people through quickly organizing the referendum to decolonize the last colony in Africa. The EU, added Galand, "is in collusion with the Morocco and Israel occupiers, two countries favored by this institu...

MADRID (Spain)- Sahrawi President, Mohamed Abdelaziz, strongly denounced Thursday, in Madrid (Spain), Morocco’s refusal to cooperate with the international community in the resolution of the Western Sahara conflict. “Morocco’s refusal of all democratic solutions and relevant resolutions, to end the conflict in the occupied territories through the organization of a referendum of the Sahrawi people’s self-determination, is a threat to the whole Mediterranean region and the Sahel,” said Abdelaziz at a press conference held in Madrid on the eve of the 40th European Conference for Support and Solidarity with the Sahrawi People (EUCOCO). In addition to this refusal, added the Sahrawi President, “the production and export of drugs from Morocco is another danger that threatens non only Africa, but also Europe.” Stability and security are guaranteed by “the establishment of democracy and the compliance with international rules.” On the same occasion, Abdelaziz said that the Moroccan King’s late...

MADRID-President of the European Conference of Support and Solidarity with the Saharawi people (EUCOCO) Pierre Galand on Thursday called in Madrid, for a broad international mobilization to accelerate the Western Sahara decolonization process, occupied by Morocco since 40 years. The "UN has not fulfilled its obligations" relating to the Western Sahara conflict, said Galand, on the eve of the 40th EUCOCO to be held Friday and Saturday in Madrid, calling in this regard for a broad mobilization of the entire international public opinion, especially in Spain and France. " These two countries, says Galand, in a statement to the press, have two important roles to play in the decolonization of Western Sahara," recalling that the Spanish government, trampling on international law, trampling on the right to self-determination of the Saharawi people, ceded back in 15 November 1975 a part of the possible administration of the territories of Mauritania and Morocco." Maurit...

Most of the papers that were presented at conference entitled: Natural Resources – the Key to Western Sahara’s Future held in March this year in Melbourne, Australia are being published by Global Change, Peace & Security which is a scholarly journal that addresses the difficult practical and theoretical questions posed by the sheer scale and complexity of contemporary change. More specifically, it analyses the sources and consequences of conflict, violence and insecurity, but also the conditions and prospects for conflict transformation, peace keeping and peace-building. The Journal focuses on the international dimension of political, economic and cultural life, its perspective cuts across traditional boundaries not just those between states, economies and societies, but also those between disciplines and ideologies. The journal is a published three times a year by Routledge, UK in association with La Trobe University in Australia. These are the abstracts of the papers: Western S...

The Saharawi journalist and political prisoner Mohamed Banbari is on the fourth day of his hunger strike in the Black Prison in El Aaiún. According to his family, he fell unconscious on several occasions due to the pressure being put on him and to a drop in his blood sugar level.  El Banbari, aged 46, correspondent of Équipe Média in the occupied city of Dakhla, was arrested on 26 August when he went to the local police station in the city in order to renew his identity card. Once he arrived at the police station, he was subjected to ill-treatment during four days and was sentenced to one month in prison.  That was not the end of the process. During his time in the Black Prison, he was informed that the occupying authorities intended to fabricate accusations against him. This manipulation is due to El Bandari’s refusing a freedom offer and a higher standard of living for giving up his beliefs as well as his media and human rights activities. The judge of the Court of Appeal in...

The 40th meeting of the European Conference for support and solidarity with the Saharawi people (EUCOCO), to be held Friday and Saturday in Madrid, will be an opportunity for participants to reiterate the "inalienable" right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination and independence, and contribute to the peace process in Western Sahara, occupied by Morocco since 1975. "The EUCOCO is, without doubt, the largest annual meeting of the European movement of solidarity with the Saharawi people, which increasingly acquired a global dimension, and not just European," said the organizers of this conference. During this conference of solidarity with Western Sahara, the stake is "reaching other goals such as denouncing the systematic violation of human rights by Morocco in Western Sahara occupied territories and expressing support to the continuous struggle of the Sahrawi population in these territories," the source added. At the same time, "stopping repressi...

- The 10th Interfaith Dialogue for Peace, held under the theme “the Prophet Yahya (PBUH)”, on Tuesday evening concluded its work in the Wilaya of Boujdour, Saharawi refugee camps. In a final communiqué issued at the end of the Dialogue, participants stressed the Sahrawi people right to freedom and independence. They also called the United Nations to apply the international law and decolonization of Western Sahara, stressing the need to take concrete steps in order to grant to the Saharawi people their rights of freedom and self-determination. The Dialogue is an annual conference jointly organized by the Saharawi Youth Union (UJESARIO) and the U.S. Christ the Rock Community Church, and sponsored by the Saharawi Ministry of Justice and Religious Affairs. This year’s edition was attended by scholars and imams from Algeria, Mauritania and the Saharawi Republic (SADR), in addition to priests and researchers from the United States of America.  (SPS)

International jurists and experts underlined Monday in Brussels the necessity to include human rights monitoring mechanism in the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). Gathered on Monday at the European Parliament, these experts also underlined the importance to grant the Sahrawi people the freedom to use their natural resources. Jurists from the occupied territories of Western Sahara, Spain, Great Britain, France, Algeria and several other countries sounded the alarm on the situation of the Sahrawi people living in the occupied territories. They spoke in a conference on “human rights and respect of the international legality in Western Sahara,” organized by the International Commission of Jurists with the support of the left-wing group of the Western Sahara intergroup at the European Parliament. Their speeches on the Moroccan policy were unanimous. Several examples of summary executions, disappearance, torture, intimidations as well as a...

