GDEIM IZIK: Detonante de la primavera árabe on Vimeo

La pérdida de toda esperanza nos hará libres. Así queremos reflejar cómo sin contar con ningún recurso ni con apoyo alguno y tras 37 años de sangrienta represión, el Pueblo saharaui en los territorios ocupados del Sahara Occidental se mantiene firme, día tras día, en su búsqueda de libertad y en la exigencia de sus Derechos reconocidos internacionalmente: el Derecho a la autodeterminación y el fin del expolio de sus recursos naturales, por parte del régimen ocupante marroquí.
Este documental representa un relato a manos de decenas de voces saharauis que describen, en primera persona, qué fue Gdeim izik, cómo se desmantelo, qué sucedió durante las semanas posteriores y qué ha representado para ellos y ellas, como Saharauis y como Pueblo.
Pretende, a su vez, ser un reflejo esclarecedor de lo que verdaderamente sucedió en Gdeim Izik. Desea ser un homenaje al valor y la firmeza del Pueblo Saharaui en esta acción histórica y sin precedentes, buscando reconocer el papel de este acto en el comienzo de las revoluciones en el Mundo Árabe, además de una denuncia del papel hipócrita y demoledor de los diferentes gobiernos extranjeros, del ocultamiento por parte del régimen marroquí y de la complicidad del Gobierno Español con su política de "no intervención" en un conflicto que le compete, concierne e incumbe.
Todos los testimonios han sido recogidos en terreno, en El Aaiún ocupado, por activistas saharauis de DDHH y por observadores internacionales miembros o colaboradores con Thawra. Gracias a todos/as ellos/as, en especial a Hussein Ndur, Mustafa Ahmed, Silvia García y Javier Sopeña y a todas aquellas personas que, con confianza ciega, han puesto su vida y su seguridad en nuestras manos, con el único fin de ser altavoz de este Pueblo.
"Porque la pérdida de toda esperanza nos hará libres. Porque la vida de los pueblos es mucho más larga que la de los dictadores que los oprimen.

Her Blueprint: The International Museum of Women Blog: Women and the Western Sahara

United Nations Photo

After decades of inhumane treatment under Moroccan rule, the indigenous Saharawi people continue to demand their independence.

Numerous demonstrations denouncing occupation of the Western Sahara by Morocco since 1975 has resulted in widespread discrimination and police brutality.

Last month, several dozen Saharawi activists were injured after a police crackdown outside the office of the ruling Justice and Development Party where protestors gathered to voice outrage over the postponement of a verdict on the continued detention of Saharawi people in the notorious Sale prison.

History of the Western Sahara

The Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west.

Despite recognition of the Saharawis’ right to self-determination by the International Court of Justice at end of Spain’s colonial rule, the 1975 Madrid Agreement handed over two thirds of land in Western Sahara to Morocco and one third to Mauritania.

Following a 1978 peace accord, Mauritania relinquished areas under their control. However, Morocco seized the opportunity to control the entire Western Sahara. As a result, tens of thousands of Saharawis have been displaced from their lands and their struggle represents one of the world’s longest-running conflicts.

Saharawi Women

Women have a played a key role in traditional Saharawi culture and in resisting foreign occupation. Traditionally, Saharawi women could inherit property and could subsist independently of their husbands, fathers, and brothers. They were also valued by Saharawi tribes, had great personal freedoms, and were active participants in major tribal decisions.

Women Koranic teachers, traditional healers, marabouts (mystic holy leaders), and scholars are an integral part of the Saharawi oral heritage.

Over the course of thirty-three years in their fight for the liberation of Africa's last colony, Saharawi women have played a major role in the struggle for the Western Sahara by developing various skills, ranging from education to military as well as obtaining power in the social and political life.

Western Sahara and the Arab Spring

Every day languages, traditions and cultures are being lost. In an effort to share the social and humanitarian challenges facing Saharawi women living under occupation, I initiated a project called Barakah Bashad. The aim of the project is to bring the voices of Saharawi women and others to a global audience. The best part? I will be blogging the journey here on Her Blueprint.

There's only 15 days left. Help make this project happen by donating today!

I would like to leave you with this interesting short documentary about what young Saharawi women think about gender equality.

