Statement from Amnesty International today demands investigations into the events surrounding the forcible expulsion of 6 young Sahrawis from Agadir airport to Western Sahara.
Youth from Western Sahara and Morocco were this week to meet in London to discuss the Western Sahara conflict. Moroccan authorities have now sabotaged the talks, by denying the Moroccan and Sahrawi delegations exit from Morocco. "All the seven Moroccans had family problems", told the Moroccan ambassador to London.
Polisario and the Moroccan government will meet in Vienna to start informal talks after new US intiative. The new UN Special Envoy, Christopher Ross, travelled the region last month and expressed optimism after talking to the governments of SADR, Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco and Spain.
Mohammed Abdelaziz, President of SADR and General Secretary of Polisario was the Guest of Honor at the 2009 IUSY festival in Hungary. He gave a speech before the participants of a conference on Western Sahara organised by IUSY at the festival. Read full transcript below.
ZANKA, HUNGARY: The International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY), met in Zanka, Hungary at the World Youth Festival under the theme ‘Development for Freedom - Our War on Poverty’ from June 15th to 21st. SADR President Mohammed Abdelaziz was invited as a Guest of Honor and IUSY passed a statement on Western Sahara for the occasion.
WASHINGTON, July 27, 2009 - President Obama's nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Morocco seemed to confirm a U.S. policy shift on the Western Sahara in testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Norway is now doubling its support to the Sahrawi people, making NOK 11.9 million available in 2009. “The support is mainly intended to alleviate the very precarious humanitarian situation in the refugee camps,” said Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere.
See pictures and video here.
The Norwegian investor KLP has today announced that they have kicked out the Australian firm Incitec Pivot from its funds. The company imports phosphate rock from Western Sahara, which is occupied by Morocco. Norwatch, 2 June 2009.
A research fellow attached to the Norwegian Geological Survey has been working on an oil research project in the occupied Western Sahara. The Support Committee requests that a scientific geological journal temporarily suspend further publication of her research data. The research institute is itself sceptical of the research project.
The Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara demanded in a letter on 19 March 2009 to the scientific journal Tectonophysics, that research done by a PhD student at the Norwegian Geological Survey should not be published. The geological research in occupied Western Sahara is done in cooperation with Moroccan oil authorities, but without the consent of the Sahrawi people.
This statement was adopted by South Trøndelag Labour Party during the annual meeting, 14 and 15 March 2009
The US lawfirm Covington & Burling helps Morocco in the illegal plunder of phosphates from occupied Western Sahara. The Sahrawi student Senia Bachir Abderahman is trying to get answers from the lawfirm as to how they can defend the plunder of her homeland.
The National Union of Students in Norway (NSU), demands a stop to the oppression of Sahrawi students in a resolution from the 55th Landsting. The NSU counts close to 93.000 members and have been working for students rights since 1936.
The company Thor Offshore from the Faroe Islands participates in the plundering of occupied Western Sahara. The unethical business helps the Moroccan occupying power's illegal oil search in the territory, and contributes to strengthen the brutal occupation. News coverage in Faroese TV, Dagur & Vika, 26 January 2009
Student Peace Prize Ceremony, 2009, Olav Concert Hall, Trondheim, 27 February 2009.
Two Sahrawi girls were stopped on the street and harassed by Moroccan police Sunday. One was the rape victim from February, the other was the sister of Elkouria Amidane, Maimouna.
A group of three Norwegian shipping companies have stated that they desist from future assignments in Western Sahara.
Seminars and benefit concerts at Mount Holyoke, South Hadley.
The Norwegian Council for Africa wrote in February about the shipping company Atlantic RTI which transported fish from occupied Western Sahara. The company now says they will prevent their vessels from being used for such purposes in the future.
For a few days more you will still find tomatoes from occupied Western Sahara on the vegetable counters of the Norwegian grocery store Coop. On Wednesday they stopped the controversial import. Norwatch, 11 March 2009.
The Moroccan Navy was asked to support Fugro-Geoteams oil assignment outside occupied Western Sahara. This is shown by an internal Moroccan government document that Norwatch has obtained. Norwatch, 17 March 2009.
The Saharawi woman who was raped at the end of February has now reported the incident to the police. The Moroccan Ministry of Domestic Affairs denies that policemen have raped the woman.
When The Norwegian Council for Africa visited occupied Western Sahara between Christmas and New Year's Eve, we photographed a freighter that later turned out to be Norwegian. The shipping company Atlantic RTI confirmed the fish transport and said they dislike that their ship has been utilised in the occupied area.
The Sahrawi student Elkouria Amidane received the Students' Peace Prize 2009 on 27th February 2009. “A brave and worthy winner”, said Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister. Nobel peace prize laureates praised her work.
Despite heavy snowfall, approximately two hundred people attended a torch march for the Students' Peace Prize 2009 laureate Elkouria Amidane, in Trondheim, Norway, 27 February 2009.
