Thursday, December 23, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Sahara occidental : la France contre les droits de l'homme ?
http://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2010/12/22/sahara-occidental-la-france-contre-les-droits-de-l-homme_1456151_3232.html
Sahara occidental : la France contre les droits de l'homme ?
Le Monde, 22.12.2010
Les événements qui ont embrasé El-Ayoun, la capitale du Sahara occidental, le 8 novembre, devraient convaincre la diplomatie française de changer de cap sur un dossier peu connu, mais qui embarrasse jusqu'aux plus aguerris de ses diplomates. Depuis plusieurs années, à l'abri des portes closes du Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU, la France use du pouvoir de dissuasion que lui confère son droit de veto pour tenir les Nations unies à l'écart des questions touchant au respect des droits de l'homme dans le territoire annexé par son allié marocain en 1975.
Faute d'un mandat approprié, la mission de l'ONU au Sahara Occidental (Minurso) est restée aveugle tout au long des événements qui ont opposé le mois dernier les forces de l'ordre marocaines aux militants sahraouis – les troubles les plus graves depuis le cessez-le-feu de 1991. Le Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU, en charge de la paix internationale, s'est vu dans l'incapacité de faire la part des choses entre le mouvement indépendantiste du Front Polisario, qui a dénoncé sans preuve le massacre de 36 manifestants pacifiques, et le Maroc qui prétendait, sans plus de crédibilité, libérer les milliers de civils sahraouis soi-disant retenus en otage par des " criminels " dans un camp érigé en signe de protestation à proximité de El-Ayoun.
Si ces événements s'étaient déroulés en République démocratique du Congo, en Haïti ou au Soudan, des experts en droits de l'homme de l'ONU auraient immédiatement été dépêchés sur place pour établir une version objective des événements et informer le Conseil de sécurité, contribuant ainsi à apaiser les tensions. La présence d'observateurs de l'ONU aurait aussi pu s'avérer dissuasive pour les forces de sécurité marocaines qui ont à plusieurs reprises, selon notre enquête, passé à tabac des personnes arrêtées à la suite des troubles.
Toutes les missions de maintien de la paix de l'ONU établies depuis 1991 disposent de ces mécanismes, qui reposent sur le constat que toute paix durable s'appuie sur le respect des droits de l'homme. Partout ailleurs, du Darfour au Timor Leste, en passant par le Kosovo, la France soutient pleinement l'intégration croissante des questions touchant aux droits de l'homme dans les missions de l'ONU. Il n'y a que sur le dossier sahraoui que Paris s'arc-boute, persistant à défendre une anomalie historique.
Cette obstination française a un coût. L'ambassadeur de France à l'ONU, Gérard Araud, l'a appris à ses dépens, le 30 avril dernier, lorsqu'il a dû faire face aux pays du Conseil de sécurité tels que le Royaume-Uni, l'Autriche, l'Ouganda, le Nigeria ou le Mexique, qui sont favorables à un élargissement du mandat de la Minurso aux questions de droits de l'homme. A quelques heures de l'expiration du mandat de la mission de l'ONU, selon plusieurs témoins, le ton est monté.
Comment la France, qui se prétend le berceau des droits de l'homme, pouvait-elle s'opposer à toute mention des droits de l'homme dans la résolution, a demandé un ambassadeur occidental ? Son homologue chinois, un rien ironique, s'est réjoui de constater que Paris partageait désormais les réserves de Pékin sur tout débat des droits de l'homme au Conseil de sécurité. Après une vive réponse de l'ambassadeur français, suivie d'excuses toutes diplomatiques, la France a obtenu gain de cause, non tant par la force de ses arguments que par celle de son droit de veto.
Les diplomates français se défendent en affirmant que la question des droits de l'homme est devenue un chiffon rouge pour le Maroc, qui y voit une ruse du Polisario et de son soutien officiel algérien, pour embarrasser le Royaume chérifien. A en croire Paris, cette question est une diversion, qui ne fait que braquer Rabat, sans faire avancer les pourparlers entre les deux camps, par ailleurs enlisés depuis des années.
Mais au lieu de s'aligner sur Rabat, la France devrait convaincre le Maroc qu'il a tout à gagner à améliorer les conditions dans lesquelles vivent les Sahraouis sous son contrôle, souvent muselés et harcelés par les forces de l'ordre marocaines lorsqu'ils osent se prononcer pour l'indépendance. Les observateurs onusiens seraient aussi d'un grand secours pour les réfugiés sahraouis qui vivent près de Tindouf, en Algérie, dans des camps où le Front Polisario règne en maître et intimide ceux qui soutiennent le plan d'autonomie marocain – une situation mainte fois dénoncée par Rabat.
Le renouvellement du mandat de la Minurso, en avril 2011, offre à la diplomatie française une chance de corriger la situation. Il est temps que Paris reconnaisse que, sans un strict respect des droits des Sahraouis, garanti par l'ONU, les deux camps continueront à se livrer à des campagnes de désinformation qui ne font que compliquer les efforts du Conseil de sécurité en faveur d'une solution politique.
Philippe Bolopion, directeur ONU de Human Rights Watch
Sahara occidental : la France contre les droits de l'homme ?
Le Monde, 22.12.2010
Les événements qui ont embrasé El-Ayoun, la capitale du Sahara occidental, le 8 novembre, devraient convaincre la diplomatie française de changer de cap sur un dossier peu connu, mais qui embarrasse jusqu'aux plus aguerris de ses diplomates. Depuis plusieurs années, à l'abri des portes closes du Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU, la France use du pouvoir de dissuasion que lui confère son droit de veto pour tenir les Nations unies à l'écart des questions touchant au respect des droits de l'homme dans le territoire annexé par son allié marocain en 1975.
Faute d'un mandat approprié, la mission de l'ONU au Sahara Occidental (Minurso) est restée aveugle tout au long des événements qui ont opposé le mois dernier les forces de l'ordre marocaines aux militants sahraouis – les troubles les plus graves depuis le cessez-le-feu de 1991. Le Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU, en charge de la paix internationale, s'est vu dans l'incapacité de faire la part des choses entre le mouvement indépendantiste du Front Polisario, qui a dénoncé sans preuve le massacre de 36 manifestants pacifiques, et le Maroc qui prétendait, sans plus de crédibilité, libérer les milliers de civils sahraouis soi-disant retenus en otage par des " criminels " dans un camp érigé en signe de protestation à proximité de El-Ayoun.
Si ces événements s'étaient déroulés en République démocratique du Congo, en Haïti ou au Soudan, des experts en droits de l'homme de l'ONU auraient immédiatement été dépêchés sur place pour établir une version objective des événements et informer le Conseil de sécurité, contribuant ainsi à apaiser les tensions. La présence d'observateurs de l'ONU aurait aussi pu s'avérer dissuasive pour les forces de sécurité marocaines qui ont à plusieurs reprises, selon notre enquête, passé à tabac des personnes arrêtées à la suite des troubles.
Toutes les missions de maintien de la paix de l'ONU établies depuis 1991 disposent de ces mécanismes, qui reposent sur le constat que toute paix durable s'appuie sur le respect des droits de l'homme. Partout ailleurs, du Darfour au Timor Leste, en passant par le Kosovo, la France soutient pleinement l'intégration croissante des questions touchant aux droits de l'homme dans les missions de l'ONU. Il n'y a que sur le dossier sahraoui que Paris s'arc-boute, persistant à défendre une anomalie historique.
Cette obstination française a un coût. L'ambassadeur de France à l'ONU, Gérard Araud, l'a appris à ses dépens, le 30 avril dernier, lorsqu'il a dû faire face aux pays du Conseil de sécurité tels que le Royaume-Uni, l'Autriche, l'Ouganda, le Nigeria ou le Mexique, qui sont favorables à un élargissement du mandat de la Minurso aux questions de droits de l'homme. A quelques heures de l'expiration du mandat de la mission de l'ONU, selon plusieurs témoins, le ton est monté.
Comment la France, qui se prétend le berceau des droits de l'homme, pouvait-elle s'opposer à toute mention des droits de l'homme dans la résolution, a demandé un ambassadeur occidental ? Son homologue chinois, un rien ironique, s'est réjoui de constater que Paris partageait désormais les réserves de Pékin sur tout débat des droits de l'homme au Conseil de sécurité. Après une vive réponse de l'ambassadeur français, suivie d'excuses toutes diplomatiques, la France a obtenu gain de cause, non tant par la force de ses arguments que par celle de son droit de veto.
Les diplomates français se défendent en affirmant que la question des droits de l'homme est devenue un chiffon rouge pour le Maroc, qui y voit une ruse du Polisario et de son soutien officiel algérien, pour embarrasser le Royaume chérifien. A en croire Paris, cette question est une diversion, qui ne fait que braquer Rabat, sans faire avancer les pourparlers entre les deux camps, par ailleurs enlisés depuis des années.
Mais au lieu de s'aligner sur Rabat, la France devrait convaincre le Maroc qu'il a tout à gagner à améliorer les conditions dans lesquelles vivent les Sahraouis sous son contrôle, souvent muselés et harcelés par les forces de l'ordre marocaines lorsqu'ils osent se prononcer pour l'indépendance. Les observateurs onusiens seraient aussi d'un grand secours pour les réfugiés sahraouis qui vivent près de Tindouf, en Algérie, dans des camps où le Front Polisario règne en maître et intimide ceux qui soutiennent le plan d'autonomie marocain – une situation mainte fois dénoncée par Rabat.
Le renouvellement du mandat de la Minurso, en avril 2011, offre à la diplomatie française une chance de corriger la situation. Il est temps que Paris reconnaisse que, sans un strict respect des droits des Sahraouis, garanti par l'ONU, les deux camps continueront à se livrer à des campagnes de désinformation qui ne font que compliquer les efforts du Conseil de sécurité en faveur d'une solution politique.
Philippe Bolopion, directeur ONU de Human Rights Watch
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
WikiLeaks documents support Polisario’s goal of self-determination : By Dr. Suzanne Scholte
At a time when tensions between the Polisario and Morocco in their fight over Western Sahara, Africa’s last colony, are at the highest point since the 1991 ceasefire, WikiLeaks documents have enhanced the cause of the Polisario by revealing that the supporters of the Polisario are the good guys in this fight.
One of the difficulties the Polisario has had to overcome is a well-financed Moroccan lobby that spends millions of dollars annually to obscure the facts in this conflict. Ten lobbying firms are currently registered to do King Mohamed VI’s bidding and spread outright lies and distortions about the Sahrawi refugee camps near Tindouf, Algeria, where 165,000 Sahrawis live, having fled when Morocco invaded Western Sahara in 1975; about the motivation of Algeria in giving them refuge; and about the nature of the Sahrawi Republic itself — a democratic, pro-Western exile government recognized by over eighty nations as the legitimate government of Western Sahara.
The Polisario, formed by the Sahrawis in 1973 as a liberation movement against their Spanish colonizers, is now dedicated to one goal: ensuring the Sahrawis get their vote on self-determination, first called for by the United Nations in 1966, promised by Spain, reaffirmed by the International Court of Justice in 1975, and promised by the United Nations in 1991 as part of the ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario. Among the outlandish claims that the Kingdom of Morocco and those on the King’s payroll are spreading: the Polisario is holding the Sahrawi refugees against their will in these camps; the Polisario is involved in illegal activities from human trafficking to terrorism; the Polisario is restricting access to the camps; and the camps are a breeding ground for al Qaeda.
The truth is that the Polisario long for visitors to the refugee camps, and there are regular visitors from Spain as well as a constant UN presence. I have personally organized delegations of Americans to visit the camps, and this Christmas thousands of Spanish citizens will travel there to celebrate this holy Christian day with their Muslim friends.
Not only do the Polisario welcome visitors, but their embrace of Western ideals including religious freedom and women’s equality, their intolerance of extremism, and their severe punishments for traffickers and anyone associated with terrorism have caused Islamic extremists to label the Sahrawi as “too close to the West and not pious enough.”
U.S. Ambassador–at-Large for Counterterrorism Daniel Benjamin affirmed there are no links between al Qaeda and the Western Sahara in a press conference last month.
Morocco has also tried to cast suspicion on the motivations of Algeria. Algeria saved thousands of Sahrawi women and children by allowing them to enter Algeria when the Moroccan air force was dropping napalm and phosphorus on them as they were fleeing from the invading Moroccan army. Today, Algeria allows the Sahrawis to govern and oversee their refugee camps, which are located in northwest Algeria, without interference. When former Secretary of State James Baker served as UN Special Envoy on Western Sahara, he attempted to spur a settlement by offering Algeria part of Western Sahara, believing the Algerians would sell out their friends for a land route to the Atlantic. The Algerians were offended that such an offer would even be made. WikiLeaks has revealed the consistency of Algeria’s position. WikiLeaks has also revealed that Algeria’s support of the Polisario is based on principle. Algeria has no interest in stealing the Sahrawis’ land, as Morocco has done, and only wants the people of Western Sahara to have the opportunity to exercise their fundamental right to self-determination, as Algeria President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has strongly argued to U.S. officials.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2010/12/20/wikileaks-documents-support-polisarios-goal-of-self-determination/#ixzz18ll7oob0
One of the difficulties the Polisario has had to overcome is a well-financed Moroccan lobby that spends millions of dollars annually to obscure the facts in this conflict. Ten lobbying firms are currently registered to do King Mohamed VI’s bidding and spread outright lies and distortions about the Sahrawi refugee camps near Tindouf, Algeria, where 165,000 Sahrawis live, having fled when Morocco invaded Western Sahara in 1975; about the motivation of Algeria in giving them refuge; and about the nature of the Sahrawi Republic itself — a democratic, pro-Western exile government recognized by over eighty nations as the legitimate government of Western Sahara.
The Polisario, formed by the Sahrawis in 1973 as a liberation movement against their Spanish colonizers, is now dedicated to one goal: ensuring the Sahrawis get their vote on self-determination, first called for by the United Nations in 1966, promised by Spain, reaffirmed by the International Court of Justice in 1975, and promised by the United Nations in 1991 as part of the ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario. Among the outlandish claims that the Kingdom of Morocco and those on the King’s payroll are spreading: the Polisario is holding the Sahrawi refugees against their will in these camps; the Polisario is involved in illegal activities from human trafficking to terrorism; the Polisario is restricting access to the camps; and the camps are a breeding ground for al Qaeda.
The truth is that the Polisario long for visitors to the refugee camps, and there are regular visitors from Spain as well as a constant UN presence. I have personally organized delegations of Americans to visit the camps, and this Christmas thousands of Spanish citizens will travel there to celebrate this holy Christian day with their Muslim friends.
Not only do the Polisario welcome visitors, but their embrace of Western ideals including religious freedom and women’s equality, their intolerance of extremism, and their severe punishments for traffickers and anyone associated with terrorism have caused Islamic extremists to label the Sahrawi as “too close to the West and not pious enough.”