Pambazuka - Western Sahara: Refugee starvation ‘could trigger new war’

cc C CSaharawis are becoming increasingly impatient with the UN and many are willing to break the ceasefire between Western Sahara’s liberation front, Polisario, and Morocco, which has been in place since 1991, and return to war.

‘The strategy of the Moroccan regime is to starve the Saharawi refugees into accepting the Moroccan position. They pressurise the UN into not giving the refugees more aid,’ says the Minister of Cooperation in Western Sahara’s exile government the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, Hach Ahmed Barek Allah. ‘If the starvation in the refugee camps continues, we cannot control the reaction of the people. We want to follow the peace process and continue negotiations, but with the situation now this is becoming increasingly difficult.’

Hach Ahmed visited Africa Contact’s offices in Copenhagen on Monday, 20. February, to discuss the increasingly desperate situation of the approximately 150.000 refugees, who have lived in isolated dessert camps in the Algerian dessert near Tindouf since they fled invading Moroccan troops in 1975, and the UN-led peace process that is meant to enable them to return to Western Sahara, but has been stalled by Morocco and its allies for over 20 years. He is also visiting Denmark and other Northern European countries to specifically ask their governments for humanitarian aid for the refugees.

‘Denmark and other Northern European countries are not like those of Southern Europe, who have too many interests with Morocco,’ Ahmed says. ‘We are therefore asking for urgent humanitarian aid from Northern European governments, including the Danish government.’

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has given basic assistance to the ‘most vulnerable’ Saharawi refugees in the Tindouf refugee camps since 1986 after the Algerian government had supported the refugees for 11 years. According to the WFP, ‘opportunities for self-reliance in the harsh, isolated desert environment where the [Tindouf refugee] camps are located are extremely limited, forcing the refugees to rely on international assistance for their survival. Malnutrition rates remain high, with acute malnutrition at a critical level of 18.2 percent, chronic malnutrition at 31.4 percent and underweight at 31.6 percent.’

But even this inadequate level of aid is being cut back, according to Hach Ahmed. ‘The UNHCR and the EU, who are the main donors, have only promised half of the aid they normally give. The economic crisis, especially in Southern Europe, has a very bad influence on the social and aid programmes.’

The Saharawis are becoming increasingly impatient with the UN, he says, and many are willing to break the ceasefire between Western Sahara’s liberation front, Polisario, and Morocco, which has been in place since 1991, and return to war.

‘It is becoming increasingly difficult to control the reaction of the people. The UN peace process has continued for over 20 years without any progress. This is because of the influence of [permanent member of the UN Security Council] France in the UN. And accepting Morocco as a member of the UN Security Council, while they are colonising Western Sahara, also makes us doubt the fairness of the UN. Would the UN have accepted Syria or Iran as a member of the Security Council? This is a clear example of the hypocrisy of the UN, and such occurrences make is very difficult for us to convince our youth to continue to accept the UN peace process.’

And especially the Saharawi youth have taken an increasingly radical approach towards the Moroccan repression, as they have done in countries throughout North Africa and the Middle East, and time is therefore running out, says Ahmed.

‘Many youths, especially in the refugee camps, do not believe a peaceful process in the occupied territories will give results anymore. Before the [13th executive] congress [of the Polisario Front in December 2011], we even thought that a new leadership that would stop the peace process might be elected. But the activists from the [Moroccan] occupied territories [of Western Sahara] that participated in the congress, advised against electing those who advocated going back to war with Morocco, and thereby gave the Polisario the space to continue with the peace process, at least until the next congress.’

Western Sahara has been illegally occupied by Morocco since 1975, where Spain secretly relinquished Western Sahara to Morocco (and Mauritania who left in 1979) in exchange for mining and fishing concessions. Being an illegal occupying force, Morocco has no right to sell the natural resources of Western Sahara, as it presently does e.g. through the EU-Moroccan Fisheries Agreement, or to continue to violate the human rights of its citizens. Instead, as international law and over a hundred UN resolutions demand, Morocco must hold a referendum on the status of Western Sahara.

