From: John Clancy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Western Sahara Weekly News-weeks 44-45 WESTERN SAHARA Weekly News original french WEEK 44 28.10.-03.11.2001 International campaign for the liberation of Mohamed Daddach and all political prisoners sentenced by Morocco <http://www.arso.org/daddach.camp.2001.htm#ANCREe> 24.10.01 In a statement the Action Committee for the Liberation of Sidi Mohamed Daddach and all Saharawi political detainees announces that the authorities have refused to acknowledge its request for recognition. This committee was inaugurated on 9 September last in El Ayoun, it denounces the "illegal act" of the authorities, calls for the support of human rights organisations and decides to continue its activities. (Statement from the Action Committee for the liberation of Sidi Mohamed Daddach and all Saharawi political detainees, El Ayoun , french <http://www.arso.org/daddach.CA.htm>) 30.10.01 Nearly 200 Saharawi students from Agadir organised a peaceful march for the liberation of Mohamed Daddach in the arts faculty in Agadir. The collection of signatures will continue until the end of the month. They will be handed to the Moroccan authorities in December. Sign the appeal on line ! <http://www.arso.org/daddach.forme.htm> or download and print out petition forms for the collection of signatures <http://www.arso.org/daddach.camp.2001.htm#ANCREappeal> The updated list of the Saharawi political prisoners is now in HTML formate. <http://www.arso.org/listeoct.htm> 28.10.01 Resistance To remember the anniversary of the Moroccan invasion of Western Sahara on 31 October 1975, tracts were distributed by night in El Ayoun, Smara and Goulimine. They denounce the colonial occupation and call for "the intensification of the struggle to expel the invader". (SPS) 29.10.-01.11.01 Visit of ad hoc delegation from the European Parliament to Western Sahara The delegation, composed of 12 MEPs, was received on 29 October in Algiers by the President of the Senate and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the next day by the President of the Parliament. Mrs Lalumi�re,, leader of the delegation, explained to the media that the commission has as its aim to "investigate and inform itself on the question of Western Sahara (...) and to understand exactly what the situation is on the ground". Mrs Lalumi�re, indicated that the European Parliament is "extremely concerned to see that no solution attracts the consent of the parties concerned" in the peace process in Western Sahara. She added that the delegation was set up to "try to get a clearer picture of the problem of Western Sahara and the future of the Saharawi people". Arriving on 30 October in the Saharawi refugee camps, the delegation was received by the Prime Minister, Bouchraya Beyoune, and had talks with officials of the Polisario Front and SADR. They visited three wilayas and talked with members of the National Council (Parliament), with the Consultative Council as well as with representatives of the community. They visited social and political institutions and were received by the President of the National Council and the Coordinator with Minurso. Representatives of Saharawi civil society made a statement asking the European Union to put an end to "systematic blockages by Morocco, with the connivance of several international players", to the peace plan in Western Sahara. They also demanded that there should be an end to human rights abuses in the occupied zones of Western Sahara and to "the plunder of natural wealth and resources of the territory by the Moroccan occupier". At the end of her interview with the Saharawi President, Mrs Lalumi�re stressed the necessity of respecting the will of the Saharawi people in the search for a peaceful solution to the conflict. She declared herself convinced that the solution "must certainly include a referendum", adding that "the situation cannot last", for "the status quo is very dangerous". She also emphasised that her delegation was leaving "with a will to use our influence as European parliamentarians so that the problem is not left without a solution." (SPS) Back in Algiers, European deputy Catherine Lalumiere said in a meeting with the press: "The status quo cannot last forever. We have to find a solution to this conflict and resolve it correctly to avoid it degenerating,". That solution should be balanced and acceptable for the Polisario Front and Morocco, Lalumiere added. "It's difficult but not impossible," she stressed, adding that ending the long-running dispute in the region was in the interest of both Morocco and Algeria. (news24) 01.11.01 Saharawi parliament The autumn parliamentary session opened in the presence of the delegation from the European Parliament. In his opening speech, the Saharawi President declared that an independent Saharawi state would be an element "creating stability" in the Maghreb region, while a solution based on the "denial" of the right of the Saharawi people would be doomed to "failure". The parliamentarians have to evaluate the work of the government team for the past year and adopt a programme for the year 2002. (SPS) Spanish-Moroccan crisis On 28 October, Morocco recalled its ambassador in Spain "for consultations" for an indeterminate period, on the pretext that "certain