U.S. Ambassador–at-Large for Counterterrorism Daniel Benjamin affirmed there are no links between al Qaeda and the Western Sahara in a press conference last month.
Morocco has also tried to cast suspicion on the motivations of Algeria. Algeria saved thousands of Sahrawi women and children by allowing them to enter Algeria when the Moroccan air force was dropping napalm and phosphorus on them as they were fleeing from the invading Moroccan army. Today, Algeria allows the Sahrawis to govern and oversee their refugee camps, which are located in northwest Algeria, without interference. When former Secretary of State James Baker served as UN Special Envoy on Western Sahara, he attempted to spur a settlement by offering Algeria part of Western Sahara, believing the Algerians would sell out their friends for a land route to the Atlantic. The Algerians were offended that such an offer would even be made. WikiLeaks has revealed the consistency of Algeria’s position. WikiLeaks has also revealed that Algeria’s support of the Polisario is based on principle. Algeria has no interest in stealing the Sahrawis’ land, as Morocco has done, and only wants the people of Western Sahara to have the opportunity to exercise their fundamental right to self-determination, as Algeria President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has strongly argued to U.S. officials.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2010/12/20/wikileaks-documents-support-polisarios-goal-of-self-determination/#ixzz18ll7oob0
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
So much for human rights
http://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2010/12/13/jeremy-harding/so-much-for-human-rights/
So much for human rights
Jeremy Harding 13 December 2010
Tags: western sahara | wikileaks
Two things we can learn about Morocco’s illegal occupation of Western Sahara from the US embassy in Rabat, courtesy of WikiLeaks: 1) it’s a source of personal revenue for Moroccan army officers but 2) everything’s fine really.
Western Sahara used to be a Spanish possession, which Madrid was due to hand over to the indigenous population in 1975. King Hassan II of Morocco took advantage of the chaos in Spain at the time of Franco’s death and annexed the territory. The UN deplored the move; the Polisario Front embarked on a liberation war, which resulted in stalemate and a ceasefire in 1989. By this time Morocco controlled most of the territory and was pouring in settlers to outnumber indigenous Sahrawis.
Under UN auspices, both parties – the kingdom of Morocco and Polisario – agreed to a referendum on independence. Twenty years later, the vote is a lost hope: the Moroccans have driven it into the ground with Byzantine objections, year on year. The UN mission has been sidelined; the settler colonial project continues; there are hundreds of thousands of refugees in Algeria and a population inside the territory that’s punished when it calls for independence.
These are trifling matters for Ambassador Thomas T. Riley, filing from Rabat in 2008. What counts is America’s ‘robust military relationship’ with Morocco, confirmed by ‘the purchase of sophisticated weapons from the US to include 24 F-16s this year’. The regime, Riley announces,
has also increased its activities under a partnership arrangement with the Utah National Guard, which regularly deploys to Morocco to conduct joint training and humanitarian relief operations.
Even so, he’s disturbed by corruption in the Moroccan army (total numbers 218,000; between ‘50 and 70 per cent… preoccupied with operations in the Western Sahara region’). Riley cites Lieutenant Geneneral Abdelaziz Bennani, commander of the Southern Section – i.e. the annexed territory. Apparently, Bennani has used his position to
skim money from military contracts and influence business decisions. A widely believed rumour has it that he owns large parts of the fisheries in Western Sahara… There are even reports of students at Morocco’s military academy paying money… to obtain positions in lucrative military postings.
Top of the list: Western Sahara.
Riley walked into a top job at Savvis, the communications company, after the Republicans lost the White House. Move on to summer 2009: another pair of hands is at the laptop in Rabat – the chargé d’affaires, Robert P. Jackson – pounding out a dispatch he’s pleased to call ‘Western Sahara Realities’. He repeats Riley’s estimate – about 150,000 Moroccan soldiers are deployed in Western Sahara – and says, correctly, that there are now 385,000 people living in the annexed area. (Only a marginal ‘liberated’ strip of desert is still controlled by Polisario, and the ceasefire has held.)
Jackson is also right that settlers from Morocco now account for ‘well over half’ that figure. Here is a territory, then, whose indigenous population is only slightly larger than the number of soldiers deployed by Rabat: the ratio is close to one on one. If this isn’t repression, what is it? Mentoring, possibly? Is the army holding door-to-door seminars on Mormon genealogy with assistance from the Utah National Guard? Yet Jackson says that ‘respect for human rights in the territory has greatly improved’. He admits that indigenous people aren’t allowed to advocate independence: perhaps human rights for Sahrawis is like animal rights for foxes – go to ground and hope someone’s speaking out on your behalf. Only it won’t be Jackson, who’s now ambassador to Cameroon.
Eight weeks ago near Layoune, the capital of Western Sahara, a camp set up by Sahrawis to protest against the Moroccan occupation was brought under military siege and in November it was broken up; 60 people were injured and the usual round of detentions followed. So much for human rights.
There are even more worrying passages about the nature of the conflict in Jackson’s cable. He wonders why Polisario (which operates a ‘Cuba-like system’ in his view) has never claimed areas of Morocco proper, Mauritania or Algeria, where large numbers of Sahrawis can be found, as part of the independent state they seek. He takes this to signify the absence of ‘a larger nationalism’, from which it follows that the dispute must be narrowly territorial – an expression of older border tensions between Morocco and Algeria, with Polisario acting as an Algerian stooge.
Well yes, it is about territory, but only inasmuch as the decolonisation of Spanish Sahara should have conferred a right to independence. The ethnicity of its inhabitants, or others outside the borders, has nothing to do with it. Whatever Algeria’s role in this conflict, Polisario could never have compromised its aims by challenging the OAU on the inviolability of colonial boundaries and hoping for a ‘larger’, expanded Western Sahara. Had it done so, the International Court of Justice would not have advised in its favour, the UN would not have called for a referendum on independence, and the notional government of what is now Africa’s only colonised territory (the SADR) would not be a member of the African Union or be recognised by 81 states
But there you have it: a chargé d’affaires in Rabat snorts dismissively at the independence movement because it’s played by the book. Morocco, by contrast, violates sovereign boundaries, tramples Sahrawi aspirations, stuffs its annexed land with soldiers and settlers, and gets two dozen fighter aircraft for its pains
So much for human rights
Jeremy Harding 13 December 2010
Tags: western sahara | wikileaks
Two things we can learn about Morocco’s illegal occupation of Western Sahara from the US embassy in Rabat, courtesy of WikiLeaks: 1) it’s a source of personal revenue for Moroccan army officers but 2) everything’s fine really.
Western Sahara used to be a Spanish possession, which Madrid was due to hand over to the indigenous population in 1975. King Hassan II of Morocco took advantage of the chaos in Spain at the time of Franco’s death and annexed the territory. The UN deplored the move; the Polisario Front embarked on a liberation war, which resulted in stalemate and a ceasefire in 1989. By this time Morocco controlled most of the territory and was pouring in settlers to outnumber indigenous Sahrawis.
Under UN auspices, both parties – the kingdom of Morocco and Polisario – agreed to a referendum on independence. Twenty years later, the vote is a lost hope: the Moroccans have driven it into the ground with Byzantine objections, year on year. The UN mission has been sidelined; the settler colonial project continues; there are hundreds of thousands of refugees in Algeria and a population inside the territory that’s punished when it calls for independence.
These are trifling matters for Ambassador Thomas T. Riley, filing from Rabat in 2008. What counts is America’s ‘robust military relationship’ with Morocco, confirmed by ‘the purchase of sophisticated weapons from the US to include 24 F-16s this year’. The regime, Riley announces,
has also increased its activities under a partnership arrangement with the Utah National Guard, which regularly deploys to Morocco to conduct joint training and humanitarian relief operations.
Even so, he’s disturbed by corruption in the Moroccan army (total numbers 218,000; between ‘50 and 70 per cent… preoccupied with operations in the Western Sahara region’). Riley cites Lieutenant Geneneral Abdelaziz Bennani, commander of the Southern Section – i.e. the annexed territory. Apparently, Bennani has used his position to
skim money from military contracts and influence business decisions. A widely believed rumour has it that he owns large parts of the fisheries in Western Sahara… There are even reports of students at Morocco’s military academy paying money… to obtain positions in lucrative military postings.
Top of the list: Western Sahara.
Riley walked into a top job at Savvis, the communications company, after the Republicans lost the White House. Move on to summer 2009: another pair of hands is at the laptop in Rabat – the chargé d’affaires, Robert P. Jackson – pounding out a dispatch he’s pleased to call ‘Western Sahara Realities’. He repeats Riley’s estimate – about 150,000 Moroccan soldiers are deployed in Western Sahara – and says, correctly, that there are now 385,000 people living in the annexed area. (Only a marginal ‘liberated’ strip of desert is still controlled by Polisario, and the ceasefire has held.)
Jackson is also right that settlers from Morocco now account for ‘well over half’ that figure. Here is a territory, then, whose indigenous population is only slightly larger than the number of soldiers deployed by Rabat: the ratio is close to one on one. If this isn’t repression, what is it? Mentoring, possibly? Is the army holding door-to-door seminars on Mormon genealogy with assistance from the Utah National Guard? Yet Jackson says that ‘respect for human rights in the territory has greatly improved’. He admits that indigenous people aren’t allowed to advocate independence: perhaps human rights for Sahrawis is like animal rights for foxes – go to ground and hope someone’s speaking out on your behalf. Only it won’t be Jackson, who’s now ambassador to Cameroon.
Eight weeks ago near Layoune, the capital of Western Sahara, a camp set up by Sahrawis to protest against the Moroccan occupation was brought under military siege and in November it was broken up; 60 people were injured and the usual round of detentions followed. So much for human rights.
There are even more worrying passages about the nature of the conflict in Jackson’s cable. He wonders why Polisario (which operates a ‘Cuba-like system’ in his view) has never claimed areas of Morocco proper, Mauritania or Algeria, where large numbers of Sahrawis can be found, as part of the independent state they seek. He takes this to signify the absence of ‘a larger nationalism’, from which it follows that the dispute must be narrowly territorial – an expression of older border tensions between Morocco and Algeria, with Polisario acting as an Algerian stooge.
Well yes, it is about territory, but only inasmuch as the decolonisation of Spanish Sahara should have conferred a right to independence. The ethnicity of its inhabitants, or others outside the borders, has nothing to do with it. Whatever Algeria’s role in this conflict, Polisario could never have compromised its aims by challenging the OAU on the inviolability of colonial boundaries and hoping for a ‘larger’, expanded Western Sahara. Had it done so, the International Court of Justice would not have advised in its favour, the UN would not have called for a referendum on independence, and the notional government of what is now Africa’s only colonised territory (the SADR) would not be a member of the African Union or be recognised by 81 states
But there you have it: a chargé d’affaires in Rabat snorts dismissively at the independence movement because it’s played by the book. Morocco, by contrast, violates sovereign boundaries, tramples Sahrawi aspirations, stuffs its annexed land with soldiers and settlers, and gets two dozen fighter aircraft for its pains
Resolution on economic and other activities which affect the interests of the peoples of the Non-Self-Governing Territories
Resolution on economic and other activities which affect the interests of the peoples of the Non-Self-Governing Territories
The General Assembly adopted a resolution on economic and other activities which affect the interests of the peoples of the Non-Self-Governing Territories by which the Assembly reaffirmed the right of peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories to self-determination in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations, as well as their right to enjoy and dispose of their natural resources in their best interest.
Also according to the text, the Assembly called once again on all Governments that had not yet done so to take legislative, administrative or other measures to put an end to enterprises in the Territories — undertaken by those Governments’ nationals or corporate bodies under their jurisdiction — that were detrimental to the interests of the inhabitants. It called upon the administrating Powers to ensure that the exploitation of the marine and other natural resources in the Non-Self-Governing Territories under their administration were not in violation of the relevant resolutions of the United Nations and did not adversely affect the interests of the peoples of those Territories. The text was aproved by a recorded vote:
The Vote
The resolution on economic and other activities which affect the interests of the peoples of the Non-Self-Governing Territories was adopted by a recorded vote of 173 in favour to 2 against, with 2 abstentions,
Against: Israel, United States.
Abstain: France, United Kingdom.
http://overseasreview.blogspot.com/2010/12/un-general-assembly-approves-third.html
The General Assembly adopted a resolution on economic and other activities which affect the interests of the peoples of the Non-Self-Governing Territories by which the Assembly reaffirmed the right of peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories to self-determination in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations, as well as their right to enjoy and dispose of their natural resources in their best interest.
Also according to the text, the Assembly called once again on all Governments that had not yet done so to take legislative, administrative or other measures to put an end to enterprises in the Territories — undertaken by those Governments’ nationals or corporate bodies under their jurisdiction — that were detrimental to the interests of the inhabitants. It called upon the administrating Powers to ensure that the exploitation of the marine and other natural resources in the Non-Self-Governing Territories under their administration were not in violation of the relevant resolutions of the United Nations and did not adversely affect the interests of the peoples of those Territories. The text was aproved by a recorded vote:
The Vote
The resolution on economic and other activities which affect the interests of the peoples of the Non-Self-Governing Territories was adopted by a recorded vote of 173 in favour to 2 against, with 2 abstentions,
Against: Israel, United States.
Abstain: France, United Kingdom.
http://overseasreview.blogspot.com/2010/12/un-general-assembly-approves-third.html
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Western Sahara and Wiki Leaks
First Sahara Wikileak leak: Sarkozy inked deal with OCP
First cable from US embassy mentions 3 billion Euro deals for Sarkozy, as French Western Sahara policy leans towards Moroccan position. Among the agreements signed by Sarkozy, was the nuclear deal with Moroccan phosphate plunderer OCP.
01.12 - 2010 15:34 Printer version
"Sarkozy and entourage completed nearly 3 billion Euros worth of commercial deals and military sales during the visit, including a naval frigate", notes the embassy in the document dated 29 October 2007, in relation to Sarkozy's visit to Morocco.
The letter mentions specifically the agreement signed by French nuclear group Areva and National Phosphate Company (OCP). The deal was to extract uranium from Moroccan phosphoric acid.
OCP carries out the illegal mining in Western Sahara, taking place in violation of the UN legal opinion from 2002.
At the same time, the US embassy noted how Sarkozy annoyed the representatives of the Sahrawi people:
"Sarkozy’s remarks on Sahara appeared to move France closer toward the Moroccan position, and were embraced as such by most of the Moroccan press, which characterized the president’s remarks as a breakthrough for French policy on the Sahara question. (We understand the Polisario leadership has protested Sarkozy’s remarks.)", writes the US embassy in the first confidential letter on Western Sahara published on Wikileaks today.