The USA and France, both permanent members of the UN Security Council, have been the biggest obstruction to this referendum within the UN system. Instead, both are pressing for Western Sahara to remain under Moroccan autonomy. France has had ties with Morocco since the sixteenth century, as well as being Morocco’s main trading partner. The USA had one of its closest allies in Morocco in the ‘fight against communism’ and the ‘war on terror’. Morocco was the first country to recognise the independent United States, subsequently signing a treaty of friendship and commerce with the USA in 1777.

No state recognises Morocco’s claim to Western Sahara, which has also been rejected by the International Court of Justice. Over 80 countries recognise Western Sahara’s exile government, the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, which is also a member of the African Union.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS.

Algeria balks at Clinton Sahara comments - Africa | IOL News | IOL.co.za

Algiers - Algeria's president says Western Sahara's people should decide for themselves whether to be independent or subject to Morocco's rule.

The comment is an implicit rebuke to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's praise of a Moroccan plan to give the area autonomy but still keep it under its control.

Morocco annexed the mineral-rich territory in 1975 and then fought against the rebel Polisario Front until a truce in 1991.

UN-supervised talks on a potential referendum on independence have since yielded nothing.

Morocco has offered wide-ranging autonomy, and in Rabat on Sunday, Clinton called the plan “serious, realistic and credible.”

But Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika reiterated his country's backing of the Polisario's desire for a referendum. He expressed hope UN talks be restarted. - Sapa-AP

Mauritanian intellectuals: Western Sahara issue is an obstacle in the way of Arab Maghreb Union | Sahara Press Service

Mon, 02/20/2012 - 11:09am Tags:

• Western Sahara

Nouakchott, Feb 20, 2012 (SPS) - Mauritanian intellectuals and former ministers have assured that the Saharawi issue “still remains an obstacle in the way of building the Arab Maghreb Union (French acronym: UMA),” in a seminar organized Thursday in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on the occasion of the UMA establishment under the motto: “Arab Maghreb Union and the future prospects."

The intellectuals addressed, in the seminar which was organized by the Arab-African Centre for Media and Development, the achievements and failures of the Maghreb Union.

Speakers in the seminar focused on the status quo of countries of the Maghreb and the future horizons of the Maghreb Bloc, in the light of the political changes in the region, pointing to the security, political, economic and social issues that entirely call to the need to adhere to the Maghreb Union as a unitary and strategic option.

The presence stressed that the question of Western Sahara constitutes “the biggest obstacle to the construction of the Maghreb edifice aspired by peoples of the Region.

The seminar was attended by a number of political, intellectual and media figures including Naji Mohamed Imam, Abdeslam Ould Harma, Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Amah, Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Wadadi, Dean of Mauritania's National Bar Association (ONA) Ahmed Salem Ould Bouhoubeyni, Head of the Mauritanian Journalists’ Union Houssein Ould Maddu, Ahmed Baba Ould Meska, Ali Ould Allaf as well as the professors Ismail Shuaib, Mohammad Ould Mohamedou, Nan Ould Al-Mami, Ahmed Habib Al-Han, Yahya Hashmi and other cultural figures. (SPS)

090/089/TRA

Western Sahara: UN Announces Next Round of Talks to Try to Resolve Western Sahara Dispute

'The next round of United Nations-backed informal talks aimed at reaching a settlement in the Western Sahara dispute will take place next month, the UN announced today.

Delegations from the parties to the dispute - Morocco and the Frente Polisario - and the neighbouring countries of Algeria and Mauritania will gather just outside New York for three days of discussions starting on 11 March.

The participants are expected to deepen their discussions on their respective proposals for a settlement to the dispute, and to also further discuss the ideas associated with governance put forward by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his latest report on the issue, according to a spokesperson for Mr. Ban.

He added that the meeting is being held at the invitation of the Secretary-General's Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Christopher Ross.

During the meeting the participants are also expected to review the status of confidence-building measures between the two sides and discuss the outcome of the last coordination meeting on the issue held by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The UN has been involved in efforts to find a settlement in Western Sahara since 1976, when fighting broke out between Morocco and the Frente Polisario after the Spanish colonial administration of the territory ended. A peacekeeping force (MINURSO) has been in place since 1991.

