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The Occupation We Choose to Ignore’

Do you know who I am? I am a Sahrawi. The land to which I refer is what is known today as the non-self-governing territory ofWestern Sahara. My country was colonized by the Spanish and the French between 1884 and 1975, divided in two and occupied by Moroccan and Mauritanian forces thereafter, and has been ruled exclusively by the Kingdom of Morocco from 1979 until the present.

The Western Sahara: forgotten first source of the Arab Spring

this is one part of the Arab Spring that western governments don't want to talk about. And their silence, and the UN's complicity in it, is why that repression continues, and a terrible injustice is perpetuated.

ISS - News - The Western Sahara and North African People’s Power

Respect the right of individuals to peacefully express their opinions regarding the status and future of the Western Sahara and to document violations of human rights

King of Morocco to be biggest benefactor of EU trade agreement - Telegraph

it has emerged that the single biggest beneficiary of the deal will be the King of Morocco, who is head of one of the three largest agricultural producers in the north African country and lays claim to 12,000 hectares of the nation's most fertile farmland.

North African Dispatches Africa’s Forgotten Colony

Oblivion it seems is the current reality for the arid North African territory of Western Sahara; often referred to as Africa’s ‘Last Colony’. In my opinion, it would be more accurate to describe it as ‘Africa’s Forgotten Colony’.

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Apr 18, 2012

AFP: UN says Western Sahara mission being 'undermined'

UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations stepped up complaints about Morocco's tactics in Western Sahara as the UN Security Council on Tuesday held its annual talks on efforts to end deadlock over the territory's future.

UN leader Ban Ki-moon has told the Security Council that the UN mission's communications from the Moroccan-controlled territory with UN headquarters have been "compromised."

He said various "factors have undermined the mission's ability to monitor and report consistently on the situation" in Western Sahara and has asked for the mission to be beefed up.

With years of UN-brokered talks between Morocco and Polisario Front rebels showing no sign of a breakthrough, the Security Council faces growing pressure to let the mission investigate human rights violations.

Diplomats said the UN report was one of the most critical in many years on events in Western Sahara, which Morocco started to annex in 1975 after Spain withdrew. The Polisario started a guerilla war and the UN brokered a ceasefire in 1991.

"Allegations of spying on the headquarters of the MINURSO mission particularly show the UN's frustration," said one Security Council diplomat. MINURSO is the official title of the UN mission.

Ban said in his report to the council that there have been "indications that the confidentiality of the communications between MINURSO headquarters and New York has, at least on one occasion, been compromised."

The UN compound is a former hotel in Laayoune, the main city which is under Moroccan control. The report did not say who had "compromised" UN communications, however.

The UN compound is surrounded by 21 Moroccan flags and the UN is also upset that Morocco forces UN cars to display Moroccan diplomatic plates. Everywhere else in the world UN vehicles use a neutral UN registration. When the cars cross into areas controlled by the Polisario they have to change to UN plates.

Ban's report said the flags and the registration plates "create an appearance that raises doubts about the neutrality of the mission."

"In parallel, the Moroccan police presence outside the compound discourages visitors from approaching MINURSO in an independent capacity."

Access to "external contacts is controlled and monitored," Ban's report said.

The UN leader said "MINURSO is unable to exercise fully its peacekeeping monitoring, observation and reporting functions, or to avail of the authority to reverse the erosion of its mandate implementation capabilities on its own."

"It is a hard-hitting report," said one Western diplomat.

In times of cutbacks in the UN system Ban has asked for an extra 15 military observers to be added to the mission of 228 "to bolster its monitoring capacities."

He has also asked again for the mission to have a greater powers to look into allegations of human rights abuses.

"I seek the assistance of the Security Council in reasserting the mandated role of the MINURSO, upholding peacekeeping standards and United Nations neutrality," Ban said in his report.

The 15-nation Security Council is working on a resolution to extend the mandate of the mission in Western Sahara which has to be passed this month.

Morocco's UN mission made no immediate comment on the UN report.

Africa's last colony -Western Sahara

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