The Moroccan proposition on the Western Sahara dispute, is to include the territory of Western Sahara into the Moroccan kingdom, without giving a voice to the people of Western Sahara.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Testimonies of Saharwi Students in Semara who were attacked by Moroccans on November 29.2010
شهادات الضحايا المرجو تحميلها من على هذه الروابط
http://www.4shared.com/video/s7qA9oZO/tfara7_ttabt.html?
http://www.4shared.com/video/Wca3KCQc/lahbib_weld_baba.html?
http://www.4shared.com/video/GOIDAaea/chahadat.html?
http://www.4shared.com/video/WdVHXe1f/ali_olfdil.html?
http://www.4shared.com/video/s7qA9oZO/tfara7_ttabt.html?
http://www.4shared.com/video/Wca3KCQc/lahbib_weld_baba.html?
http://www.4shared.com/video/GOIDAaea/chahadat.html?
http://www.4shared.com/video/WdVHXe1f/ali_olfdil.html?
Friday, November 19, 2010
Upsurge in Repression Challenges Nonviolent Resistance in Western Sahara
Upsurge in Repression Challenges Nonviolent Resistance in Western Sahara
Western SaharaNews Articles (7)Publications (20)Primary Resources (14)Links (3)18 November 2010
Western Sahara
A structure in Western Sahara
Sahrawis have engaged in protests, strikes, cultural celebrations, and other forms of civil resistance. They have also raised the cost of occupation for the Moroccan government and increased the visibility of the Sahrawi cause.
By Stephen Zunes for openDemocracy
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On November 8, Moroccan occupation forces attacked a tent city of as many as 12,000 Western Saharans just outside of Al Aioun, in the culminating act of a months-long protest of discrimination against the indigenous Sahrawi population and worsening economic conditions. Not only was the scale of the crackdown unprecedented, so was the popular reaction: In a dramatic departure from the almost exclusively nonviolent protests of recent years, the local population turned on their occupiers, engaging in widespread rioting and arson. As of this writing, the details of these events are unclear, but they underscore the urgent need for global civil society to support those who have been struggling nonviolently for their right of self-determination and to challenge western governments which back the regime responsible for the repression.
Western Sahara is a sparsely-populated nation located on the Atlantic coast of northwestern Africa. Traditionally inhabited by nomadic Arab tribes, collectively known as Sahrawis and famous for their long history of resistance to outside domination, the land was occupied by Spain from the late 1800s through the mid-1970s. The nationalist Polisario Front launched an armed independence struggle against Spain in 1973, and Madrid eventually promised the people of what was then still known as the Spanish Sahara a referendum on the fate of the territory by the end of 1975. Irredentist claims by Morocco and Mauritania were brought before the International Court of Justice, which ruled in favour of the Sahrawis’ right to self-determination. A special Visiting Mission from the United Nations engaged in an investigation that same year and reported that the vast majority of Sahrawis supported independence under the leadership of the Polisario, not integration with Morocco or Mauritania. Under pressure from the United States, which did not want to see the leftist Polisario come to power, Spain reneged on its promise for a referendum and instead agreed to partition the territory between the pro-Western countries of Morocco and Mauritania.
As Moroccan forces moved into Western Sahara, most of the population fled to refugee camps in neighboring Algeria. Morocco and Mauritania rejected a series of unanimous UN Security Council resolutions calling for the withdrawal of foreign forces and recognition of the Sahrawis’ right of self-determination. The United States and France, meanwhile, despite voting in favor of these resolutions, blocked the UN from enforcing them. Meanwhile, the Polisario – which had been driven from the more heavily populated northern and western parts of the country – declared independence as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Thanks in part to the Algerians providing significant amounts of military equipment and economic support, Polisario guerrillas fought well against both occupying armies. Mauritania was defeated by 1979, agreeing to turn their third of Western Sahara over to the Polisario. However, the Moroccans then annexed that remaining southern part of the country as well.
The Polisario then focused their armed struggle against Morocco and, by 1982, had liberated nearly 85% of their country. Over the next four years, however, the tide of the war was reversed in Morocco’s favor thanks to dramatic increases in American and French support for the Moroccan war effort, with U.S. forces providing important training for the Moroccan army in counter-insurgency tactics and helping with the construction of a wall which kept the Polisario out of most of their country. Meanwhile, the Moroccan government, through generous housing subsidies and other benefits, successfully encouraged thousands of Moroccan settlers to immigrate to Western Sahara. By the early 1990s, these Moroccan settlers outnumbered the remaining Sahrawis indigenous to the territory by a ratio of more than 2:1.
A cease fire in 1991 was part of an agreement that would have allowed for the return of Sahrawi refugees to Western Sahara followed by a UN-supervised referendum on the fate of the territory. Neither the repatriation nor the referendum took place, however, due to Moroccan insistence on stacking the voter rolls with Moroccan settlers and other Moroccan citizens that it claimed had tribal links to Western Sahara. To break the stalemate, the UN Security Council passed a resolution in 2004 which would allow Moroccan settlers to also vote in the referendum following five years of autonomy. Morocco, however, rejected this proposal too, with the apparent reassurance that the French and Americans would yet again threaten to veto any resolution imposing sanctions or other pressures on them to compromise.
Unarmed popular resistance
As happened during the 1980s in both South Africa and the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, the locus of the Western Sahara freedom struggle shifted from the military and diplomatic initiatives of an exiled armed movement to a largely unarmed popular resistance from within, as young activists in the occupied territory and even in Sahrawi-populated parts of southern Morocco confronted Moroccan troops in street demonstrations and other forms of nonviolent action, despite the risk of shootings, mass arrests, and torture. Sahrawis from different sectors of society have engaged in protests, strikes, cultural celebrations, and other forms of civil resistance focused on such issues as educational policy, human rights, the release of political prisoners, and the right to self-determination. They also raised the cost of occupation for the Moroccan government and increased the visibility of the Sahrawi cause. Indeed, perhaps most significantly, civil resistance helped to build support for the Sahrawi movement among international NGO’s, solidarity groups and even sympathetic Moroccans.
Internet communication became a key element in the Saharawi movement, with public chat rooms evolving as vital centres for sending messages, as breaking news regarding the burgeoning resistance campaign reached those in the Saharawi diaspora and among international activists. Despite attempts by the Moroccans to disrupt these contacts, the diaspora has continued to provide financial and other support to the resistance. Though there have been complaints from inside the territory that support for their movement by the older generation of Polisario leaders was inadequate, the Polisario appears to have recognized that by having signed a cease-fire and then having had Morocco reject the diplomatic solution expected in return, it has essentially played all its cards. So there was a growing recognition that the only real hope for independence has to come from within the occupied territory in combination with solidarity efforts from global civil society. There have been some small victories, such as the successful campaign which led to Sahrawi nonviolent resistance leader Aminatou Haidar securing the 2008 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, as well as forcing Moroccan authorities to reverse their expulsion order in December 2009, which resulted in her near-fatal 30-day hunger strike.
After Moroccan authorities’ use of force to break up the large and prolonged demonstrations in 2005 -2006, the resistance subsequently opted mainly for smaller protests, some of which were planned and some of which were spontaneous. A typical protest would begin on a street corner or a plaza where a Sahrawi flag would be unfurled, women would start ululating, and people would begin chanting pro-independence slogans. Within a few minutes, soldiers and police would arrive, and the crowd would quickly scatter. Other tactics have included leafleting, graffiti (including tagging the homes of collaborators), and cultural celebrations with political overtones. Such nonviolent actions, while broadly supported by the people, appear to have been less a part of coordinated resistance than a result of action by individuals. Still, the Moroccan government’s regular use of violent repression to subdue the Sahrawi-led nonviolent protests suggests that civil resistance is seen as a threat to Moroccan control.
One of the obstacles to the internal resistance is that Moroccan settlers outnumber the indigenous population by a ratio of more than 2:1 and by more in the major cities, making certain tactics used effectively in similar struggles more problematic. For example, although a general strike could be effective, the large number of Moroccan settlers, combined with the minority of indigenous Sahrawis who oppose independence, could likely fill the void resulting from the absence of much of the Sahrawi workforce. Although that might be alleviated by growing pro-independence sentiments among ethnic Sahrawi settlers from the southern part of Morocco, it still presents challenges that have not been faced by largely nonviolent struggles in other occupied lands - among them East Timor, Kosovo, and the Palestinian territories.
A shift in Morocco's strategy
Despite this, civil resistance also appears to have forced a shift in Morocco’s strategy to maintain control of the mineral-rich territory. Although the Moroccan autonomy plan for the territory put forward in 2006 does not meaningfully address Morocco’s legal responsibility to recognize the Sahrawi’s right of self-determination (see my Open Democracy article More Harm Than Good), it nevertheless constitutes a reversal of Morocco’s historical insistence that Western Sahara is as much a part of Morocco as other provinces by acknowledging that it is indeed a distinct entity. Protests in Western Sahara in recent years have begun to raise some awareness within Morocco, especially among intellectuals, human rights activists, pro-democracy groups, and some moderate Islamists - long suspicious of the government line in a number of areas - that not all Sahrawis see themselves as Moroccans and that there exists a genuine indigenous opposition to Moroccan rule.
In the occupied territory, Moroccan colonists and collaborators are given preference for housing and employment and the indigenous people receive virtually no benefits from their country’s rich fisheries and phosphate deposits. In response, a new tactic emerged late this summer, as Sahrawi activists erected the tent city about 15 kilometers outside of El Aioun, the former colonial capital and largest city in the occupied territory. Since any protests calling for self-determination, independence, or enforcement of UN Security Council resolutions are brutally suppressed, the demonstrators pointedly avoided such provocative calls, instead simply demanding economic justice. Even this was too much for the Moroccan monarchy, however, which was determined to crush this nonviolent act of mass defiance. The Moroccans tightened the siege in early October, attacking vehicles bringing food, water and medical supplies to the camp, resulting in scores of injuries and the death of a 14-year old boy. Finally, on November 8, the Moroccans attacked the camp, driving protesters out with tear gas and hoses, beating those who did not flee fast enough, setting off rioting and triggering the burning and pillaging of Sahrawis homes and shops, with occupation forces shooting or arresting suspected activists, hundreds of whom disappeared after the outbreak of violence.
Morocco has been able to persist in flouting its international legal obligations toward Western Sahara largely because France and the United States have continued to arm Moroccan occupation forces and blocked the enforcement of resolutions in the UN Security Council demanding that Morocco allow for self-determination or even simply the stationing of unarmed human rights monitors in the occupied country. So now, at least as important as nonviolent resistance by Sahrawis is the potential of nonviolent action by the citizens of France, the United States, and other countries that enable Morocco to maintain its occupation. Such campaigns played a major role in forcing Australia, Great Britain, and the United States to end their support for Indonesia’s occupation of East Timor.
Despite 35 years of exile, war, repression and international neglect, Sahrawi nationalism is at least as strong within the younger generation as their elders, as is their will to resist. How soon they will succeed in their struggle for self-determination, however, may well rest on such acts of international solidarity by global civil society.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stephen Zunes is a professor of Politics and chair of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of San Francisco and serves as advisory committee chair of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. His most recent book (co-authored with Jacob Mundy) is Western Sahara: War, Nationalism, and Conflict Irresolution (Syracuse University Press, 2010).
Western SaharaNews Articles (7)Publications (20)Primary Resources (14)Links (3)18 November 2010
Western Sahara
A structure in Western Sahara
Sahrawis have engaged in protests, strikes, cultural celebrations, and other forms of civil resistance. They have also raised the cost of occupation for the Moroccan government and increased the visibility of the Sahrawi cause.
By Stephen Zunes for openDemocracy
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On November 8, Moroccan occupation forces attacked a tent city of as many as 12,000 Western Saharans just outside of Al Aioun, in the culminating act of a months-long protest of discrimination against the indigenous Sahrawi population and worsening economic conditions. Not only was the scale of the crackdown unprecedented, so was the popular reaction: In a dramatic departure from the almost exclusively nonviolent protests of recent years, the local population turned on their occupiers, engaging in widespread rioting and arson. As of this writing, the details of these events are unclear, but they underscore the urgent need for global civil society to support those who have been struggling nonviolently for their right of self-determination and to challenge western governments which back the regime responsible for the repression.
Western Sahara is a sparsely-populated nation located on the Atlantic coast of northwestern Africa. Traditionally inhabited by nomadic Arab tribes, collectively known as Sahrawis and famous for their long history of resistance to outside domination, the land was occupied by Spain from the late 1800s through the mid-1970s. The nationalist Polisario Front launched an armed independence struggle against Spain in 1973, and Madrid eventually promised the people of what was then still known as the Spanish Sahara a referendum on the fate of the territory by the end of 1975. Irredentist claims by Morocco and Mauritania were brought before the International Court of Justice, which ruled in favour of the Sahrawis’ right to self-determination. A special Visiting Mission from the United Nations engaged in an investigation that same year and reported that the vast majority of Sahrawis supported independence under the leadership of the Polisario, not integration with Morocco or Mauritania. Under pressure from the United States, which did not want to see the leftist Polisario come to power, Spain reneged on its promise for a referendum and instead agreed to partition the territory between the pro-Western countries of Morocco and Mauritania.
As Moroccan forces moved into Western Sahara, most of the population fled to refugee camps in neighboring Algeria. Morocco and Mauritania rejected a series of unanimous UN Security Council resolutions calling for the withdrawal of foreign forces and recognition of the Sahrawis’ right of self-determination. The United States and France, meanwhile, despite voting in favor of these resolutions, blocked the UN from enforcing them. Meanwhile, the Polisario – which had been driven from the more heavily populated northern and western parts of the country – declared independence as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Thanks in part to the Algerians providing significant amounts of military equipment and economic support, Polisario guerrillas fought well against both occupying armies. Mauritania was defeated by 1979, agreeing to turn their third of Western Sahara over to the Polisario. However, the Moroccans then annexed that remaining southern part of the country as well.
The Polisario then focused their armed struggle against Morocco and, by 1982, had liberated nearly 85% of their country. Over the next four years, however, the tide of the war was reversed in Morocco’s favor thanks to dramatic increases in American and French support for the Moroccan war effort, with U.S. forces providing important training for the Moroccan army in counter-insurgency tactics and helping with the construction of a wall which kept the Polisario out of most of their country. Meanwhile, the Moroccan government, through generous housing subsidies and other benefits, successfully encouraged thousands of Moroccan settlers to immigrate to Western Sahara. By the early 1990s, these Moroccan settlers outnumbered the remaining Sahrawis indigenous to the territory by a ratio of more than 2:1.