EU Parliament to invite Christopher Ross to provide clarifications on Western Sahara conflict | Sahara Press Service

'Sat, 02/18/2012 - 4:36pm Tags:

• Western Sahara

London, Feb 18, 2012 (SPS) - The President of the European Coordination of Committees of Solidarity with the Saharawi people, Mr. Pierre Galand, declared the intention of the European Parliament to invite the UN Secretary General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Mr. Christopher Ross, in the near future to give thorough clarifications on the ongoing course of negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario Front under the UN auspices, reported Saturday the London based newspaper of Al-Quds.

In a speech issued in the Algerian El-Watan newspaper, Mr. Galand said that the EU Parliament “has taken this decision that might extend to invite the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who appears only before the U.S. Congress. Now, the time has come for him to present before the European Parliament on various issues, including Western Sahara,” stressing the need to consider the respect for human rights in Western Sahara.

He noted that if Christopher Ross appears before the European Union “it will be a real turning point in the conflict of Western Sahara and its relations to the European policy.”

“Frente Polisario has succeeded to put the Western Sahara question on the EU discussion table, after it had been only be up to France by virtue of its influence in the Arab Maghreb,” he pointed out.

It should be recalled that the EU Parliament, relying on a UN legal report recommending the absence of legality to fish off Western Sahara waters, voted last December 14 against the extension of the fishing agreement with Morocco, because it includes the territorial waters of Western Sahara, which is a subject of political dispute. (SPS)

090/089/TRA

Refugee starvation could trigger new war over Western Sahara says Minister | Newstime Africa

"The strategy of the Moroccan regime is to starve the Saharawi refugees into accepting the Moroccan position. They pressurize the UN into not giving the refugees more aid,” says the Minister of Cooperation in Western Sahara’s exile government the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, Hach Ahmed Barek Allah. “If the starvation in the refugee camps continues, we cannot control the reaction of the people. We want to follow the peace process and continue negotiations, but with the situation now this is becoming increasingly difficult.”

Hach Ahmed visited Africa Contact’s offices in Copenhagen on Monday [20. February] to discuss the increasingly desperate situation of the approximately 150.000 refugees, who have lived in isolated dessert camps in the Algerian dessert near Tindouf since they fled invading Moroccan troops in 1975, and the UN-led peace process that is meant to enable them to return to Western Sahara, but has been stalled by Morocco and its allies for over 20 years. He is also visiting Denmark and other Northern European countries to specifically ask their governments for humanitarian aid for the refugees.

“Denmark and other Northern European countries are not like those of Southern Europe, who have too many interests with Morocco,” Hach Ahmed says. “We are therefore asking for urgent humanitarian aid from Northern European governments, including the Danish government. I hope that Denmark, known for its cooperation is such matters, will fill the present void in the humanitarian aid for the camps. This is what we will be discussing with the chairman of the Danish Committee on Foreign Affairs, Per Stig Møller, and representatives of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs tomorrow [21. February 2012].”

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has given basic assistance to the “most vulnerable” Saharawi refugees in the Tindouf refugee camps since 1986 after the Algerian government had supported the refugees for 11 years. According to the WFP, “opportunities for self-reliance in the harsh, isolated desert environment where the [Tindouf refugee] camps are located are extremely limited, forcing the refugees to rely on international assistance for their survival. Malnutrition rates remain high, with acute malnutrition at a critical level of 18.2 percent, chronic malnutrition at 31.4 percent and underweight at 31.6 percent.”

But even this inadequate level of aid is being cut back, according to Hach Ahmed. “The UNHCR and the EU, who are the main donors, have only promised half of the aid they normally give. The economic crisis, especially in Southern Europe, has a very bad influence on the social and aid programmes.”

The Saharawis are becoming increasingly impatient with the UN, he says, and many are willing to break the ceasefire between Western Sahara’s liberation front, Polisario, and Morocco, which has been in place since 1991, and return to war.

“It is becoming increasingly difficult to control the reaction of the people. The UN peace process has continued for over 20 years without any progress. This is because of the influence of [permanent member of the UN Security Council] France in the UN. And accepting Morocco as a member of the UN Security Council, while they are colonising Western Sahara, also makes us doubt the fairness of the UN. Would the UN have accepted Syria or Iran as a member of the Security Council? This is a clear example of the hypocrisy of the UN, and such occurrences make is very difficult for us to convince our youth to continue to accept the UN peace process.”

