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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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Oct 24, 2013

New repression episode in Western Sahara as UN special envoy visits territory

23/10/2013

Moroccan security forces attack protesters who demanded an end to the occupation · Events coincide with a visit by Christopher Ross, who is preparing a new round of negotiations

Flag of Western Sahara

Pro-independence Sahrawi protesters and members of the Moroccan security forceshave been clashing since Saturday 19th in Western Sahara. The clashes have coincided with a visit to this territory -which is occupied by Morocco- by Christopher Ross, special envoy of the UN Secretary General. The visit was made in anticipation of an upcoming UN Security Council meeting (scheduled for the 30th of October), in the situation in Western Sahara is included in the agenda. Last week, after meeting with the Moroccan authorities, Ross also met with various representatives of the Saharawi people, under a tense atmosphere caused by the enhanced Moroccan police presence in the streets of urban centers in the country.

Saharawi coordinator with the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) Mohamed Jadad said that Ross's visit was part of "an effort to reach a solution that guarantees the Saharawi people their right to self-determination". According to Jadad, "Ross is seeking to advance the negotiations." According to Jadad, the special envoy "will tour the region" starting next month with the aim of organizing "a new round of negotiations before the meeting of the Security Council in April 2014".

Meanwhile, tension on the streets has led to renewed clashes between Moroccan forces and pro-independence protesters. Saturday 19th in the evening, and following the call by several civil society organizations in the city of El Aaiun, an indeterminated number of people peacefully demonstrated in the streets, shouting slogans and raising banners demanding an end to the occupation of the territory. When the largest number of protesters had gathered, the police -helped by auxiliary forces- dispersed the protesters by hitting them and by using tear gas, according to local sources quoted by Por un Sáhara Libre website.

On 20th October, the Sahrawi Association of Victims of Human Rights Violations (ASVDH) accused Moroccan police forces of an attempt to suppress the voice of the protesters before they reached the UN representative. Other Sahrawai sources said that the Moroccan police requested a military intervention as pro-independence protesters were advancing in the streets. According to this version, the army sent special units from the wall separating the Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara from the area under controll of the Polisario Front.

Spanish communists critize Moroccan and Spanish government

Right after these events happened, the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) issued a press release against the governments of the former colonial power (Spain) and the current occupying power (Morocco). PCE claimed that, at night, groups of Moroccan settlers together with policemen destroyed the homes of Sahrawi locals, particularly in Mattalla, one of the most populous neighborhoods of El Aaiun.

PCE has "condemned" the facts, both because of the Moroccan attitude and the "passivity of the international community, who looks the other way, while the Saharawi people is still massacred by the Moroccan repression machinery". According to the Spanish communists, the successive Spanish governments are also to blame, "despite [their] good intentions before the United Nations". The Spanish and French attitudes, PCE says, are the "Morocco's main accomplices and protectors", a country "to which they do not even hesitate to sell weapons".

Western Sahara/As-Sahra al-Gharbiyyah

General information
Population: 513.000 inhabitants (2009 estimate by UN)
Area: 266.000 km2
Institutions: Government of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR, partially recognized)
Major cities: Al-Aaiún (capital city), Bir Lehlou, Dakhla, Smara
State administration: Kingdom of Morocco (80% of territory) and SADR (20%)
Territorial languages: Hassaniyya Arabic
Official language: Arabic
Major religion: Sunni Islam




Posted by Unknown at 03:38

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