A cease fire in 1991 was part of an agreement that would have allowed for the return of Sahrawi refugees to Western Sahara followed by a UN-supervised referendum on the fate of the territory. Neither the repatriation nor the referendum took place, however, due to Moroccan insistence on stacking the voter rolls with Moroccan settlers and other Moroccan citizens that it claimed had tribal links to Western Sahara. To break the stalemate, the UN Security Council passed a resolution in 2004 which would allow Moroccan settlers to also vote in the referendum following five years of autonomy. Morocco, however, rejected this proposal too, with the apparent reassurance that the French and Americans would yet again threaten to veto any resolution imposing sanctions or other pressures on them to compromise.
Unarmed popular resistance
As happened during the 1980s in both South Africa and the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, the locus of the Western Sahara freedom struggle shifted from the military and diplomatic initiatives of an exiled armed movement to a largely unarmed popular resistance from within, as young activists in the occupied territory and even in Sahrawi-populated parts of southern Morocco confronted Moroccan troops in street demonstrations and other forms of nonviolent action, despite the risk of shootings, mass arrests, and torture. Sahrawis from different sectors of society have engaged in protests, strikes, cultural celebrations, and other forms of civil resistance focused on such issues as educational policy, human rights, the release of political prisoners, and the right to self-determination. They also raised the cost of occupation for the Moroccan government and increased the visibility of the Sahrawi cause. Indeed, perhaps most significantly, civil resistance helped to build support for the Sahrawi movement among international NGO’s, solidarity groups and even sympathetic Moroccans.
Internet communication became a key element in the Saharawi movement, with public chat rooms evolving as vital centres for sending messages, as breaking news regarding the burgeoning resistance campaign reached those in the Saharawi diaspora and among international activists. Despite attempts by the Moroccans to disrupt these contacts, the diaspora has continued to provide financial and other support to the resistance. Though there have been complaints from inside the territory that support for their movement by the older generation of Polisario leaders was inadequate, the Polisario appears to have recognized that by having signed a cease-fire and then having had Morocco reject the diplomatic solution expected in return, it has essentially played all its cards. So there was a growing recognition that the only real hope for independence has to come from within the occupied territory in combination with solidarity efforts from global civil society. There have been some small victories, such as the successful campaign which led to Sahrawi nonviolent resistance leader Aminatou Haidar securing the 2008 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, as well as forcing Moroccan authorities to reverse their expulsion order in December 2009, which resulted in her near-fatal 30-day hunger strike.
After Moroccan authorities’ use of force to break up the large and prolonged demonstrations in 2005 -2006, the resistance subsequently opted mainly for smaller protests, some of which were planned and some of which were spontaneous. A typical protest would begin on a street corner or a plaza where a Sahrawi flag would be unfurled, women would start ululating, and people would begin chanting pro-independence slogans. Within a few minutes, soldiers and police would arrive, and the crowd would quickly scatter. Other tactics have included leafleting, graffiti (including tagging the homes of collaborators), and cultural celebrations with political overtones. Such nonviolent actions, while broadly supported by the people, appear to have been less a part of coordinated resistance than a result of action by individuals. Still, the Moroccan government’s regular use of violent repression to subdue the Sahrawi-led nonviolent protests suggests that civil resistance is seen as a threat to Moroccan control.
One of the obstacles to the internal resistance is that Moroccan settlers outnumber the indigenous population by a ratio of more than 2:1 and by more in the major cities, making certain tactics used effectively in similar struggles more problematic. For example, although a general strike could be effective, the large number of Moroccan settlers, combined with the minority of indigenous Sahrawis who oppose independence, could likely fill the void resulting from the absence of much of the Sahrawi workforce. Although that might be alleviated by growing pro-independence sentiments among ethnic Sahrawi settlers from the southern part of Morocco, it still presents challenges that have not been faced by largely nonviolent struggles in other occupied lands - among them East Timor, Kosovo, and the Palestinian territories.
A shift in Morocco's strategy
Despite this, civil resistance also appears to have forced a shift in Morocco’s strategy to maintain control of the mineral-rich territory. Although the Moroccan autonomy plan for the territory put forward in 2006 does not meaningfully address Morocco’s legal responsibility to recognize the Sahrawi’s right of self-determination (see my Open Democracy article More Harm Than Good), it nevertheless constitutes a reversal of Morocco’s historical insistence that Western Sahara is as much a part of Morocco as other provinces by acknowledging that it is indeed a distinct entity. Protests in Western Sahara in recent years have begun to raise some awareness within Morocco, especially among intellectuals, human rights activists, pro-democracy groups, and some moderate Islamists - long suspicious of the government line in a number of areas - that not all Sahrawis see themselves as Moroccans and that there exists a genuine indigenous opposition to Moroccan rule.
In the occupied territory, Moroccan colonists and collaborators are given preference for housing and employment and the indigenous people receive virtually no benefits from their country’s rich fisheries and phosphate deposits. In response, a new tactic emerged late this summer, as Sahrawi activists erected the tent city about 15 kilometers outside of El Aioun, the former colonial capital and largest city in the occupied territory. Since any protests calling for self-determination, independence, or enforcement of UN Security Council resolutions are brutally suppressed, the demonstrators pointedly avoided such provocative calls, instead simply demanding economic justice. Even this was too much for the Moroccan monarchy, however, which was determined to crush this nonviolent act of mass defiance. The Moroccans tightened the siege in early October, attacking vehicles bringing food, water and medical supplies to the camp, resulting in scores of injuries and the death of a 14-year old boy. Finally, on November 8, the Moroccans attacked the camp, driving protesters out with tear gas and hoses, beating those who did not flee fast enough, setting off rioting and triggering the burning and pillaging of Sahrawis homes and shops, with occupation forces shooting or arresting suspected activists, hundreds of whom disappeared after the outbreak of violence.
Morocco has been able to persist in flouting its international legal obligations toward Western Sahara largely because France and the United States have continued to arm Moroccan occupation forces and blocked the enforcement of resolutions in the UN Security Council demanding that Morocco allow for self-determination or even simply the stationing of unarmed human rights monitors in the occupied country. So now, at least as important as nonviolent resistance by Sahrawis is the potential of nonviolent action by the citizens of France, the United States, and other countries that enable Morocco to maintain its occupation. Such campaigns played a major role in forcing Australia, Great Britain, and the United States to end their support for Indonesia’s occupation of East Timor.
Despite 35 years of exile, war, repression and international neglect, Sahrawi nationalism is at least as strong within the younger generation as their elders, as is their will to resist. How soon they will succeed in their struggle for self-determination, however, may well rest on such acts of international solidarity by global civil society.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stephen Zunes is a professor of Politics and chair of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of San Francisco and serves as advisory committee chair of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. His most recent book (co-authored with Jacob Mundy) is Western Sahara: War, Nationalism, and Conflict Irresolution (Syracuse University Press, 2010).
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
On W.Sahara, UN Blind As Probe Is Called For in Uganda Paragraphs, Mexico YouTube
On W.Sahara, UN Blind As Probe Is Called For in Uganda Paragraphs, Mexico YouTube
By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive
UNITED NATIONS, November 16, updated -- As the Security Council started meeting about Western Sahara on Tuesday afternoon, all sides had and spread only limited information.
At 4:15 p.m., Uganda's Ambassador Ruhakana Rugunda told Inner City Press that his country has proposed a full Press Statement calling for an investigative team to be send to Western Sahara. "Very sketchy," he called the information the UN provided.
Inner City Press asked on November 12 and 16 if the UN has any first hand information about the murders in the Gdeim Izik camp in El-Ayoun. No, acting Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq replied both times.
On what basis then was the UN's number two peacekeeper Atul Khare rushing into the Council eight minutes late? What possible information could he provide?
Inner City Press has heard and reported that the UN Department of Political Affairs prepared its first statement about the violence while watching YouTube videos. And DPKO?
Due to the lack of information, several delegations said they intended to ask for an investigation team. If DPKO has no information, one said, that is not normal, something will have to be done.
Others, including one member state joining the Council in January, said this added force to the request to be made again in April for a human rights component to the MINURSO peacekeeping mission.
But that's four months away, and things may have changed by then. A member said that language for a proposed “elements to the press” was being floated by Uganda, but that France would strongly oppose it. The US, too, was said to not favor any outcome to the meeting.
Khare previously with Yukio Takasu, now in line for DPKO job?
Two representatives of the Polisario Front spoke to the Press during the morning, while the Council met about Sudan. They spoke of a mass grave with 34 corpses, of MINURSO peacekeepers confined to their bases, under Moroccan surveillance, using vehicles with Morocco plates.
Inner City Press at the day's noon briefing asked Haq if MINURSO had visited the seen. We have no first hand knowledge, Haq said once again. He said he didn't know about MINURSO's licence plates, nor presumably the bugging. (Bed bugs were also asked about, and Inner City Press' exclusive report of fleas in the UN was confirmed.)
One country on the Council with a particular interest is Mexico, in part because it has one of its nationals, Antonio Velazquez, hiding in the area, posting evidence to YouTube. Mexico took the lead in asking for the meeting, but doesn't want to be seen out front. If Uganda proposes something, they are prepared to support. And Austria? Watch this site.
Footnote: In other DPKO news, Inner City Press reported by Twitter on November 15 that former Japanese Ambassador Yukio Takasu is in line for a job as Peacekeeping Advisor at the UN. On November 16 Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Haq, video here.
Update of 4:02 pm -- with the Council in closed consultations, the buzz such as there is at the stakeout involves quotes from the emergencies director of Human Rights Watch Peter Bouckaert, ranging from “We have so far only been able to confirm the death of two civilians” to “The civilian hospital in El-Ayoun was guarded by police who beat up wounded Sahrawis who came, and even Moroccan taxi drivers who brought them to the hospital.”
Polisario says that because people were afraid to go to the hospital, the number is under counted. Proponents of the number, on the other hand, say it is hard to hide dozens of bodies. Is this round and round debate being echoed in the closed door consultations? We will try to find out.
At 4:15 p.m., Uganda's Ambassador Ruhakana Rugunda told Inner City Press that his country has proposed a full Press Statement calling for an investigative team to be send to Western Sahara. "Very sketchy," he called the information the UN provided.
Update of 4:43 pm - outside the Council chamber, a non Permanent member's Perm Rep tells InnerCityPress, of Uganda's draft Press Statement on Western Sahara, “I don't think it'll come out that way.”
Update of 4:55 pm - with closed door consultations continuing, at the stakeout a video asked about by the Moroccan side, and found: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ3z-V7T9Cc (beware: violent)
With the highlighting of “bladed weapons” and abuse, it's reminiscent of the video of the violence on the Gaza flotilla. Technology and war crimes, while the UN closes its eyes.
Update of 5:09 pm - the consultations are over, there WILL be "elements to the press," not the full press statement proposed by Uganda.
Update of 6:08 pm -- Mark Lyall Grant of the UK came to the stakeout and read out the “elements to the press” reproduced below. Then as Inner City Press asked about MINURSO's lack of first hand information, Lyall Grant said “no more questions” and walked away. But as has become a pattern this month, he took not a single question.
Next came Ruhakana Rugunda of Uganda, who said his country and the African Union are in favor of an investigation by the UN or an “independent force.” nner City Press asked who -- he didn't specify -- and about MINURSO's failure to go to the site. He said, “That should be answered by DPKO” - we'll be asking. The Polisario representative called MINURSO a “virtual mission... captured by Morocco.”
Morocco's Ambassador came next, speaking in Arabic. Inner City Press ran to the UN's North Lawn building for a stakeout about the G-20, at which French Ambassador Gerard Araud and his deputy were already standing, tending to their minister. Inner City Press asked about Chinese yuan, US Federal Reserve pouring out $600 billion and about IMF reform -- what that's another story. Watch this site.
These are the “Elements to the Press” read out by Mark Lyall Grant on November 16, after which he said “no more questions” --
The members of the Security Council have been briefed by the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Mr. Atul Khare, on the recent incidents in Western Sahara.
Council members deplored the violence in El Aaiun and Gdaim Izyk camp, and expressed their condolences over the deaths and injuries that resulted.
They reaffirmed their support for MINURSO and its mission.
The members of the Security Council also heard a briefing by the Secretary-General's Personal Envoy Ambassador Christopher Ross. They offered their full support for his ongoing efforts and urged the parties to demonstrate further political will towards a solution.
* * *
By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive
UNITED NATIONS, November 16, updated -- As the Security Council started meeting about Western Sahara on Tuesday afternoon, all sides had and spread only limited information.
At 4:15 p.m., Uganda's Ambassador Ruhakana Rugunda told Inner City Press that his country has proposed a full Press Statement calling for an investigative team to be send to Western Sahara. "Very sketchy," he called the information the UN provided.
Inner City Press asked on November 12 and 16 if the UN has any first hand information about the murders in the Gdeim Izik camp in El-Ayoun. No, acting Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq replied both times.
On what basis then was the UN's number two peacekeeper Atul Khare rushing into the Council eight minutes late? What possible information could he provide?
Inner City Press has heard and reported that the UN Department of Political Affairs prepared its first statement about the violence while watching YouTube videos. And DPKO?
Due to the lack of information, several delegations said they intended to ask for an investigation team. If DPKO has no information, one said, that is not normal, something will have to be done.
Others, including one member state joining the Council in January, said this added force to the request to be made again in April for a human rights component to the MINURSO peacekeeping mission.
But that's four months away, and things may have changed by then. A member said that language for a proposed “elements to the press” was being floated by Uganda, but that France would strongly oppose it. The US, too, was said to not favor any outcome to the meeting.
Khare previously with Yukio Takasu, now in line for DPKO job?
Two representatives of the Polisario Front spoke to the Press during the morning, while the Council met about Sudan. They spoke of a mass grave with 34 corpses, of MINURSO peacekeepers confined to their bases, under Moroccan surveillance, using vehicles with Morocco plates.
Inner City Press at the day's noon briefing asked Haq if MINURSO had visited the seen. We have no first hand knowledge, Haq said once again. He said he didn't know about MINURSO's licence plates, nor presumably the bugging. (Bed bugs were also asked about, and Inner City Press' exclusive report of fleas in the UN was confirmed.)
One country on the Council with a particular interest is Mexico, in part because it has one of its nationals, Antonio Velazquez, hiding in the area, posting evidence to YouTube. Mexico took the lead in asking for the meeting, but doesn't want to be seen out front. If Uganda proposes something, they are prepared to support. And Austria? Watch this site.
Footnote: In other DPKO news, Inner City Press reported by Twitter on November 15 that former Japanese Ambassador Yukio Takasu is in line for a job as Peacekeeping Advisor at the UN. On November 16 Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Haq, video here.
Update of 4:02 pm -- with the Council in closed consultations, the buzz such as there is at the stakeout involves quotes from the emergencies director of Human Rights Watch Peter Bouckaert, ranging from “We have so far only been able to confirm the death of two civilians” to “The civilian hospital in El-Ayoun was guarded by police who beat up wounded Sahrawis who came, and even Moroccan taxi drivers who brought them to the hospital.”