And especially the Saharawi youth have taken an increasingly radical approach towards the Moroccan repression, as they have done in countries throughout North Africa and the Middle East, and time is therefore running out, says Hach Ahmed.

“Many youths, especially in the refugee camps, do not believe a peaceful process in the occupied territories will give results anymore. Before the [13th executive] congress [of the Polisario Front in December 2011], we even thought that a new leadership that would stop the peace process might be elected. But the activists from the [Moroccan] occupied territories [of Western Sahara] that participated in the congress, advised against electing those who advocated going back to war with Morocco, and thereby gave the Polisario the space to continue with the peace process, at least until the next congress.”

Western Sahara has been illegally occupied by Morocco since 1975, where Spain secretly relinquished Western Sahara to Morocco (and Mauritania who left in 1979) in exchange for mining and fishing concessions. Being an illegal occupying force, Morocco has no right to sell the natural resources of Western Sahara, as it presently does e.g. through the EU-Moroccan Fisheries Agreement, or to continue to violate the human rights of its citizens. Instead, as international law and over a hundred UN resolutions demand, Morocco must hold a referendum on the status of Western Sahara.

The USA and France, both permanent members of the UN Security Council, have been the biggest obstruction to this referendum within the UN system. Instead, both are pressing for Western Sahara to remain under Moroccan autonomy. France has had ties with Morocco since the sixteenth century, as well as being Morocco’s main trading partner. The USA had one of its closest allies in Morocco in the “fight against communism” and the “war on terror”. Morocco was the first country to recognise the independent United States, subsequently signing a treaty of friendship and commerce with the USA in 1777.

No state recognises Morocco’s claim to Western Sahara, which has also been rejected by the International Court of Justice. Over 80 countries recognise Western Sahara’s exile government, the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, which is also a member of the African Union.

By Peter Kenworthy, Africa Contact

© 2012, Peter Kenworthy. All rights reserved. – Reproduction of Newstime Africa content on any other news medium without the prior consent or approval of the publishers is forbidden, and in direct contravention of International copyright laws. Violators will be pursued and prosecuted.

“Marruecos saca grandes beneficios de los recursos naturales del pueblo saharaui” :: Periódico Diagonal

'El Sáhara Occidental cuenta con grandes recursos naturales de los que se enriquece Marruecos. Organizaciones civiles luchan para que la UE denuncie y no participe del expolio.

MARÍA JOSÉ ESTESO POVES (REDACCIÓN)

LUNES 13 DE FEBRERO DE 2012. NÚMERO 167

Javier García Lachica (Foto: Edu León)

Javier García Lachica es ingeniero y activista del Observatorio para los Recursos Saharauis, Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW), organización creada para sensibilizar, vigilar y denunciar el expolio de los recursos naturales del Sáhara Occidental que explota Marruecos en contra de la legalidad internacional.

DIAGONAL: ¿Qué recursos se encuentran en los territorios saharauis ocupados por Marruecos?

JAVIER GARCÍA LACHICA: La mayoría de las riquezas del Sáhara Occidental se encuentran en el territorio ocupado por Marruecos. El territorio liberado por el Polisario es una zona muy desértica, aunque tiene una riqueza muy importante: el sol.

En los territorios ocupados se encuentra el banco de pesca saharaui, que es uno de los más ricos de África. Además, hay una gran reserva de fosfatos. Existe una mina de fosfatos a cielo abierto que es la más importante del mundo. Las rocas fosfáticas tienen una gran pureza y pueden ser utilizadas para muchos fines, aunque lo más común es que se hagan fertilizantes con ellas. El fosfato también se emplea para usos dentales, incluso para la elaboración de la cerveza...

D.: Marruecos también está expoliando la arena saharaui.

J.G.L.: Sí. La arena del Sáhara está siendo explotada por compañías canadienses gracias al acuerdo de éstas con Marruecos. La arena se vende también a empresas canarias para la construcción y para rellenar playas. Viene de zonas de dunas muy cercanas a El Aaiún, donde se ha desarrollado una gran infraestructura para poder embarcar grandes cantidades a través del puerto.

Marruecos saca mucho dinero de los recursos naturales que son del pueblo saharaui: la arena saharaui, los fosfatos, etc., pero la suma más importante proviene del acuerdo pesquero con la UE, que cuesta a los europeos 36 millones de euros al año. Además, Marruecos tiene contratos pesqueros con China y Rusia.