The 10th forum for interreligious dialogue opened Sunday at Chahida Naaja center in the province of Boujdour, Sahrawi refugee camps, attended by religious leaders from Algeria, Mauritania and researchers from the United States of America. It is also attended by the imams and scholars of the Sahrawi Republic (SADR) in the presence of members of the National Secretariat of the Polisario Front and executives representing various the SADR government institutions. Speaking at the opening of the edition of this year, the Minister of Justice and Religious Affairs, Hamada Selma, urged participants to demonstrate the values of justice called by divine books to deal with all forms of injustice. The forum discussed the theme of the Prophet Yahya (PBUH) through several lectures by imams and Muslim scholars, researchers and Christian bishops. The Forum has become an annual event organized by the Saharawi youth in collaboration with the American foundation Christ the Rock and sponsored by the Depart...

For Africa, the UN and the powers in the Security Council, the ongoing occupation of the Western Sahara is an embarrassment. For Saharwis, it’s a profound injustice. Forty years ago tomorrow (6 November), Morocco invaded Western Sahara, a former Spanish colonial possession – mostly made up of desert – in West Africa. As Spain walked away, Morocco claimed the territory as part of its ancient empire. The UN had declared that it was up to the people of the territory to decide their own future, but before they could do so, King Hassan II of Morocco organised the “Green March” in which hundreds of Moroccans were bussed to the border and – in front of the international press – pushed into Western Sahara waving Moroccan flags. Meanwhile, many miles away from the media, columns of tanks, armoured cars and truck-loads of Moroccan soldiers swept into the territory. So too did troops from neighbouring Mauritania which also claimed swathes of ground. These foreign troops were met by indigenous fi...

40 years ago, thousands of Sahrawi were driven from their homes. Akhdaja Salak, who was 22 and pregnant at the time, describes the experience. It’s early September 1975 and Akhdaja Salak, 22, is sitting in her home in Ajdiri, Western Sahara. She is seven months pregnant and still undecided about what to do to next: whether to take the risk of staying at home or leave and endure the pains of travelling while heavily pregnant. Akhdaja’s fears started when she first received the news that Morocco was preparing an armed invasion to occupy Western Sahara. In 1973, the Saharawi Liberation Movement (the Polisario Front) was founded to fight for independence from Spanish colonisation. Two years of Polisario attacks forced the Spanish to retreat from Western Sahara’s interior to the coastal cities and reluctantly accept negotiations. The two sides agreed that the Polisario would stop its military attacks and release Spanish prisoners of war, and that in return Spain would withdraw from the regi...

The city of Smara (occupied zones of Western Sahara) is being strongly besieged by Moroccan security forces after the appearance of various flags of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), according to sources from the Ministry of the Occupied Territories and the Community Abroad. According to the same sources, the Moroccan occupation authorities have extremely imposed its siege security following the recent demonstrations organized by the Sahrawi to demand their right to independence and to protest the visit of the King of Morocco. On the other hand, reliable sources reported that large numbers of Moroccan troops moved from apartheid wall to the occupied city of Laayoune. (SPS)

NEW YORK,  Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon called on Wednesday night in New York for true negotiations between the Polisario Front and Morocco to be launched in the coming months and leading to self-determination of the Saharawi people. I urges all parties in the region and within the wider international community to take advantage of intensive efforts (led) by my Personal Envoy (Christopher Ross) to facilitate the launch of real negotiations in the coming months," stressed Ban Ki Moon. He said under my leadership, my Special Envoy Christopher Ross has intensified his efforts to facilitate negotiations between the two parties (Morocco-Polisario Front) without preconditions and in good faith to reach a mutually acceptable political solution, allowing the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara." While stressing that the final status of Western Sahara has been the subject of a process of negotiations under its auspices and in accordance with t...

By: Bill Fletcher Jr This content was originally published by teleSUR at the following address: That the Saharawi refugees have been in camps for 40 years is not a natural occurrence. Devastating floods have hit the southwestern Algerian region of Tindouf, the site of refugee camps of the Saharawi people, exiles from their neighboring homeland of the Western Sahara. Approximately 25,000 people have been affected by the flooding, the result of rains that have overwhelmed all or parts of five major camps. The United Nation’s refugee agency, the UNHCR, has been taking the lead in directing humanitarian assistance to the thousands of families affected by the disaster. Many of us are becoming accustomed to hearing about this or that natural disaster. As the environmental crisis increases—short of a dramatic turnaround in our approach to the environment—we should expect more such disturbing news. Yet so-called natural disasters cannot be looked at in isolation. The additional question tha...