Spanish attitudes and positions concern Morocco". On 31, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohamed Bena�ssa declared before parliament that the decision of Morocco to recall its ambassador in Madrid is based on the Spanish position on illegal immigration and on the "fuzzy-minded and contradictory attitudes of Spain towards our national sacred cause (Western Sahara)". He points out that "the position of Madrid coincides with the growth of hostile activities in the sphere of so-called campaigns of sympathy with the enemies of our territorial integrity, and who ended up organising in one of the Spanish regions a trivial referendum on the subject of territorial integrity." Bena�ssa alluded to the referendum organised in 150 Andalusian municipalities, in which 125,000 people took part. In the parliament of Andalusia, of 394 people who voted, including the staff and journalists, 381 voted in favour of independence for Western Sahara, with 372 in favour of the accreditation of the Polisario Front in Spain. (El Pais, <http://www.elpais.es/articulo.html?d_date=20011029&xref=20011029elpepi nac_19&type=Tes&anchor=elpepinac>) The position of Spain,in favour of the referendum and against the draft Framework-Agreement, during the work of the UN 4th Committee, is certainly at the origin of the Moroccan discontent. According to analyses appearing in the Spanish press, the French and American governments are supposedly supporting Morocco in this strategy of tension, which has already expressed itself through the oil contracts and the impromptu visit of the King to the Sahara, in order to make Madrid rally to the plan for autonomy. 29.10.01 Letter to the Security Council Mohamed Abdelaziz informed the President of the Security Council that the actions undertaken by Morocco, "are creating extremely serious difficulties for the peace process". The Saharawi President mentioned the visit of Mohamed VI to Western Sahara, calling it a "gratuitous provocation", as well as the signing of contracts for oil exploration with an American and a French firm, considering it "an illegal act". The Saharawi President called for the Council to intervene urgently with Morocco in order to avoid a serious deterioration in the peace and stability of the region. (SPS) 29.10.01 Statement The Saharawi Minister of Foreign Affairs in a statement expressed the view that the visit of Mohamed VI "constitutes an affront and a flagrant violation of United Nations resolutions appealing to the parties to the conflict to abstain from any action or initiative which could create obstacles to attempts to bring about a just and definitive solution to the conflict(...) This visit illustrates the lack of political will in Morocco and shows a bellicose escalation with dangerous consequences for peace and the stability of the region. It is above all a return to political inertia, which is the principle characteristic of the era of Mohamed VI." (Statement of the SADR Minister of Foreign Affairs <http://www.arso.org/RASDcomm.29101.htm#Ancragee> 30.10.01 UN The UN Secretary General received the personal envoy of the Saharawi President, Boukhari Ahmed, Polisario Front representative in New York, who presented him with a message from President Abdelaziz on the subject of contracts for oil prospecting in Western Sahara. Boukhari made it clear that the Polisario Front was asking the UN to intervene to "cancel these contracts and to stop the visit of the King of Morocco to Western Sahara".(SPS) 01.-02.11.01 Visit of the King of Morocco to Western Sahara This visit planned for Tuesday 30, finally took place on Thursday 1 November "for organisational reasons". The King went first to Dakhla, where he inspected the new port and opened several projects for road network improvement, housing, drinking water and electricity projects. In the afternoon he went to El Ayoun where he again inaugurated several socio-economic projects. The whole visit took place under tight security measures. Foreign journalists were not authorised to make contact with the local population. The El Mundo journalist, Javier Espinosa, was expelled from El Ayoun on Monday 30, the other representatives of the Spanish media, were forbidden access to Western Sahara. In solidarity, AFP and AP decided to refrain from covering the king's visit to occupied Sahara. The Spanish government protested at the Moroccan attitude as well as RSF. The ban was lifted on 31. During their presence in El Ayoun for the cover of the King's visit, the spanish journalists Javier Espinosa (El Mundo <http://www.el-mundo.es/2001/11/03/./espana/1067732.html>) and Tomas Barbulo (El Pais) http://www.elpais.es/articulo.html?d_date=20011103&xref=20011103elpepii nt_29&type=Tes&anchor=elpepiint> had an encounter in hiding with members of the Human Rights organisations Forum V�rit� et Justice Section Sahara and the Comit� d'action pour la lib�ration de Mohamed Daddach. They have been reported that most of the people who acclaimed the king in the streets were Moroccans; people who work as civil servants were forced to be present as well as the poor who survive on government aid. The Saharawi opponents explained that in El Ayoun now there are hardly 20 thousands Saharawi. Protests are impossible because of the police terror. The hard passed sufferings, torture, disappearance, imprisonment, have broken the spirit of resistance. "Our only hope is the Polisario", the participants, most of them former political prisoners or disapeared, told the journalists. INTERNET english - Republican-controlled Carlyle Group poses serious Ethical Questions for Bush Presidents, but Baltimore Sun ignores it, Alice Cherbonnier, The Baltimore Chronicle, 03.10.01. <http://baltimorechronicle.com/media3_oct01.shtml> - Protests against "illegal" oil exploration off Western Sahara, afrol News, 28.10.01. <http://www.afrol.com/News2001/wsa013_oil_illegal.htm> - Moroccan king stokes tensions in Sahara, BBC News, 01.11.01. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid_1631000/1631798.s tm> - Moroccan King to Visit Sahara, Las Vegas Sun, USA, 01.11.01. <http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w- af/2001/nov/01/110101961.html> - Moroccan King Tours Disputed Territory, VOA News, 02.11.01. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sign the appeal for the liberation of Mohamed Daddach and the other Saharawi political prisoners sentenced by Morocco: http://www.arso.org/daddach.forme.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A R S O, Association de soutien a un referendum libre et regulier au Sahara Occidental Address: cp 2229 CH-2800 DELEMONT 2 E-mail: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] URL: http://www.arso.org Tel.:+41 32 422 87 17 Fax: +41 32 422 87 01 Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ******* from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subject: Latest News Delivered-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: arso <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> X-Yahoo-Profile: arso2fr Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2001 Reply-To: western-sahara-news- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [western-sahara-news] Latest news WESTERN SAHARA LATEST NEWS: THE SAHARAWI POLITICAL PRISONERS INCLUDING MOHAMED DADDACH HAVE BEEN AMNESTIED Communiqu� of the Bureau europ�en pour le respect des droits de l'homme au Sahara Occidental in french <http://www.arso.org/BERDHSOfree.htm> -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A R S O Association de soutien a un referendum libre et regulier au Sahara Occidental Address: cp 2229 CH-2800 DELEMONT 2 E-mail: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] URL: http://www.arso.org Tel.:+41 32 422 87 17 Fax: +41 32 422 87 01 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ****** from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subject: Delivered-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: arso <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Sun, 11 Nov 2001 Reply-To: western-sahara-news- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [western-sahara-news] Weekly news, week 45 / 2001 WESTERN SAHARA Weekly News WEEK 45 04.-10.11.2001 29-31.10.01 Referendum The international trade union federation Public Services International PSI's World Executive Board, meeting in Seoul 29-31 October, has called on the UN to organise the long awaited referendum (in Western Sahara) without further delays, and expressed its support to the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination and independence. 01.11.01 MINURSO Spanish journalists following the King of Morocco's trip to Western Sahara noticed that MINURSO was proceeding to a significant reduction in the staff of the Identification Commission. This has gone down from 120 to 86 members. It is planned that only 36 people will remain. Their job will be to microfilm the documents which have been assembled. Farhan el-Haq, UN spokesperson, confirmed the story, "since at the moment there is nothing to do". He added that this does not mean that the UN has the intention to withdraw its mission from the territory. The representative of the Polisario Front to the UN, Ahmed Boukhari, declared that this measure is "illegal, surprising and politically counterproductive", as the Security Council resolution 1359 of 29 June 2001 does not authorise the least change concerning the functioning and the staffing of MINURSO until the next resolution. "This reduction reflects the pessimistic atmosphere that has hovered over MINURSO since Morocco's blockage", he added. (ONU, SPS) 02.11.01 Algeria President Bouteflika, on an official visit of the United States, had talks with James Baker in Houston. The Minister of Justice, Ahmed Ouyahia, together with Abdelkader Messahel, Minister Delegate responsible for African Affairs, attended the meeting. "Algeria is not against a third way concerning Western Sahara", Bouteflika is alleged to have stated, according to "Le Quotidien d'Oran", which was following Bouteflika's visit. These words, spoken in private during a meeting with American businessmen, provoked violent reactions in the independent Algerian press. The Algerian Press Agency APS, firmly denied these allegations and confirmed Algeria's commitment in favour of the right to self-determination of the Saharawi people. (El Watan, La Tribune, Le Matin, APS) 03.11.01 SADR The Saharawi President sent a letter asking the French Prime Minister to annul the contract signed beween TotalFinaElf and Morocco, calling it illegal. Mohamed Abdelaziz also wrote to the personal envoy of Kofi