D.: ¿Qué opina del Tratado Agrario de la UE y Marruecos, que, según denuncian diputados como el francés José Bove, beneficia directamente al rey Mohamed VI?

J.G.L.: En el Sáhara Occidental, en la zona del sur, en Dajla, existe uno de los recursos más importantes en esta zona desértica: el agua. Cuenta con grandes acuíferos, son inmensas bolsas de agua en el subsuelo de tipo arqueológico, no son manantiales que se regeneran. Estas aguas subterráneas llevan ahí miles de años, como las bolsas de petróleo, y por eso Marruecos ha elegido este territorio para instalar inmensos invernaderos. Se están regando grandes cantidades de cultivos destinados a la exportación. Además, la sobreexplotación del agua está afectando a la población. Los acuíferos están cercanos a la costa y, al bajar el nivel del agua, se están produciendo ya filtraciones de agua salada y afecta al consumo humano.

Otro recurso del cual se enriquece Marruecos es la sal. En los territorios al norte de El Aaiún, cerca del sur de Marruecos, hay muchas salinas de gran pureza que también se están expoliando.

D.: Se está hablando de la posible existencia de petróleo.

J.G.L.: Sí, el petróleo es una espada de Damocles. Existen muchos países y multinacionales que tienen los ojos puestos en el Sáhara Occidental, incluida la española Repsol. Ahora son empresas irlandesas, principalmente, las que cuentan con contratos de exploración de los pozos petrolíferos en el Sáhara, tanto en el mar como en el interior. Lo peor en este momento sería que se encuentre petróleo en el Sáhara. Sería un maleficio, si es complicado solucionar el problema saharaui, con petróleo...

D.: ¿Por qué suspendió la UE el acuerdo pesquero con Marruecos?

J.G.L.: En el acuerdo pesquero se establecen unas condiciones y lo que se renueva cada cuatro años es la ejecución del mismo. En 2006 se renovó y Marruecos lo ratificó un año después. De nuevo había que renovarlo en 2011. Pero, debido al trabajo realizado por muchos parlamentarios que están en contra de la inclusión del Sáhara Occidental en el Tratado de Pesca con Marruecos y del trabajo de varias plataformas de solidaridad con el Sáhara y de organizaciones como la nuestra, Western Sahara Resource Watch, se ha conseguido crear conciencia dentro del Parlamento Europeo. El protocolo no se puede renovar así como así. Además, el Parlamento, en un informe de 2010, reconoce que el acuerdo pesquero está en contra de la legalidad internacional.

Hay dos opciones: no pescar en el Sahara o dejar de implementar el acuerdo. Las presiones de España y Francia consiguieron la ampliación por un año, y mientras, se pedía a Marruecos un informe de que el acuerdo era acorde a la legalidad internacional, es decir, que la población de esos territorios estaba de acuerdo y que se beneficia del mismo. Y ahí entra el juego político de Marruecos. Para ellos la población es la marroquí. A todo esto se ha unido un informe independiente de la UE que concluye que los beneficios de la pesca no recaen en la población y que el acuerdo no es rentable para la UE. Entre las medidas de presión se presentó también una moción del diputado Raúl Romeva, de Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds, para llevar el acuerdo a la Corte de Justicia. En diciembre, el pleno de la UE echó atrás el acuerdo del Consejo Europeo de renovar el tratado pesquero. Una decisión justa y esperable.

D.: ¿La lucha de organizaciones de derechos humanos y otras como WSRW está dando sus frutos?

J.G.L.: Sí. Western Sahara Resource Watch somos una red organizada en varios países a través de internet. Tenemos un doble objetivo: visibilizar y denunciar el expolio de recursos naturales por parte de las multinacionales en los países en los que estamos organizados: Reino Unido, Australia, España... Y llamar la atención sobre las actividades ilegales de la UE, como el acuerdo de pesca, el tratado de libre comercio agrícola, el de buena vecindad con Marruecos, etc. Porque Marruecos no tiene soberanía sobre el Sáhara Occidental.

D.: Esta labor no sería necesaria si se reconociera la autodeterminación del pueblo saharaui.