Polisario says that because people were afraid to go to the hospital, the number is under counted. Proponents of the number, on the other hand, say it is hard to hide dozens of bodies. Is this round and round debate being echoed in the closed door consultations? We will try to find out.
At 4:15 p.m., Uganda's Ambassador Ruhakana Rugunda told Inner City Press that his country has proposed a full Press Statement calling for an investigative team to be send to Western Sahara. "Very sketchy," he called the information the UN provided.
Update of 4:43 pm - outside the Council chamber, a non Permanent member's Perm Rep tells InnerCityPress, of Uganda's draft Press Statement on Western Sahara, “I don't think it'll come out that way.”
Update of 4:55 pm - with closed door consultations continuing, at the stakeout a video asked about by the Moroccan side, and found: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ3z-V7T9Cc (beware: violent)
With the highlighting of “bladed weapons” and abuse, it's reminiscent of the video of the violence on the Gaza flotilla. Technology and war crimes, while the UN closes its eyes.
Update of 5:09 pm - the consultations are over, there WILL be "elements to the press," not the full press statement proposed by Uganda.
Update of 6:08 pm -- Mark Lyall Grant of the UK came to the stakeout and read out the “elements to the press” reproduced below. Then as Inner City Press asked about MINURSO's lack of first hand information, Lyall Grant said “no more questions” and walked away. But as has become a pattern this month, he took not a single question.
Next came Ruhakana Rugunda of Uganda, who said his country and the African Union are in favor of an investigation by the UN or an “independent force.” nner City Press asked who -- he didn't specify -- and about MINURSO's failure to go to the site. He said, “That should be answered by DPKO” - we'll be asking. The Polisario representative called MINURSO a “virtual mission... captured by Morocco.”
Morocco's Ambassador came next, speaking in Arabic. Inner City Press ran to the UN's North Lawn building for a stakeout about the G-20, at which French Ambassador Gerard Araud and his deputy were already standing, tending to their minister. Inner City Press asked about Chinese yuan, US Federal Reserve pouring out $600 billion and about IMF reform -- what that's another story. Watch this site.
These are the “Elements to the Press” read out by Mark Lyall Grant on November 16, after which he said “no more questions” --
The members of the Security Council have been briefed by the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Mr. Atul Khare, on the recent incidents in Western Sahara.
Council members deplored the violence in El Aaiun and Gdaim Izyk camp, and expressed their condolences over the deaths and injuries that resulted.
They reaffirmed their support for MINURSO and its mission.
The members of the Security Council also heard a briefing by the Secretary-General's Personal Envoy Ambassador Christopher Ross. They offered their full support for his ongoing efforts and urged the parties to demonstrate further political will towards a solution.
* * *
Monday, November 15, 2010
Incompetencia de la de la ONU, mas descrédito de la Comunidad Europea y del Gobierno Español
La verdad, que no hay palabras para describir el sentimiento de impotencia y frustración que sentimos ante la pasividad de la ONU y la Unión Europea , cuando vemos como los intereses de los países más fuertes se imponen en el seno de ambas instituciones ,incluso pasando por encima de los derechos humanos , no es nuevo,ya ha sucedido anteriormente y desgraciadamente seguirá sucediendo;el caso del Sáhara Occidental clama al cielo llevan 35 años esperando una solución ,desde 1991 año del alto el fuego , en el que la MINURSO se crea para la preparación de un referendum que nunca llega, evidentemente por intereses convenidos entre Francia y EEUU y dejando además un papel marginal a España que legalmente sigue siendo la potencia administradora en el Sáhara Occidental ,obedeciendo esta al dictado de los fuertes ,a tal extremo han llegado las cosas que Marruecos se permite el lujo de maltratar y amenazar a los periodistas españoles dentro de su territorio y muy especial mente en el Sáhara Occidental ocupado ,nos obligan a quitar a las mujeres policías de los puestos fronterizos de Ceuta y de Melilla y un sinfín de desatinos más.
No esla primera vez que el gobierno socialista de España, mira hacia otro lado ante los desmanes perpetrados por Marruecos contra la población civil saharaui, tanto dentro de Marruecos, como en el Sáhara Occidental ocupado sobre todo, pero el que lo haga ante un hecho tan grave como la sangrienta y brutal intervención de las fuerzas de seguridad marroquí,en el campamento de Gdeym Izik en las proximidades del Aaiún , que además ha sido seguida de una brutal represión que continúa hasta hoy y en la cual no sabemos todavía el número de víctimas entre fallecidos, heridos ,desaparecidos y detenidos, e incluso tratando de evitar el acceso a la zona de la prensa española, en el vano intento de ocultar estos crímenes contra la población civil saharaui; ante las lamentables declaraciones de la ministra de exteriores de España Trinidad Jimenez ,que se ha negado a condenar tan criminal represión alegando falta de datos , recordando la importancia geoestratégica y económica de nuestro vecino del Sur, y ante lo cual los ciudadanos españoles nos preguntamos ¿Donde están los tan cacareados derechos humanos? ,¿Donde se aplican? ¿En cualquier pais que esté en las Qimbambas? .Estos crímenes se han cometido y se siguen cometiendo a 100 kilómetros de Canarias en un territorio que está pendiente de descolonización , simplemente por manifestar sus habitantes su deseo de decidir libremente su futuro, este es su crimen y nada mas, ademas, al no haberse transferido la administración correctamente según la ONU , lo que sucede en el Sáhara Occidental no es, ni puede ser una cuestión ajena a España ,un ciudadano español de origen saharaui ha fallecido víctima de esta represión, pero otros muchos saharauis en mi opinión siguen siendo españoles a la luz de la irregularidad de la transferencia del territorio a Marruecos.
Estos crímenes que se han cometido y continuan cometiéndose no pueden ni deben quedar impunes, ya que al mirar hacia otro lado nos convertimos en cómplices de estos crímenes dando alas al opresor para que continue la represión y el genocidio contra el Pueblo Saharáui.
Marcos Gonzalez
No esla primera vez que el gobierno socialista de España, mira hacia otro lado ante los desmanes perpetrados por Marruecos contra la población civil saharaui, tanto dentro de Marruecos, como en el Sáhara Occidental ocupado sobre todo, pero el que lo haga ante un hecho tan grave como la sangrienta y brutal intervención de las fuerzas de seguridad marroquí,en el campamento de Gdeym Izik en las proximidades del Aaiún , que además ha sido seguida de una brutal represión que continúa hasta hoy y en la cual no sabemos todavía el número de víctimas entre fallecidos, heridos ,desaparecidos y detenidos, e incluso tratando de evitar el acceso a la zona de la prensa española, en el vano intento de ocultar estos crímenes contra la población civil saharaui; ante las lamentables declaraciones de la ministra de exteriores de España Trinidad Jimenez ,que se ha negado a condenar tan criminal represión alegando falta de datos , recordando la importancia geoestratégica y económica de nuestro vecino del Sur, y ante lo cual los ciudadanos españoles nos preguntamos ¿Donde están los tan cacareados derechos humanos? ,¿Donde se aplican? ¿En cualquier pais que esté en las Qimbambas? .Estos crímenes se han cometido y se siguen cometiendo a 100 kilómetros de Canarias en un territorio que está pendiente de descolonización , simplemente por manifestar sus habitantes su deseo de decidir libremente su futuro, este es su crimen y nada mas, ademas, al no haberse transferido la administración correctamente según la ONU , lo que sucede en el Sáhara Occidental no es, ni puede ser una cuestión ajena a España ,un ciudadano español de origen saharaui ha fallecido víctima de esta represión, pero otros muchos saharauis en mi opinión siguen siendo españoles a la luz de la irregularidad de la transferencia del territorio a Marruecos.
Estos crímenes que se han cometido y continuan cometiéndose no pueden ni deben quedar impunes, ya que al mirar hacia otro lado nos convertimos en cómplices de estos crímenes dando alas al opresor para que continue la represión y el genocidio contra el Pueblo Saharáui.
Marcos Gonzalez
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Thousands Protest In Spain Over Western Sahara
(AP) MADRID (AP) - Thousands of people demonstrated in Madrid on Saturday against Morocco's recent crackdown that has left at least 10 people dead in the former Spanish colony of Western Sahara in northwestern Africa.
Many protesters blamed Spain for not taking a firmer stance against what they see as human rights abuses by Morocco's police and army in the territory.
Demonstration organizers said in a statement that the Moroccan government had sent in soldiers and police to quash local demands for better working and social conditions to mark the 35th anniversary of the territory's annexation by Morocco.
Among those protesting on Saturday was Hollywood actor Javier Bardem, as well as Spanish lawmakers and other political, civil rights and trade union leaders.
"There's a lot of people here as you can tell, just to condemn the violation of human rights in Sahara and to try to make the international community and especially the government of Spain understand that diplomacy is about human rights," Bardem said.
Protesters marched about a mile (2 kilometers) from Atocha railway station to downtown Sol square carrying banners saying "Morocco out of the Sahara, 35 years of occupation is enough" and "Free Sahara."
Western Sahara is a mineral-rich former Spanish colony that Morocco marched into and occupied when Spain withdrew in 1975, leaving a power vacuum.
Local Saharawi people have long campaigned for the right to self-determination. but most Moroccans now view the territory as a part of their kingdom.
"The reason for this protest is to ask our government, as former occupying power of Western Sahara, to resolve this conflict," said Juan Carlos Caballero, 46, president of the North Madrid association of friends of the Saharawi people.
Banners from many parts of Spain could be seen at the demonstration which also included live music and street performers dressed in the red, green, black and white of the traditional Saharawi flag.
The Moroccan-controlled territory's main city, Laayoune, is reported to be tense and overrun by police and heavily-armed troops following riots there Monday after Moroccan forces raided the crowded protest camp.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Many protesters blamed Spain for not taking a firmer stance against what they see as human rights abuses by Morocco's police and army in the territory.
Demonstration organizers said in a statement that the Moroccan government had sent in soldiers and police to quash local demands for better working and social conditions to mark the 35th anniversary of the territory's annexation by Morocco.
Among those protesting on Saturday was Hollywood actor Javier Bardem, as well as Spanish lawmakers and other political, civil rights and trade union leaders.
"There's a lot of people here as you can tell, just to condemn the violation of human rights in Sahara and to try to make the international community and especially the government of Spain understand that diplomacy is about human rights," Bardem said.
Protesters marched about a mile (2 kilometers) from Atocha railway station to downtown Sol square carrying banners saying "Morocco out of the Sahara, 35 years of occupation is enough" and "Free Sahara."
Western Sahara is a mineral-rich former Spanish colony that Morocco marched into and occupied when Spain withdrew in 1975, leaving a power vacuum.
Local Saharawi people have long campaigned for the right to self-determination. but most Moroccans now view the territory as a part of their kingdom.
"The reason for this protest is to ask our government, as former occupying power of Western Sahara, to resolve this conflict," said Juan Carlos Caballero, 46, president of the North Madrid association of friends of the Saharawi people.
Banners from many parts of Spain could be seen at the demonstration which also included live music and street performers dressed in the red, green, black and white of the traditional Saharawi flag.
The Moroccan-controlled territory's main city, Laayoune, is reported to be tense and overrun by police and heavily-armed troops following riots there Monday after Moroccan forces raided the crowded protest camp.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
ارتفاع حصيلة الشهداء ، المفقودين ، المختطيفين ، والمعتقلين الصحراويين والمنازل المداهمة بمدينة العيون المحتلة
ارتفاع حصيلة الشهداء ، المفقودين ، المختطيفين ، والمعتقلين الصحراويين والمنازل المداهمة بمدينة العيون المحتلة
التقرير حرر بتاريخ : 10 نونبر2010
يستمر الإحتلال المغربي في هجمته المسعورة ضد المواطنين الصحراويين بمدينة العيون المحتلة ، هذا ولحد الساعة تشير المعطيات الواردة من مدينة العيون المحتلة مواصلة مختلف الأجهزة القمعية المغربية قمعها الدموي مستعملة الرصاص الحي والمطاطي ، القنابل المسيلة للدموع في قمع الصحراويين ، وهو مانتح عنده سقوط العديد من الضحايا الصحراويين من بينهم شهداء ومصابين إصابات بليغة ومفقودين ومختطفين ومنازل مداهمة. وفي هذه الأثناء والساعة تشير إلى الساعة الحادية و30 دقيقة بتاريخ 10 نونبر2010 ، الشرطة المغربية وهي مدججة بالأسلحة تقتحم حي معطى الله ، حي ليراك ، حي النهضة ، وتقوم بإقتحام منازل الصحراويين بهذه الأحياء وشن حملة واسعة النطاق من الإختطافات والإعتقالات في صفوف المدنيين الصحراويين من مختلف الأعمار . وهذه لائحة بأسماء الضحايا ، سيتم تطعيمها أولا بأول بكل جديد نتوصل به من مدينة العيون المحتلة .
الشهداء الصحراويين
علي سالم الأنصاري ، أستشهد بمدينة أكادير المغربية ، بعدما رفضت المستشفيات المغربية إستقباله ، ليتم تم نقله من مدينة العيون المحتلة في حالة خطيرة جراء تعذيبه من طرف الجيش الملكي الغربي بتاريخ 08 نونبر 2010 . ليستشهد مساء اليوم 10 نونبر2010 .