Annan, James Baker, expressing the view that the nationality of the two companies (TotalFinaElf of France and Kerr McGee of the USA) has a very negative impact on their confidence in these two countries, which should be playing an important role in guaranteeing peace. The Saharawi President also mentioned the preparations for the Paris-Dakar rally, which are going on "with the blessing of the French government", as well as the recent visit of the King of Morocco to the occupied territories, which constitute "an unacceptable escalation with extremely serious consequences for the current peace effort and for the stability of the region". He asked for the intervention of the United Nations to cancel these contracts, to condemn the visit of the King of Morocco and to prevent the Paris-Dakar rally from going through Saharawi territory. On 6 November the Security Council decided to ask the UN Legal Department for an opinion on the legality of the oil exploration contracts in Western Sahara prior to self-determination by the Saharawi people, Ahmed Boukhari, Saharawi representative at the UN, told the SPS. 03-05.11.01 Moroccan-Spanish diplomatic crisis While the Spanish authorities are trying to minimise the crisis set off by Morocco between the two countries, Rabat continues to accuse Madrid of "hiding" the many problems which have arisen between to two countries in recent months. Morocco insists in particular on the referendum organised in Andalusia, considered as an interference in the internal affairs of Morocco. On the other hand a highly placed Spanish official recognised that "the Moroccans would have liked us to align our position with that of Paris" during the work of the UN Decolonisation Commission last October. During these debates, France tried without success to manipulate the official position of the European Union on Western Sahara. The president of the European parliamentary intergroup, "Peace for the Saharawi people", Margot Kessler, made an urgent appeal on 4 November asking for explanations from the French Minister of Foreign Affairs. Mrs Kessler believes that "the efforts of France to manipulate the official position of the EU are totally unacceptable". For his part, the MEP, Isidoro Sanchez, member of the ad hoc delegation which visited the Saharawi refugee camps recently, thinks that faced with the prospect of the forthcoming withdrawal of MINURSO, the European Parliament owes it to itself to intervene, for "there is a very delicate conflict of interests in which the United States and France are involved". Sanchez, also a member of the intergroup "Peace for the Saharawi people", will ask the European Parliament to intervene in favour of the United Nations peace plan, believing that a "formidable" diplomatic effort must be undertaken to resolve the conflict. 03.11.01 Liberations The liberation of Saharawis political prisoners Eddah Echaihk and Mousamih el Arbi, who had served their sentencs of two years' imprisonment for having participated in the uprising of El Ayoun in 1999 was joyously celebrated in El Ayoun. These two prisoners figured on the list of the BERDHSO campaign. 03.11.01 Humanitarian Aid The director of the aid programmes and emergency operations of Algerian Red Crescent, Ali Bouguedour, deplored the "serious failures" which are " prejudicial" to humanitarian aid of the United Nations to the Saharawi refugees. In contrast he congratulated the ECHO team which distributes European Union humanitarian aid , believing however, that this aid should be increased. Mrs Lalumi�re, during a press conference on her return from the Saharawi refugee camps, pointed out the critical food situation of the refugees. "There is a sort of negligence on the part of the World Food Program, judging its insufficient presence in the camps. It is urgent that the World Food Program should react, the European parliamentarian added. In a letter read to the European parliamentary delegation, in the name of the NGOs committed on the ground, Sabine Eckart of Medico International said that the NGOs had noted "a continual decline in food aid destined for the Saharawi refugees" and a continual reduction or stagnation of aid from UNHCR, as well as donor fatigue of certain donors who "are becoming less involved claiming that support for the Saharawi refugee has been going on for too long". Spain will contribute $216,000 for the Saharawi refugees , the High Commissioner for Refugees, Rudd Lubbers announced on 6 November. 04.11.01 Spanish legislative initiative The solidarity movement with the Saharawi people is collecting signatures to present to the Cort�s(Parliament) a "popular legislative initiative". This initiative, which requires 500,000 signatures to be received, asks the Spanish parliament to support the Western Sahara peace plan. The handing over of the signatures is expected on 23 November, in the presence of the Saharawi president Mohamed Abdelaziz, who will then attend the annual conference of the European Coordination of support for the Saharawi people in Seville on 23, 24 and 25 November next. In Barcelona members of the Association of Friends of the Saharawi people who were collecting signatures, were attacked by a group of about a hundred Moroccans. (La Vanguardia) 05-10.11.01 Visit of Danielle Mitterrand Mrs Danielle Mitterrand arrived