J.G.L.: Así es. Por un lado la misión de la ONU en el Sahara, la Minurso, que vigila el alto el fuego en la zona, debe vigilar la violación de derechos humanos en los territorios ocupados y también el expolio de los recursos. Bruselas ha tomado una decisión conforme a la ley, mientras que el Gobierno español no quiere atender a esa legalidad. Si el problema es la pesca, la alternativa es reconocer a la República Árabe Saharaui Democrática (RASD) y firmar acuerdos de pesca con ella, en condiciones justas que respeten el medio ambiente.

New round of Polisario Front-Morocco negotiations to be held next March ~ Diaspora Saharaui

Shaheed Elhafed (Refugee camps), Feb 14, 2012 (SPS) - New round of negotiations between the Polisario Front and Morocco will be held in the first half of Marsh at Greentree Estate, Manhasset (New York) under the UN auspices, in the presence of the two neighboring countries Algeria and Mauritania, a Saharawi official reveled Sunday.

The Personal Envoy of UN Secretary General for Western Sahara, Mr. Christopher Ross, asserted earlier that he would continue his efforts to promote the path of negotiations, underling he called the parties to a new round of informal talks next February at the Greentree Estate in Long Island (New York).

In interview with UN media center published last month, Ross stated that the Security Council now “expects the parties themselves to negotiate a political solution with the help of the UN, with the help of the neighboring States, with the help of the international community and to do so instead of reacting to settlement plans others have drawn up.”

He expressed hope “the people of Western Sahara hope whether they be in the occupied territory or in the refugee camps, will enjoy full human rights, including the freedom to express their views on their future and that the negotiators will take these views into account,”

It is worth mentioning that the Polisario Front and Morocco had begun in June 2007 direct negotiations under the auspices of the UN, with four rounds that took place in Manhasset (USA), and eight informal meetings in Vienna (Austria ), in Valletta (Malta) and in Manhasset. (SPS)

Women and the Western Sahara ~ Diaspora Saharaui

After decades of inhumane treatment under Moroccan rule, the indigenous Saharawi people continue to demand their independence.

Numerous demonstrations denouncing occupation of the Western Sahara by Morocco since 1975 has resulted in widespread discrimination and police brutality.

Last month, several dozen Saharawi activists were injured after a police crackdown outside the office of the ruling Justice and Development Party where protestors gathered to voice outrage over the postponement of a verdict on the continued detention of Saharawi people in the notorious Sale prison.

History of the Western Sahara

The Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west.

Despite recognition of the Saharawis’ right to self-determination by the International Court of Justice at end of Spain’s colonial rule, the 1975 Madrid Agreement handed over two thirds of land in Western Sahara to Morocco and one third to Mauritania.

Following a 1978 peace accord, Mauritania relinquished areas under their control. However, Morocco seized the opportunity to control the entire Western Sahara. As a result, tens of thousands of Saharawis have been displaced from their lands and their struggle represents one of the world’s longest-running conflicts.

Saharawi Women

Women have a played a key role in traditional Saharawi culture and in resisting foreign occupation. Traditionally, Saharawi women could inherit property and could subsist independently of their husbands, fathers, and brothers. They were also valued by Saharawi tribes, had great personal freedoms, and were active participants in major tribal decisions.

Women Koranic teachers, traditional healers, marabouts (mystic holy leaders), and scholars are an integral part of the Saharawi oral heritage.

Over the course of thirty-three years in their fight for the liberation of Africa's last colony, Saharawi women have played a major role in the struggle for the Western Sahara by developing various skills, ranging from education to military as well as obtaining power in the social and political life.

Western Sahara and the Arab Spring

Every day languages, traditions and cultures are being lost. In an effort to share the social and humanitarian challenges facing Saharawi women living under occupation, I initiated a project called Barakah Bashad. The aim of the project is to bring the voices of Saharawi women and others to a global audience. The best part? I will be blogging the journey here on Her Blueprint.

There's only 15 days left. Help make this project happen by donating today!

Variety Reviews - Sons of the Clouds: The Last Colony - Film Reviews - Berlin - Review by Jay Weissberg

Hijos de las nubes: la ultima colonia

(Documentary -- Spain-U.S.)