الضحايا
نوع الإصابة
الشايعة منت محمد ولد سيدي البلال
مصابة بمختلف أنحاء جسمها
المحظية منت عبد الله ولد سيدي ولد البلال
مصابة على مستوى القدمين
مريم الحسيني 13 سنة
مصابة برضوض على مستوى أنحاء الجسم
لبنة عمنة
مصابة على مستوى الفخذ
مولاي أهل السباعي
مصاب على مستوى الرأي
محمود ولد المصطفى الخير البيلال
إعتدي عليه وتم تخريب سيارته
ثريا منت دوكة ولد سيدي ابراهيم الداه
اعتدي عليها وهي حامل
اسليكة منت دوكة ولد سيدي ابراهيم الداه
اصابات على مستوى الجسم
تحجلب منت دوكة ولد سيدي إبراهيم الداه
اصابات على مستوى الجسم
فلوحة منت دوكة ولد سيدي ابراهيم الداه
اصابات على مستوى الجسم
الريم منت دوكة ولد سيدي ابراهيم الداه
اصابات على مستوى الجسم
مريم منت دوكة ولد سيدي إبراهيم الداه
اصابات على مستوى الجسم
انتصار منت دوكة ولد سيدي إبراهيم الداه
اصابات على مستوى الجسم
لخديجة منت الشيعة
اصابات على مستوى الجسم
مصطفى محمد بوناني
إصابة على مستوى الفخذ وأنحاء أخرى
الباتول منت سيدي ولد عبد الله
مصابة بسكور على مستوى اليدين
عائشة منت محمد سالم ولد بابا
مصابة بثلاثة كسور ،وفي حاجة إلى 03 عمليات جراحية
زينب منت الحاج أمبارك
مصابة على مستويات متفرقة من الجسم
المعتقلين والمختطفين و المفقودين
محمد ولد العربي دادة ، مختطف
أحمد بلمكي ، معتقل
ولد الدي ولد أنذور، مختطف
الليهة منت محمود ولد ميارة, معتقلة
الرباب منت محمود ولد ميارة, معتقلة
السالك لعبيدي عبد السلام, مفقود
الداه لحبيب احمد عياد, مفقود
اعمر محمد سالم يوسف, مفقود
عبد الرحمان مولود بيجة, مصاب إصابة خطيرة و مفقود
محمود البورحيمي, مفقود
محمد لحسين أنذور مختطف
الغوث الهاشمي معتقل
محمود الهاشمي معتقل
بشاري علي سالم ولد لحبيب مفقود
مولاي ولد البشير ولد علي سالم معتقل
عبد الله ولد لحسن ولد أبهي
محمد ولد الحسين ولد أدي
التوزاني ولد سالم ولد محمد مفقود
عبد الرحمان ولد عبد الجليل مفقود
المنازل المداهمة والمحاصرة
مكان تواجدها
منزل فاطمة الحيول
حي مايسمى بالعودة
منزل أهل الحسيني
حي مايسمى بالعودة
منزل خديجة منت الحافظ الجوامعي
حي مايسمى بالعودة ، تمت محاصرته وترهيب عائلته
منزل أهل بوحمالة
شارع القدس بحي معطى الله
منزل أهل بوعمود
حي مايسمى بالعودة
منزل أهل عكيدة
حي مايسمى بالعودة
منزل أهل الزمامي
حي مايسمى بالعودة
منزل أهل لخفاوني
حي مايسمى بالعودة
منزل أهل سلامة ولد الديش تم إحراق سيارتيه
حي الفيلات
آهل دوكة ولد سيدي إبراهيم الده
حي معطى الله
أهل محمود ولد هلاب
حي بلانا 92
أهل محمود ولد ميارة
حي مايسمى بالعودة
منزل أهل لحسين أنذور
شارع بوكراع
منزل أهل الهاشمي
بالقرب من قيادة بوكراع
منزل أهل أميدان
شارع بوكراع
منزل أهل كريطة
شارع بوكراع
التقرير حرر بتاريخ : 10 نونبر2010
يستمر الإحتلال المغربي في هجمته المسعورة ضد المواطنين الصحراويين بمدينة العيون المحتلة ، هذا ولحد الساعة تشير المعطيات الواردة من مدينة العيون المحتلة مواصلة مختلف الأجهزة القمعية المغربية قمعها الدموي مستعملة الرصاص الحي والمطاطي ، القنابل المسيلة للدموع في قمع الصحراويين ، وهو مانتح عنده سقوط العديد من الضحايا الصحراويين من بينهم شهداء ومصابين إصابات بليغة ومفقودين ومختطفين ومنازل مداهمة. وفي هذه الأثناء والساعة تشير إلى الساعة الحادية و30 دقيقة بتاريخ 10 نونبر2010 ، الشرطة المغربية وهي مدججة بالأسلحة تقتحم حي معطى الله ، حي ليراك ، حي النهضة ، وتقوم بإقتحام منازل الصحراويين بهذه الأحياء وشن حملة واسعة النطاق من الإختطافات والإعتقالات في صفوف المدنيين الصحراويين من مختلف الأعمار . وهذه لائحة بأسماء الضحايا ، سيتم تطعيمها أولا بأول بكل جديد نتوصل به من مدينة العيون المحتلة .
الشهداء الصحراويين
علي سالم الأنصاري ، أستشهد بمدينة أكادير المغربية ، بعدما رفضت المستشفيات المغربية إستقباله ، ليتم تم نقله من مدينة العيون المحتلة في حالة خطيرة جراء تعذيبه من طرف الجيش الملكي الغربي بتاريخ 08 نونبر 2010 . ليستشهد مساء اليوم 10 نونبر2010 .
الضحايا
نوع الإصابة
الشايعة منت محمد ولد سيدي البلال
مصابة بمختلف أنحاء جسمها
المحظية منت عبد الله ولد سيدي ولد البلال
مصابة على مستوى القدمين
مريم الحسيني 13 سنة
مصابة برضوض على مستوى أنحاء الجسم
لبنة عمنة
مصابة على مستوى الفخذ
مولاي أهل السباعي
مصاب على مستوى الرأي
محمود ولد المصطفى الخير البيلال
إعتدي عليه وتم تخريب سيارته
ثريا منت دوكة ولد سيدي ابراهيم الداه
اعتدي عليها وهي حامل
اسليكة منت دوكة ولد سيدي ابراهيم الداه
اصابات على مستوى الجسم
تحجلب منت دوكة ولد سيدي إبراهيم الداه
اصابات على مستوى الجسم
فلوحة منت دوكة ولد سيدي ابراهيم الداه
اصابات على مستوى الجسم
الريم منت دوكة ولد سيدي ابراهيم الداه
اصابات على مستوى الجسم
مريم منت دوكة ولد سيدي إبراهيم الداه
اصابات على مستوى الجسم
انتصار منت دوكة ولد سيدي إبراهيم الداه
اصابات على مستوى الجسم
لخديجة منت الشيعة
اصابات على مستوى الجسم
مصطفى محمد بوناني
إصابة على مستوى الفخذ وأنحاء أخرى
الباتول منت سيدي ولد عبد الله
مصابة بسكور على مستوى اليدين
عائشة منت محمد سالم ولد بابا
مصابة بثلاثة كسور ،وفي حاجة إلى 03 عمليات جراحية
زينب منت الحاج أمبارك
مصابة على مستويات متفرقة من الجسم
المعتقلين والمختطفين و المفقودين
محمد ولد العربي دادة ، مختطف
أحمد بلمكي ، معتقل
ولد الدي ولد أنذور، مختطف
الليهة منت محمود ولد ميارة, معتقلة
الرباب منت محمود ولد ميارة, معتقلة
السالك لعبيدي عبد السلام, مفقود
الداه لحبيب احمد عياد, مفقود
اعمر محمد سالم يوسف, مفقود
عبد الرحمان مولود بيجة, مصاب إصابة خطيرة و مفقود
محمود البورحيمي, مفقود
محمد لحسين أنذور مختطف
الغوث الهاشمي معتقل
محمود الهاشمي معتقل
بشاري علي سالم ولد لحبيب مفقود
مولاي ولد البشير ولد علي سالم معتقل
عبد الله ولد لحسن ولد أبهي
محمد ولد الحسين ولد أدي
التوزاني ولد سالم ولد محمد مفقود
عبد الرحمان ولد عبد الجليل مفقود
المنازل المداهمة والمحاصرة
مكان تواجدها
منزل فاطمة الحيول
حي مايسمى بالعودة
منزل أهل الحسيني
حي مايسمى بالعودة
منزل خديجة منت الحافظ الجوامعي
حي مايسمى بالعودة ، تمت محاصرته وترهيب عائلته
منزل أهل بوحمالة
شارع القدس بحي معطى الله
منزل أهل بوعمود
حي مايسمى بالعودة
منزل أهل عكيدة
حي مايسمى بالعودة
منزل أهل الزمامي
حي مايسمى بالعودة
منزل أهل لخفاوني
حي مايسمى بالعودة
منزل أهل سلامة ولد الديش تم إحراق سيارتيه
حي الفيلات
آهل دوكة ولد سيدي إبراهيم الده
حي معطى الله
أهل محمود ولد هلاب
حي بلانا 92
أهل محمود ولد ميارة
حي مايسمى بالعودة
منزل أهل لحسين أنذور
شارع بوكراع
منزل أهل الهاشمي
بالقرب من قيادة بوكراع
منزل أهل أميدان
شارع بوكراع
منزل أهل كريطة
شارع بوكراع
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Report on Vitctims and Casualties- Arabic Version-
الاخبار يوم 9 نوفمبر 2010
العيون المحتلة
09.11.2010
بعد يوم دامي شهدته مدينة العيون المحتلة، استأنفت صباح اليوم الثلاثاء عمليات القمع المغربي بحي معطى الله حيث انتشر المئات من عناصر الجيش المغربي بمحيط الحي فاسحين المجال إلى عناصر من الشرطة مسلحين بمسدسات لاقتحام بعض المنازل كمنزل أهل لغريد ومنزل أهل بوحنانة
والى حدود كتابة هذا التقرير تقوم قوات الاحتلال بتسهيل وتعبيد الطريق أمام المئات من المستوطنين حيث بدؤوا في اقتحام منازل مواطنين صحراويين بحي الدويرات والوفاق وكذا الراحة ، انتقاما من مقاومتهم الشرسة يوم أمس وليلة البارحة لمحاولات جيش الاحتلال التدخل ضدهم .
فيما لا تزال مقاومة بطولية مستمرة لأحياء العودة والأمل لصد هجوم لجيش الاحتلال مدعوما بميليشا المستوطنين وقد شارك في التدخل العسكري طائرات مروحية كانت ترمي متظاهرين صحراويين بقنابل مسيلة للدموع
شارع اسكيكيمة يشهد مواجهات بين صحراويين وقوات الاحتلال التي نهبت محلات تجارية بعد كسرها .
زنقة جبل طارق هي الأخرى تشهد مواجهات عنيفة وإطلاق الرصاص المطاطي
ضد المتظاهرين
المستوطنين احرقوا إعدادية التعاون بدير أيدك ويقومون بنهب منازل صحراويين بعد اقتحامها
كل ذلك أسفر عن سقوط العديد من الجرحى ، فيما تؤكد أنباء من تلك الأحياء بوجود حالات خطيرة جدا ، كحالة المناضل الصحراوي سعيد اللومادي الذي يجهل مصيره إلى الآن.
مواجهات يوم أمس أسفرت عن سقوط شهيد صحراوي تم دهسه بسيارة تابعة للشرطة المغربية قبل أن تقوم عناصر أمنية بالاعتداء عليه بالضرب المفضي للموت
وكان جنود ومستوطنون قد اقتحموا أمس وابتداء من الساعة الثالثة من بعد الظهر عشرات المحلات التجارية تعود ملكيتها لمواطنين صحراويين .
كما أسفرت تلك المواجهات عن سقوط مئات الجرحى واعتقال مئات آخرين وهذه لائحة أولية بأسماء الضحايا
الإصابات
* الصحفي الأميركي John Thorn اعتدي عليه بالقرب من فندق نكجير هو والناشط الحقوقي إبراهيم الأنصاري ممثل منظمة هيومان رايتس ووتش
* احمد لحميد (حالة خطيرة) أصيب على مستوى الفك واليد وجرح غائر بالرأس
* احمد الطالبي " احمد ولد محمد سالم ولد حميدي" أصيب على مستوى الرأس والكتف
* عزيز الطالبي " عزيز ولد محمد سالم ولد حميدي" أصيب بجراح خطيرة على مستوى الرأس
* السالك لعسيري أصيب برصاصة على مستوى اليد
* البشير خدا أصيب بجرح أصيب بنزيف حاد بعد إصابته على مستولى الرأس
* مصطفى بونان أصيب برصاصة على مستوى الفخذ
* ماء العينين هدي
* سيدي الوالي
* لمباركي مولاي اعلي
- Mostrar texto citado -
* عيادة عوبة
* محمود ولد اباعيا
* سعد دويهي
* الدحو ولد اللو
* عبد الله ولد فركاك
* المجاهيد سدرة
* لارباس اليدالي
* بشيرنا اليدالي
* الناجم هيدالة ولد الخليل
* البكاي العرابي
* أمباركة من سويح منت السي بلخير
* طودار كمال ولد عبد اللطيف
* واقة عبد الله
* الوافي رشيد
* لمباركي فاطمة
* داهي حسون
* يسلم ولد الخليل
* سيولمة محمد لمبارك بوبكر
* محفوظ ازفاطي
* لوشاعة جاعة
* فالة الشتوكي
* سعيد اللومادي
* الغالية سيدي محمد الديد
* خديجة سيدي محمد الديد
* اكليمينة علالي الحبيب
* المحجوب علالي عثمان
* علالي عثمان الزاوي
* سيد احمد هاشم
* محمود سعيد يبلغ من العمر 8 سنوات
* خديجة عالي معاقة
* أم الخوت منت مولود مسنة
أسماء المعتقلين
* حسن بوعمود
* حمودي محمد سالم الليلي
* دادة اعلي سالم
* ليلى الليلي
* فاطمتو البيلال
* كزيزة لجود
* احمد الطنجي معتقل بإحدى الثكنات العسكرية
* بوريال محمد
* الزاوي الحسين
* محمد الأمين أهل الطالب معاق
* احمد جدو الخنشي
* محمد الأمين ولد خطري ولد الداه
* السلامي عبد الفتاح ولد اعلي بيبا
* المكي سيد احمد
* هباد إبراهيم
* البشير يايا
* الحبيب إبراهيم السالم اعلي الأحمر
* إبراهيم كشبار
* احمد كشبار
* انكية كشبار
* محمد سالم المرابط
* مبارك فريدو
* عبدي السعيدي
* المهدي الاسماعيلي
* احمد المكي
* لمين ماء العينين
* محمود لهويدي
* رشيد الشمامي
* النوف الركيبي محمد الأمين
* الركيبي الوالي
* سعيد ددي
* بوتباعة احمد
* عبد الرحمان البيلال
* أمبارك منيصير
*احمد حسن المكي
* بنكا الشيخ
* ألمين ماءالعينين
أسماء المختطفين مجهولي المصير
* أندور محمد مولود
* لعروسي ميان
* سكينة منت رمضان ولد البشرة
* عياش بوجمعة محمد الأمين
* عياش عمر ولد محمد الأمين
* مولاي اعلي مبارك
* لمام هدي
* حمزة الشواف
* احمد الكنتاوي
* محمد لمين الطالبي
* لالة الغالية مرزوك
* السالك التوالي
* محجوب التوالي
* لخميني القاضي
* بابيت حمزة
* إبراهيم علي سالم بابيت
بمدينة المرسى 25 كلم جنوب غرب العيون المحتلة أصيبت عائلة صحراوية بجروح بليغة على اثر تدخل لجيش الاحتلال لصدهم من التوجه إلى بادية المنطقة
وكان مواطنون صحراويون قد تعرضوا للتعذيب بعد اعتقالهم بالمدينة بسبب مشاركتهم في مظاهرة نظمت احتجاجا على ما تعرض له اخوانهم في مخيم مدينة اكديم ايزيك والعيون المحتلة وقد اصيب في ذلك التدخل
عائلة اهل احريم ، والمواطن الصحراوي عبد الحي الناصيري ، المواطن الصحراوي بلعمش رشيد
ليلى الليلي
مختطف
العلاوي مولود مختطف
مختطف قشلة الحشيشة
منزل إبراهيم لبيهي فتحوه بالرصاص شارع الحزام
في انتظار المزيد من التفاصيل أو إكمال التقرير
الجيش يكول الصحراء مغربية
أهل جعيدر وأهل المخليل طردهم من المخيم
شارع الحزام توقيف نيسان اعتقال خمسة على متنها شابين وثلاث نساء
توقيف السيارات بقوة السلاح
ف
العيون المحتلة
09.11.2010
بعد يوم دامي شهدته مدينة العيون المحتلة، استأنفت صباح اليوم الثلاثاء عمليات القمع المغربي بحي معطى الله حيث انتشر المئات من عناصر الجيش المغربي بمحيط الحي فاسحين المجال إلى عناصر من الشرطة مسلحين بمسدسات لاقتحام بعض المنازل كمنزل أهل لغريد ومنزل أهل بوحنانة
والى حدود كتابة هذا التقرير تقوم قوات الاحتلال بتسهيل وتعبيد الطريق أمام المئات من المستوطنين حيث بدؤوا في اقتحام منازل مواطنين صحراويين بحي الدويرات والوفاق وكذا الراحة ، انتقاما من مقاومتهم الشرسة يوم أمس وليلة البارحة لمحاولات جيش الاحتلال التدخل ضدهم .