On 27 February 2009 the flag of the Saharawi Republic (SADR) has been raised on the Town Halls of Leichhardt (Sydney), Newcastle and in various cities and towns of Australia such as Melbourne, Perth, Hobart and Geelong. The flags are raised to mark the 33rd anniversary of the proclamation of the Saharawi republic.
Op-ed by Thor Richard Isaksen, Leader of the Students' Peace Prize, and Ole Danbolt Mjøs, Committee Member, and former chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize committee, the Students' Peace Prize, 2009.
The Nordic Committee of Co-operating Social Democratic Youth Organisations (FNSU), consisting of organisations from all the Nordic and Baltic countries, adopted on its board meeting 13 February 2009 a statement demanding the termination of the occupation of Western Sahara.
Tuesday the mayor of Trondheim, Mrs. Rita Ottervik, and deputy mayor, Mr. Knut Fagerbakke, invited peace activists Shirin Ebadi and Elkouria Amidane for lunch and talks in city hall.
The 16-year-old was undressed and raped during interrogation.
Fertilizer producer Yara receives critisicm in Norway for its last year phosphate purchase from occupied Western Sahara. The company answers they hope Western Sahara "will be liberated one day, and then the inhabitants will benefit if we can receive their phosphate quickly".
The students of Red Cross Nordic United World College (RCNUWC) addressed a letter to the Norwegian company, Fugro Geoteam, to withdraw their vessel ‘Geo Caribbean’ from the occupied waters in Western Sahara. The letter was handed over by the Sahrawi student Basiri Mulay El-hasan.
In August Yara's plant on Herøya imported phosphate from occupied West Sahara, contrary to the advice of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Yara may have paid 4,3 million euros to a Moroccan state company for phosphate stolen from its occupied neighbour.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry knew about the transaction but did not try to stop the import of phosphate from Western Sahara. Norway may have broken international law.
Press Release from the Students' Peace Prize, Norway, 3 February 2009.
Click on photo for larger version. All photos can be used for free, provided each photo is credited as written in italic below each photo. Exception are photos by Ketil Blom.
The Sahrawi Malak Amidane lost her job after pressure from Moroccan authorities. Amidane had received a foreign delegation in Western Sahara.
Morocco has apparently launched a big onshore exploration programme in Western Sahara.
In 2002, the Rafto Prize was awarded to the Saharawi symbol of freedom and liberation, Sidi Mohammed Daddach. At the time, he had endured more years in prison than outside. Six years on, he finds himself under constant surveillance, and Western Sahara still under Moroccan occupation. Rafto Foundation, December 15, 2008.
Amnesty International fears that Mustafa Abdel Dayem's conviction may have been intended to punish him for his public support for the right to self-determination for the people of Western Sahara. Reat statement 23rd of December 2008.
On December 5th 2008, a petition letter signed by 426 organisations was sent to the EU commission demanding that occupied Western Sahara be kept outside of the Morocco-EU socalled Advanced Status cooperation. Do you wish your organisation had signed, but did not make the deadline?
No less than 426 organisations signed a petition letter, demanding from the EU Commission that occupied Western Sahara be kept clearly outside of the so- called Advanced Status cooperation that Morocco currently is being granted. The petition was sent to the EU Commission this morning. PRESS RELEASE December 5th 2008.
UK Minister of Defence clarifies error in recent news report regarding UK troops training in occupied Western Sahara. "The British armed forces do not conduct bi-lateral military activity in Western Sahara", minister said.
The fertilizer company Yara remains under investigation by Norwegian police after having purchased a shipload of phosphates from occupied Western Sahara.
The Executive Board of The Liberal Party of Norway demands that Western Sahara be excluded from EU's cooperation with Morocco.
14 Norwegian youth and student organisations - including all political youth parties in Norway - on November 6th sent a letter to Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Jonas Gahr Støre.
Press release from the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, 6 November 2008.
Living as an outsider in your own country is like a nightmare. But for Saharawis like Hassan and Aminatou, it is a reality, and they fight for self determination because "This is our land". Sunday Tribune, October 12, 2008.
Sahrawi human rights defender Aminatou Haidar is awarded the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award 2008.
Clips taken in May 2008 at the Agadir university.
The Seoul Peace Prize Committee has today announced that this year's prize is awarded to the president of the US based Defense Forum Foundation, Ms. Suzanne Scholte, for her work on the peoples of Western Sahara and North Korea.
"A full reading of the Court's entire opinion shows that the ICJ was very clear that the sovereign power in Western Sahara was and is the native Western Saharans. The purpose of a self-determination referendum in Western Sahara is not to decide between competing sovereignties, whether Moroccan or Sahrawi". PhD Candidate Jacob Mundy, goes through the opinion of the International Court of Justice, from 1975.
The Bergen-owned shipping company Gearbulk is participating in the plunder of Western Sahara and is contributing to maintaining the occupation of “Africa's last colony”. Read op-ed in the Norwegian newspaper Bergens Tidende, 29 June 2008,
The activities of a South African-Namibian fishing company in occupied Western Sahara have been covered on SABC's radio news programme Tam Tam Express. Hear interview with chairman of the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, Ronny Hansen, as well as with Javier Garcia Lachica of WSRW, of José Nascimento of Western Sahara Solidarity Forum, and SADR ambassador Oubi Bachir on SABC radio programme "A fishy business" here.