A Morena Films, Pinguin Films, Candescent Films production, in association with Wild Bunch, with the participation of Canal Plus Espana. (International sales: Wild Bunch, Paris.) Produced by Javier Bardem, Alvaro Longoria, Lilly Hartley. Executive producers, Jeffrey Tarrant, Vincent Maraval, Gael Nouaille, Pilar Benito. Directed, written by Alvaro Longoria.

With: Javier Bardem, Alvaro Longoria, Lynn Pascoe, Fatma Mehdi, Manu Chao, Aminetu Haidar, Mohamed Lamine Ahmed, Roland Dumas, Stephen Zunes, Paul Nahon, Salem Lebsir, Suelma Beiruk, Erwin Lanc, Jorge Moragas, Jean Francois-Poncet, Felipe Gonzalez, Said Kaced, Mohamed Abdelaziz, Omar Bashir Manis, Mohamed Lamine Bouhali, John R. Bolton, Frank Ruddy, James M. Inhofe, Dahbi Mohamed Ali, Marselha Goncalves, Eric Goldstein, Ese Okiti, Kamel Rezzag-Bara, Gare A. Smith, Esteban Beltran, Suzanne Scholte, Francesco Bastagli, Teyeb Belghuiche. Narrator: Angie de Birch. (Spanish, English, Arabic, French dialogue)

Javier Bardem's name will do much to raise the profile of "Sons of the Clouds: The Last Colony," a slick docu on the Western Sahara crisis geared to capture the attention of Western auds. The thesp, acting here as producer, understands that only celebrity can break the public's lack of receptivity to the conflict, and his commitment to the cause is heartfelt and admirable. Helmer Alvaro Longoria gathers a slew of important talking heads as well as rare archival footage for a generally well-argued tract, with only occasional missteps. Human rights fests and TV will provide good platforms.

In 2008, Bardem was a guest of the FiSahara Film Festival in Dakhla, an Algerian refugee camp housing thousands of displaced Sahrawis (the term for people from Western Sahara). The injustice he saw galvanized the actor, who's been championing the cause ever since. "Sons of the Clouds" traces the history of the conflict in a generally praiseworthy manner, though Longoria, previously a producer, needs to do more to prove the suspect supposition that the Sahrawi loved their Spanish colonizers.

Far better is the way the docu explains how the Western Sahara became a pawn in the cynical game of Cold War realpolitik. In the 1970s, when the Spanish decided to offer the territory a referendum on self-determination, they found themselves in a battle with Morocco and Mauretania (the latter country largely ignored here), which both claimed ownership. The docu errs by failing to mention long-simmering tensions between Spain and Morocco over the city-colonies of Ceuta and Melilla, a crucial element in the backstory, and doesn't make enough of the area's valuable phosphate reserves.

It does better in explaining the subsequent political alignments, when the West, led by the U.S. and France, sided with Morocco against Soviet allies Algeria and Libya, who were arming the Sahrawis through the Polisario Front.

Since then, the situation has degenerated, with Morocco (leveraging its strategic importance as a moderate Arab state) building an enormous wall across the desert, cutting the territory in two, and refusing to allow the U.N. mandated referendum on independence. Diplomats interviewed boldly talk of Morocco's campaigns of bribery and intimidation, and those who've visited the Moroccan-controlled areas say they put other police states to shame.

As human rights activist Aminetu Haidar discouragingly says, young Sahrawis no longer believe a diplomatic solution is possible(current estimates of displaced Sahrawi refugees hover around 200,000). The docu ends on a slightly hopeful note, incorporating some recent positive developments, though cautious optimism can too easily turn into disappointment.

Visuals are straightforward, and the film's researchers are to be commended for finding a trove of archival material that, despite deterioration, adds much to the overall picture. Narrator Angie de Birch's vocal intonation is unfortunately not suited to cinematic ventures, and short animated sequences appear incongruously lifted from a child's cartoon.

Camera (color, HD), Josu Inchaustegui; editor, Yago Muniz; music, Fernando Velazquez; sound, Jorge Garcia, Charly Schmukler, Nicolas de Poulpiquet; animation, Aleix Salo; line producers, Marta Gila, Cristina Zumarraga; associate producer, Patrick Lombardo. Reviewed at Berlin Film Festival (Berlinale Special), Feb. 16, 2012. Running time: 78 MIN.

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