فيما لا تزال مقاومة بطولية مستمرة لأحياء العودة والأمل لصد هجوم لجيش الاحتلال مدعوما بميليشا المستوطنين وقد شارك في التدخل العسكري طائرات مروحية كانت ترمي متظاهرين صحراويين بقنابل مسيلة للدموع
شارع اسكيكيمة يشهد مواجهات بين صحراويين وقوات الاحتلال التي نهبت محلات تجارية بعد كسرها .
زنقة جبل طارق هي الأخرى تشهد مواجهات عنيفة وإطلاق الرصاص المطاطي
ضد المتظاهرين
المستوطنين احرقوا إعدادية التعاون بدير أيدك ويقومون بنهب منازل صحراويين بعد اقتحامها
كل ذلك أسفر عن سقوط العديد من الجرحى ، فيما تؤكد أنباء من تلك الأحياء بوجود حالات خطيرة جدا ، كحالة المناضل الصحراوي سعيد اللومادي الذي يجهل مصيره إلى الآن.
مواجهات يوم أمس أسفرت عن سقوط شهيد صحراوي تم دهسه بسيارة تابعة للشرطة المغربية قبل أن تقوم عناصر أمنية بالاعتداء عليه بالضرب المفضي للموت
وكان جنود ومستوطنون قد اقتحموا أمس وابتداء من الساعة الثالثة من بعد الظهر عشرات المحلات التجارية تعود ملكيتها لمواطنين صحراويين .
كما أسفرت تلك المواجهات عن سقوط مئات الجرحى واعتقال مئات آخرين وهذه لائحة أولية بأسماء الضحايا
الإصابات
* الصحفي الأميركي John Thorn اعتدي عليه بالقرب من فندق نكجير هو والناشط الحقوقي إبراهيم الأنصاري ممثل منظمة هيومان رايتس ووتش
* احمد لحميد (حالة خطيرة) أصيب على مستوى الفك واليد وجرح غائر بالرأس
* احمد الطالبي " احمد ولد محمد سالم ولد حميدي" أصيب على مستوى الرأس والكتف
* عزيز الطالبي " عزيز ولد محمد سالم ولد حميدي" أصيب بجراح خطيرة على مستوى الرأس
* السالك لعسيري أصيب برصاصة على مستوى اليد
* البشير خدا أصيب بجرح أصيب بنزيف حاد بعد إصابته على مستولى الرأس
* مصطفى بونان أصيب برصاصة على مستوى الفخذ
* ماء العينين هدي
* سيدي الوالي
* لمباركي مولاي اعلي
- Mostrar texto citado -
* عيادة عوبة
* محمود ولد اباعيا
* سعد دويهي
* الدحو ولد اللو
* عبد الله ولد فركاك
* المجاهيد سدرة
* لارباس اليدالي
* بشيرنا اليدالي
* الناجم هيدالة ولد الخليل
* البكاي العرابي
* أمباركة من سويح منت السي بلخير
* طودار كمال ولد عبد اللطيف
* واقة عبد الله
* الوافي رشيد
* لمباركي فاطمة
* داهي حسون
* يسلم ولد الخليل
* سيولمة محمد لمبارك بوبكر
* محفوظ ازفاطي
* لوشاعة جاعة
* فالة الشتوكي
* سعيد اللومادي
* الغالية سيدي محمد الديد
* خديجة سيدي محمد الديد
* اكليمينة علالي الحبيب
* المحجوب علالي عثمان
* علالي عثمان الزاوي
* سيد احمد هاشم
* محمود سعيد يبلغ من العمر 8 سنوات
* خديجة عالي معاقة
* أم الخوت منت مولود مسنة
أسماء المعتقلين
* حسن بوعمود
* حمودي محمد سالم الليلي
* دادة اعلي سالم
* ليلى الليلي
* فاطمتو البيلال
* كزيزة لجود
* احمد الطنجي معتقل بإحدى الثكنات العسكرية
* بوريال محمد
* الزاوي الحسين
* محمد الأمين أهل الطالب معاق
* احمد جدو الخنشي
* محمد الأمين ولد خطري ولد الداه
* السلامي عبد الفتاح ولد اعلي بيبا
* المكي سيد احمد
* هباد إبراهيم
* البشير يايا
* الحبيب إبراهيم السالم اعلي الأحمر
* إبراهيم كشبار
* احمد كشبار
* انكية كشبار
* محمد سالم المرابط
* مبارك فريدو
* عبدي السعيدي
* المهدي الاسماعيلي
* احمد المكي
* لمين ماء العينين
* محمود لهويدي
* رشيد الشمامي
* النوف الركيبي محمد الأمين
* الركيبي الوالي
* سعيد ددي
* بوتباعة احمد
* عبد الرحمان البيلال
* أمبارك منيصير
*احمد حسن المكي
* بنكا الشيخ
* ألمين ماءالعينين
أسماء المختطفين مجهولي المصير
* أندور محمد مولود
* لعروسي ميان
* سكينة منت رمضان ولد البشرة
* عياش بوجمعة محمد الأمين
* عياش عمر ولد محمد الأمين
* مولاي اعلي مبارك
* لمام هدي
* حمزة الشواف
* احمد الكنتاوي
* محمد لمين الطالبي
* لالة الغالية مرزوك
* السالك التوالي
* محجوب التوالي
* لخميني القاضي
* بابيت حمزة
* إبراهيم علي سالم بابيت
بمدينة المرسى 25 كلم جنوب غرب العيون المحتلة أصيبت عائلة صحراوية بجروح بليغة على اثر تدخل لجيش الاحتلال لصدهم من التوجه إلى بادية المنطقة
وكان مواطنون صحراويون قد تعرضوا للتعذيب بعد اعتقالهم بالمدينة بسبب مشاركتهم في مظاهرة نظمت احتجاجا على ما تعرض له اخوانهم في مخيم مدينة اكديم ايزيك والعيون المحتلة وقد اصيب في ذلك التدخل
عائلة اهل احريم ، والمواطن الصحراوي عبد الحي الناصيري ، المواطن الصحراوي بلعمش رشيد
ليلى الليلي
مختطف
العلاوي مولود مختطف
مختطف قشلة الحشيشة
منزل إبراهيم لبيهي فتحوه بالرصاص شارع الحزام
في انتظار المزيد من التفاصيل أو إكمال التقرير
الجيش يكول الصحراء مغربية
أهل جعيدر وأهل المخليل طردهم من المخيم
شارع الحزام توقيف نيسان اعتقال خمسة على متنها شابين وثلاث نساء
توقيف السيارات بقوة السلاح
ف
Reports of 11 dead, 723 injured and 159 missing after violent clashes in Laayoune yesterday
PRESS RELEASE: NOVEMBER 9, 2010 IMMEDIATE
Reports of 11 dead, 723 injured and 159 missing after violent clashes in Laayoune yesterday
The Sandblast Team, 9th Nov 2010
The latest official figures released this morning by the Saharawi Ministry of Information report 11 Saharawi dead, 723 injured and 159 missing as a result of the violent dismantling of the Gdeim Izik protest camp outside Laayoune yesterday and brutal clashes between Saharawi protesters and Moroccan authorities in the capital. Additionally, new reports suggest that an unknown number of Saharawi have been detained as the authorities today continue to forcefully enter and ransack homes, arresting those over the age of 16.
For their part, Moroccan authorities announced the death of an employee of the Moroccan Phosphate Office, bringing the total number of deaths confirmed by Morocco to six. According to the Saharawi Press Service, the city has been sealed-off by Moroccan forces, preventing the entry of foreigners, including press, and making it very difficult for any reports to be independently confirmed. The figures are expected to change as more information becomes available.
New footage of yesterday’s destruction of the protest camp and the street violence in Laayoune, published by Saharawi activist group, Sahara Thawra, was released today by Spanish newspaper ABC and conveys the violent events as they unfolded.
http://www.abc.es/videos/20101109/colectivo-prosahararui-publica-imagenes-665359133001.html
There has been no international condemnation of yesterday’s events. The governments of Spain, the UK and the rest of the EU remain silent on the issue. The UN, which is brokering talks between Morocco and the Polisario in New York this week, merely urged the two sides to exercise “restraint”.
Sandblast, along with Western Sahara Campaign UK and War on Want urge members of the public to take action by writing to their MPs to push for UK and wider international intervention to prevent an escalation of violence and allow an independent investigation into events to take place. For more details please go to Sandblast’s Ning Community: http://sandblast-arts.ning.com/forum/topics/write-to-your-mp?commentId=4590061:Comment:698
Reports of 11 dead, 723 injured and 159 missing after violent clashes in Laayoune yesterday
The Sandblast Team, 9th Nov 2010
The latest official figures released this morning by the Saharawi Ministry of Information report 11 Saharawi dead, 723 injured and 159 missing as a result of the violent dismantling of the Gdeim Izik protest camp outside Laayoune yesterday and brutal clashes between Saharawi protesters and Moroccan authorities in the capital. Additionally, new reports suggest that an unknown number of Saharawi have been detained as the authorities today continue to forcefully enter and ransack homes, arresting those over the age of 16.
For their part, Moroccan authorities announced the death of an employee of the Moroccan Phosphate Office, bringing the total number of deaths confirmed by Morocco to six. According to the Saharawi Press Service, the city has been sealed-off by Moroccan forces, preventing the entry of foreigners, including press, and making it very difficult for any reports to be independently confirmed. The figures are expected to change as more information becomes available.
New footage of yesterday’s destruction of the protest camp and the street violence in Laayoune, published by Saharawi activist group, Sahara Thawra, was released today by Spanish newspaper ABC and conveys the violent events as they unfolded.
http://www.abc.es/videos/20101109/colectivo-prosahararui-publica-imagenes-665359133001.html
There has been no international condemnation of yesterday’s events. The governments of Spain, the UK and the rest of the EU remain silent on the issue. The UN, which is brokering talks between Morocco and the Polisario in New York this week, merely urged the two sides to exercise “restraint”.
Sandblast, along with Western Sahara Campaign UK and War on Want urge members of the public to take action by writing to their MPs to push for UK and wider international intervention to prevent an escalation of violence and allow an independent investigation into events to take place. For more details please go to Sandblast’s Ning Community: http://sandblast-arts.ning.com/forum/topics/write-to-your-mp?commentId=4590061:Comment:698
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
U.S. Middle East talks--a model for Western Sahara?
http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/10/27/us_middle_east_talks_a_model_for_western_sahara
U.S. Middle East talks--a model for Western Sahara?Posted By Anna Theofilopoulou, Jacob Mundy Wednesday, October 27, 2010 - 12:23 AM Share
The recent decision by the Obama administration to invite Israel and the Palestinian Authority to engage in serious negotiations over the Middle East conflict should be instructive for those interested in resolving one that seems almost as intractable -- the Western Sahara dispute.
Key to this new effort in the Middle East conflict is (1) the US is sponsoring and supporting the talks; (2) the US has demanded that the two negotiate seriously, tackle the difficult subjects that have trounced previous attempts for resolution; and (3) the US has given the two sides a one-year deadline.
Though the fate of the Israel-Palestinian talks still hangs on a knife's edge, a similar attitude on the part of United States towards the Western Sahara dispute might pave the way to a durable solution to one of Africa's oldest conflicts.
Although there are many differences between the two conflicts, which the protagonists on both sides hasten to point out, there are also several undeniable parallels. They are both about the annexation of a geographical area by another state resulting in a group of people either coming under occupation or becoming homeless. In both cases the participants pay lip service to the result that the international community would like to see but with their actions boycott such outcome. Both conflicts have resulted in thousands of refugees living in camps or in exile for over two generations. In both cases the key parties are unequal in power, on the one side a powerful Western-backed state and on the other a former liberation organization with influential allies. In both cases, the US has been a strong, steady and undeniable supporter of the occupying state while paying lip service to the rights of the dispossessed nation.
Morocco, who took control of the former Spanish colony of Western Sahara in 1975, precipitated a war with the Sahrawi nationalist front Polisario, which has been backed by Algeria and the African Union. Morocco, with strong support from France and the Regan administration, was able to occupy most of Western Sahara by the time the UN Security Council got involved in 1988.
Another important parallel between Western Sahara and the Middle East conflict is that both peace processes made important strides when the Carter, Bush Sr. and Clinton administrations maintained an active interest in seeking a resolution and pressured both sides to make compromises. Conversely, both conflicts drastically deteriorated under the George W. Bush administration, who not only adopted an increasingly passive attitude but also an unabashedly partisan one towards Morocco and Israel in his second term.
Recently getting things back on track, the Obama administration told the Middle East protagonists that the path to Israeli security and Palestinian statehood is through negotiations. The parties to the Western Sahara conflict should be told that only through negotiations will Morocco and Polisario be able to mutually define the meaning of sovereignty and self-determination. These negotiations should be based upon the exchange of views and compromise, not dictating outcomes.
An important aspect of a more aggressive initiative in Western Sahara will be the coordination of the Security Council. China and Russia have tended to let the United States do the heavy lifting with some neutral support from Britain. France, on the other hand, maintains an unambiguously pro-Moroccan position on the issue and Spain, the former colonial power in Western Sahara, vacillates between the parties depending on which party holds power.
A serious initiative in Western Sahara means that it will be imperative that the Group of Friends for Western Sahara -- United States, France, United Kingdom, Russia and Spain -- first agree that there will be no daylight between them regarding the framework for negotiations based upon previous UN Security Council resolutions (i.e., a negotiated political solution that provides for self-determination). Indeed, if there is any need for pre-negotiations in Western Sahara, it is amongst those Western states claiming the most interest in the issue.