on the 6th in the Saharawi camps after talks in Algiers with the president of the Algerian Committee of support to the Saharawi people. She went to three wilayas where she was warmly welcomed, and visited schools, hospitals, gardens and a museum of war booty. In Dakhla, she called on the mother of Mohamed Daddach, who had just been liberated. Impressed by the social assets of the Saharawi population in exile, she mentioned "equality between the sexes, respect of human rights and freedom of expression" which she had noticed while there. "This peaceful people who aspires to liberty, should exercise their legitimate right to self-determination, she declared. (SPS) 06.11.01 Anniversary of the Green March In his traditional speech on the occasion of the anniversary of the invasion of Western Sahara, the King of Morocco, "sure of his sovereignty over this territory", called all the parties concerned to the acceptance of the framework-agreement. He reaffirmed his determination to "consolidate regionalisation" and to follow "personally" the preparation of the draft plan of integrated development. The Saharawi Minister of Information described his speech as "rushing headlong" in "a vain attempt to hide the negative record of the first two years of his reign." According to Mr Batal, the King of Morocco "is desperately seeking a lifeline to palliate the disappointment, frustration and the disarray which have gripped Moroccan citizens and his friends abroad".(SPS) Moulay Hicham Alaoui, a cousin of the king, in an interview to a Spanish daily, called the autonomy plan "outmoded".(El Periodico) 06.11.01 MINURSO Kofi Annan has appointed a new special representative for Western Sahara, William Lacy Swing, an American born in 1934, following the resignation of William Eagleton. Swing takes up his post on 1 December. For the last two years he was US ambassador in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and has filled the same function in various countries of Africa. International campaign for the liberation of Mohamed Daddach and all political prisoners sentenced by Morocco <http://www.arso.org/daddach.camp.2001.htm#ANCREe> 07.11.01: Liberations 56 political prisoners have benefited from a royal pardon on the occasion of the anniversary of the Green March. The official statement published in Rabat indicated that it concerned persons detained following events in El Ayoun (37 prisoners), persons detained following events in Marrakech (14 prisoners), persons detained in relation to affairs n� 2000/1280 and 2000/2499, sentenced in the Court of Appeal in Agadir (4 prisoners), and one person detained in relation to affair n� 79/285/1260 sentenced by the permanent military tribunal of the Royal Armed Forces. Among them are the 24 Saharawi political prisoners, for whom the international the European Bureau for the Respect of Human Rights in Western Sahara has been campaigning, including Mohamed Daddach, imprisoned for 23 years. The others are either Moroccan students who joined with the Saharawis, or people sentenced for their taking part in pillages of Saharawi businesses or homes during the events of El Ayoun. (Info campagne N�8, BERDHSO <http://www.arso.org/daddach03.2001.htm#Ancrage008>) This liberation comes after an intense campaign by the prisoners themselves, initiated by hunger strikes by Daddach and followed by other prisoners, supported by human rights organisations in Western Sahara, and the international campaign of BERDHSO for the liberation of all Saharawi political prisoners. All the detainees left prison on 8 November. They were greeted in Marrakech by Saharawi students and with elation by the Saharawi population of El Ayoun. In a press release the Truth and Justice Forum Sahara welcomed this liberation, coming "thanks to local popular and international pressure". It reaffirmed their demands asking for respect of human rights in Western Sahara in accordance with international law, the establishment of truth on the fate of Saharawi disappeared, the liberation of the living and the restitution of the mortal remains of those who have died, the protection of civilians from the dangers of antipersonnel mines, material compensation for victims, bringing those responsible for human rights abuses to justice, and the opening of a fair and impartial enquiry concerning the communal graves of Lemseyed and Jderiya. (communiqu�s FVJS<http://www.arso.org/fvjsah.11.htm>, Amnesty international <http://www.web.amnesty.org/web/news.nsf/WebAll/88978446A>, Intergroupe parlementaire �Paix pour le peuple sahraoui� <http://www.arso.org/Kessler091101.htm>) COMING UP... - Federaci�n de Asociaciones de Amigos del pueblo saharaui Murcia Vuelo charter a los campamentos, aeropuerto de Alicante, desde el 4 al 9 de diciembre. Precio 71.000 PTS. Para mas informacion: 609368902-609983094-968192092, E-MAIL: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Tiempo limite para inscripci�n : 24/11/2001. A R S O Association de soutien a un referendum libre et regulier au Sahara Occidental Address: cp 2229 CH-2800 DELEMONT 2 E-mail: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] URL: http://www.arso.org Tel.:+41 32 422 87 17 Fax: +41 32 422 87 01 Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ " JC _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