In approximately 30 years, as production from the world's phosphate rock reserves reaches a maximum, Western Sahara's geopolitical importance will become even more important. Australian researcher Dana Cordell investigates “peak phosphorus”.
The EU Commission has admitted that EU vessels fish in Western Sahara, occupied by Morocco. Western Sahara Resource Watch demands an immediate halt to the fishing, until the agreement has been corrected to clearly exclude the territory offshore Western Sahara.
The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs last year started supporting this important mine clearing programme in Western Sahara.
Check out this new photo taken of a section of the Moroccan fortification structure extending all through Western Sahara.
PRESS RELEASE: 29 parliamentarians from UK, Norway and New Zealand this morning sent a letter to the shipping company Gearbulk, urging the company to stop their phosphate shipments from occupied Western Sahara.
Sidi Mohammed Daddach, winner of the Rafto prize, was stoned and beaten senseless in Western Sahara yesterday. Birgitta Ersland, from Bergen, was right in the middle of the tumult. Bergens Tidende, 17 June 2008.
Human rights defender Brahim Sabbar was released from jail yesterday. When coming home, his house was put under heavy surveillance. Check out some photos taken today, out of his window in El Aaiun.
Sahrawis in Norway are asking Bergen-owned Gearbulk shipping company to stop trading with Western Sahara. They believe such trade maintains the brutal occupation.
Three Norwegian shipping companies have apologized and stopped their operations in occupied Western Sahara. However, the Bergen-owned company Gearbulk continues their controversial transports. Next week, yet another Gearbulk vessel is due to arrive in a New Zealand harbour with phosphates. The Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara argues that the Sahrawi population has suffered a financial loss amounting to 200 million USD, as a result of the shipments of this shipping company alone.
The third 'Norwegian' shipping company in half a year says it will not longer visit ports in occupied Western Sahara. Jinhui Shipping, registered on Oslo Stock Exchange, says to South China Morning Post that it will not contract any more business in the country.
The appeal trial of Naama Asfari was supposed to take place Monday. Court accepted to postpone the appeal trial until 16th of June -two days after Asfari's 2 months prison term ends. A team of European lawyers and observers was present for the trial.
Related stories:
- Sentenced to two months imprisonment
- Morocco considers this lady a threat
- Before the court today
- Asfari's French wife expelled from Morocco
- Amnesty demands Asfari torture investigation
- Now the French wife is arrested too
- "Those accusations are fabricated", wife said.
- Sahrawi human rights activist arrested in Morocco
The Norwegian shipping company R-Bulk apologizes that one of their vessels has transported phosphates from Western Sahara, and say they will do their utmost to prevent it from happening again.
Read also: Japanese shipping company behind transport from Western Sahara
In violation of international recommendations, 15.000 tonnes of phosphates have been transported from Western Sahara to Colombia.
Check out this footage of Moroccan forces surrounding the University campus in Marrakech, and later throwing teargas into the campus. Sahrawis are injured, and flee the campus.
April this year, a vessel belonging to the Norwegian ship owner company R-Bulk, transported 15.000 tonnes of phosphate from occupied Western Sahara to Colombia. The Norwegian trade union Industry and Energy, as well as the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara and Western Sahara Resource Watch today protests the shipment. The phosphate industry in the occupied country takes place in violation of international law.
A number of Saharawi students were injured when Moroccan police stormed into student homes in Marrakech.
The European Liberal Youth demands the termination of the controversial EU fisheries agreement with Morocco that lets European vessels fish in occupied Western Sahara. Read statement from the Liberal Youth's annual Lymec congress, Barcelona 1-4th May 2008.
One out of five Sahrawi children who have grown up in refugee camps in Algeria are suffering from acute malnutrition. A report that will be published by the Norwegian Church Aid next week shows that the health of Sahrawi children now are severely affected by the lack of humanitarian aid.
In a report launched May 6th 2008, American NGO Freedom House rates the situation for political rights and civil liberties in the occupied Western Sahara on the same level of countries such as Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe and Belarus.
The Norwegian insurance company, Skuld, keeps insuring ships carrying controversial cargo. After the case of the ship carrying weapons to Zimbabwe, it has now been discovered that Skuld has ensured a ship carrying phosphate from occupied Western Sahara.
Read also: AWSA demands halt to Tasmanian phosphate imports
The Australian Western Sahara Association reacts to a new shipment of phosphate that this week-end arrived Tasmania. May 6th, they sent a letter to the company demanding the imports to stop.
Enaama Asfari (right) is dreaming of returning to his home in France. But first he would have to win in court. Monday 28th of April, he is appearing before the court in Marrakech.
Local authorities in South Morocco considers French Claude Mangin, the lady on the left, a threat to public order.
Last week, Haddi Yarba, a Sociology student was struck on the head with a stone. Now he has problems finding the words.