Saharawis and Norwegians demonstrated today against the last days of human rights violations in Western Sahara. The protesters also carried out a demonstration in front of the French cultural centre. "Sarkozy, stop blocking human rights", the Sahrawis asked.
10 November 2010, some 30 people demonstrated in front of the Moroccan embassy of Oslo against the human rights violations committed in Western Sahara over the last days.
Also the role of France was brought up, as the Centre Culturel Francais is the Moroccan embassy's neighbour. France is using its position in the UN Security Council to work against the human rights in Western Sahara. The UN peace force in Western Sahara is the only in the world that is not mandated to observe human rights violations, and France is every year vetoing the question as it is raised. In the Security Council this spring, France's double standards when it comes to human rights was noted by the Chinese representative to the UN.
The demonstration was covered on Norwegian national TV in the evening.
In a recent published decision of 1 April 2024, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention requested the immediate release of the young Saharawi journalist Khatri Dadda.
The occupying power Morocco, which sabotages the work of the UN Human Rights Council in occupied Western Sahara, has begun its first session after being elected to preside the Council.
Today, Morocco was elected to chair the UN Human Rights Council. The result generated strong reactions.
"The credibility of the UN system is at stake", says the Norwegian Support Committee about this week's election of a new presidency of the Human Rights Council. Norwegian organizations are critical of the candidacy.