At the beginning, Western Sahara does not need high-level intervention from the White House or the State Department. Luckily for the United States, they have the next best thing: the current UN envoy to Western Sahara is former US diplomat Christopher Ross, who brings with him the neutrality of the UN Secretariat and the ear of Washington. For now, all that is needed to jumpstart the peace process in Western Sahara is for Presidents Obama and Sarkozy to the let parties know behind the scenes that they must engage in serious negotiations, listen to each other and get involved in a meaningful give and take. Then a joint communiqué from the US, France and Spain should follow that clearly lays out the terms of reference for the talks, establishes a one-year deadline for an agreement and commits the Security Council to a withdrawal from Western Sahara if no agreement is reached. Indeed, the US should leverage its veto over the UN mission in Western Sahara, which France backs for Morocco and Spain backs for its historical guilt, to get Paris and Madrid on board.
In Western Sahara, unfortunately, the motivation for spending the political capital necessary for peace is far less compelling than in Israel and Palestine. Since the 1991 ceasefire, most of the violence in Western Sahara has either come in the form of Morocco's often-brutal repression of dissident Sahrawis or the structural violence of thousands of Western Saharan refugees living in harsh exile in camps in Tindouf, Algeria. Apart from renewed Polisario threats to return to arms if its national rights are not recognized, the situation is not one that seems to threaten regional stability or US interests. Indeed, Morocco's 100,000 strong military occupation of Western Sahara makes it one of the most secure areas in a region increasingly seen as infested with an Al-Qaida franchise. When compared to the suffering and instability wrought by the Israel-Palestinian conflict on daily basis, it is no wonder that Western Sahara has earned low prioritization.
Nonetheless the Sahrawi refugees must come out of 35 years of exile in the camps to live a regular life in Western Sahara. Morocco needs to address its own domestic socio-economic issues and stop pouring resources of unknown size into a territory that it can only keep calm and quiet through repression. Further, regional economic integration and security cooperation on terrorism in Northwest Africa needs to come out of the deep freeze engendered by the enmity between Rabat and Algiers over Western Sahara.
As in the Middle East, there are no guarantees that the status quo is sustainable in Western Sahara (indeed, US Special Envoy Ross has recently noted the explicit non-sustainability of the status quo). It is now clear that leaving the parties to their own devices in the Middle East has only served to undermine the conditions for a viable two state solution. Similarly, the chances for a peaceful, stable and long-term resolution for Western Sahara will only diminish as the Security Council allows Morocco and Polisario to wage war-by-other-means without respite.
Often one hears in Washington that the parties must first show the political will necessary to solve the issue. Only then will the US back an aggressive peace initiative in Western Sahara. The problem with this argument is that it leaves the parties in the driver's seat. Anybody who understands the conflict should know that this will never happen. As long as either Morocco or Polisario can veto the peace-process, whether directly or through their respective proxies, the Security Council will be held hostage to a deteriorating situation.
Anna Theofilopoulou covered Western Sahara and North Africa in the Department of Political Affairs of the United Nations from 1994 to 2006. She worked closely with former US Secretary of State, James A. Baker, III throughout his appointment as Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General on Western Sahara.
Jacob Mundy holds a PhD from the University of Exeter's Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies. He is coauthor of Western Sahara: War, Nationalism and Conflict Irresolution (Syracuse University Press). Find more information about the book at wsahara.stephenzunes.org
U.S. Middle East talks--a model for Western Sahara?Posted By Anna Theofilopoulou, Jacob Mundy Wednesday, October 27, 2010 - 12:23 AM Share
The recent decision by the Obama administration to invite Israel and the Palestinian Authority to engage in serious negotiations over the Middle East conflict should be instructive for those interested in resolving one that seems almost as intractable -- the Western Sahara dispute.
Key to this new effort in the Middle East conflict is (1) the US is sponsoring and supporting the talks; (2) the US has demanded that the two negotiate seriously, tackle the difficult subjects that have trounced previous attempts for resolution; and (3) the US has given the two sides a one-year deadline.
Though the fate of the Israel-Palestinian talks still hangs on a knife's edge, a similar attitude on the part of United States towards the Western Sahara dispute might pave the way to a durable solution to one of Africa's oldest conflicts.
Although there are many differences between the two conflicts, which the protagonists on both sides hasten to point out, there are also several undeniable parallels. They are both about the annexation of a geographical area by another state resulting in a group of people either coming under occupation or becoming homeless. In both cases the participants pay lip service to the result that the international community would like to see but with their actions boycott such outcome. Both conflicts have resulted in thousands of refugees living in camps or in exile for over two generations. In both cases the key parties are unequal in power, on the one side a powerful Western-backed state and on the other a former liberation organization with influential allies. In both cases, the US has been a strong, steady and undeniable supporter of the occupying state while paying lip service to the rights of the dispossessed nation.
Morocco, who took control of the former Spanish colony of Western Sahara in 1975, precipitated a war with the Sahrawi nationalist front Polisario, which has been backed by Algeria and the African Union. Morocco, with strong support from France and the Regan administration, was able to occupy most of Western Sahara by the time the UN Security Council got involved in 1988.
Another important parallel between Western Sahara and the Middle East conflict is that both peace processes made important strides when the Carter, Bush Sr. and Clinton administrations maintained an active interest in seeking a resolution and pressured both sides to make compromises. Conversely, both conflicts drastically deteriorated under the George W. Bush administration, who not only adopted an increasingly passive attitude but also an unabashedly partisan one towards Morocco and Israel in his second term.
Recently getting things back on track, the Obama administration told the Middle East protagonists that the path to Israeli security and Palestinian statehood is through negotiations. The parties to the Western Sahara conflict should be told that only through negotiations will Morocco and Polisario be able to mutually define the meaning of sovereignty and self-determination. These negotiations should be based upon the exchange of views and compromise, not dictating outcomes.
An important aspect of a more aggressive initiative in Western Sahara will be the coordination of the Security Council. China and Russia have tended to let the United States do the heavy lifting with some neutral support from Britain. France, on the other hand, maintains an unambiguously pro-Moroccan position on the issue and Spain, the former colonial power in Western Sahara, vacillates between the parties depending on which party holds power.
A serious initiative in Western Sahara means that it will be imperative that the Group of Friends for Western Sahara -- United States, France, United Kingdom, Russia and Spain -- first agree that there will be no daylight between them regarding the framework for negotiations based upon previous UN Security Council resolutions (i.e., a negotiated political solution that provides for self-determination). Indeed, if there is any need for pre-negotiations in Western Sahara, it is amongst those Western states claiming the most interest in the issue.
At the beginning, Western Sahara does not need high-level intervention from the White House or the State Department. Luckily for the United States, they have the next best thing: the current UN envoy to Western Sahara is former US diplomat Christopher Ross, who brings with him the neutrality of the UN Secretariat and the ear of Washington. For now, all that is needed to jumpstart the peace process in Western Sahara is for Presidents Obama and Sarkozy to the let parties know behind the scenes that they must engage in serious negotiations, listen to each other and get involved in a meaningful give and take. Then a joint communiqué from the US, France and Spain should follow that clearly lays out the terms of reference for the talks, establishes a one-year deadline for an agreement and commits the Security Council to a withdrawal from Western Sahara if no agreement is reached. Indeed, the US should leverage its veto over the UN mission in Western Sahara, which France backs for Morocco and Spain backs for its historical guilt, to get Paris and Madrid on board.
In Western Sahara, unfortunately, the motivation for spending the political capital necessary for peace is far less compelling than in Israel and Palestine. Since the 1991 ceasefire, most of the violence in Western Sahara has either come in the form of Morocco's often-brutal repression of dissident Sahrawis or the structural violence of thousands of Western Saharan refugees living in harsh exile in camps in Tindouf, Algeria. Apart from renewed Polisario threats to return to arms if its national rights are not recognized, the situation is not one that seems to threaten regional stability or US interests. Indeed, Morocco's 100,000 strong military occupation of Western Sahara makes it one of the most secure areas in a region increasingly seen as infested with an Al-Qaida franchise. When compared to the suffering and instability wrought by the Israel-Palestinian conflict on daily basis, it is no wonder that Western Sahara has earned low prioritization.
Nonetheless the Sahrawi refugees must come out of 35 years of exile in the camps to live a regular life in Western Sahara. Morocco needs to address its own domestic socio-economic issues and stop pouring resources of unknown size into a territory that it can only keep calm and quiet through repression. Further, regional economic integration and security cooperation on terrorism in Northwest Africa needs to come out of the deep freeze engendered by the enmity between Rabat and Algiers over Western Sahara.
As in the Middle East, there are no guarantees that the status quo is sustainable in Western Sahara (indeed, US Special Envoy Ross has recently noted the explicit non-sustainability of the status quo). It is now clear that leaving the parties to their own devices in the Middle East has only served to undermine the conditions for a viable two state solution. Similarly, the chances for a peaceful, stable and long-term resolution for Western Sahara will only diminish as the Security Council allows Morocco and Polisario to wage war-by-other-means without respite.
Often one hears in Washington that the parties must first show the political will necessary to solve the issue. Only then will the US back an aggressive peace initiative in Western Sahara. The problem with this argument is that it leaves the parties in the driver's seat. Anybody who understands the conflict should know that this will never happen. As long as either Morocco or Polisario can veto the peace-process, whether directly or through their respective proxies, the Security Council will be held hostage to a deteriorating situation.
Anna Theofilopoulou covered Western Sahara and North Africa in the Department of Political Affairs of the United Nations from 1994 to 2006. She worked closely with former US Secretary of State, James A. Baker, III throughout his appointment as Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General on Western Sahara.
Jacob Mundy holds a PhD from the University of Exeter's Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies. He is coauthor of Western Sahara: War, Nationalism and Conflict Irresolution (Syracuse University Press). Find more information about the book at wsahara.stephenzunes.org
Monday, October 25, 2010
Escalation of violence against Saharawi civilians as Moroccan soldiers open fire killing a young boy near El Aaiun protest camp
SANDBLAST PRESS RELEASE
Escalation of violence against Saharawi civilians as Moroccan soldiers open fire killing a young boy near El Aaiun protest camp
El Aaiun (Occupied Western Sahara), October 25th 2010, Sandblast Team
A 14-year-old Saharawi boy was killed and seven others were injured yesterday (Sunday) evening near the Saharawi civilian protest camp outside El Aaiun. The Moroccan army opened fire on two vehicles the victims were travelling in as they attempted to deliver essential food, water and medicines to friends and relatives among the thousands of Saharawi camped out for the last two weeks some 12km east of the occupied capital of Western Sahara (El Aaiun).
The boy, Nayem El-Garhi, died instantly in the Nissan pick-up truck in which he was travelling, when it came under a hail of bullets at a control post, outside the camp. Saharawi sources report that seven others were wounded in the two vehicles, including the brother of the victim, Zupir El-Garhi. A Moroccan source puts the number of wounded at three people. All were taken to the military hospital in El Aaiun for treatment.
The victims had been pursued by the Moroccan army from the moment they left the city until their car was brought to a halt by the bullets some 2km from the Gdeim Izik camp, said the Saharawi source.
"Repeated calls by the Polisario Front and the Saharawi Government warning of imminent aggressive intervention by Moroccan forces against the protesters, have been confirmed by this cruel murder and attack on innocent young people who were trying to bring food to their families," a statement issued to the Sahara Press Service said.
The statement, which named two of the seven injured as Lagdaf El-Alwi and Mohamed Daudi, asserted that "the credibility of the UN is now being tested" and called on the international community to respond with a "rapid intervention to prevent a further tragedy.”
A delegation of peers and MPs will today address the issue in the UK with Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt MP, and have released the following reactions to last night’s developments:
“This death is a tragedy, but there are fears this is just the beginning. The UK government can help by urgently raising the issue with the Moroccan authorities to ensure the safety of those who peacefully protest the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara.” [Jonathon Evans MP]
“This is a tragedy and a disgrace and at a meeting I have later today with the Foreign Office Minister I’ll be asking that the UK government make the strongest possible reps to the Moroccans not only to allow safe passage but also, to end the political stalemate by allowing the people of the Western Sahara the free choice to decide the future of their own land.” [Jeremy Corbyn MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Western Sahara]
“I will be raising this issue with the Minister. We cannot continue to ignore the brutality of the Moroccan authorities against those who peacefully demonstrate for their right to independence. The first step is for the Security Council to implement human rights monitoring in Western Sahara.” [Mark Williams MP]
Thursday, October 21, 2010
News from Camp Independence( alias Camp Mahfud Ali Baiba) October21,2010
تقرير عاجل جدا من مخيم النازحين والعيون المحتلة
بعد ما يزيد عن ثمانية أيام من النضال السلمي الراقي الحضاري الذي عبر عنه الصحراويين من خلال نزوحهم الجماعي، هاهي سلطات الاحتلال المغربي بشتى تلاوينها الأمنية والعسكرية تحاول اعادة صياغة جرائمها التي ارتكبتها أثناء غزوها الصحراء الغربية يوم 31 أكتوبر 1975، وذلك من خلال التعزيزات المتواصلة للجيش المغربي والقوات المساعدة والدرك الملكي والشرطة وقوات التدخل السريع، بمعداتهم وآلياتهم وأسلحتهم وذخيرتهم الحية.
ففي الأيام الأربع الأولى كانت الاستفزازات من اختصاص الدرك الملكي، والتي بدأت بزيارات كبار مسؤوليه الاستفزازاية للمخيم، واعطائهم الأمر للطائرات الاستطلاعية العمودية منها والمروحية لأن تقوم بطلعاتها الجوية من أجل تخويف النازحين، وقد سبب في سقوط جنين من رحم أمه وهي لالة أم لخوت. وأمام عدم اكتراثهم لهذه الاستفزازات، نهجت السلطات المغربية سياستين متوزايتين ترسخان مدى تنسيق كل الأجهزة القمعية، حيث أن القوات المساعدة التي كانت ولازالت الى جانب الدرك الملكي قبل ثلاث أيام من كتابة التقرير استنفرت قواها الساعة الثالثة بعد منتصف الليل لتخويف النازحين، مما سبب ذعر في صفوف النسوة والأطفال والمسنين الا أن عزيمة حرس المخيم ذللت من جبروت هذه القوة بالتنظيم المحكم ومحاولتها صد أي هجوم بصدورهم العارية، في المقابل الشرطة المغربية وفي ذات الأثناء تمركزت في مناطق متعددة شرق وشمال شرق العيون المحتلة حتى لا يتمكن النازحين الجدد من الوفود على المخيم، فتمت مطاردة العديد من السيارات والاعتداء على من فيها ومصادرتها بحجة النقل السري، ورغم ذلك انضمت الى المخيم يوم السبت الماضي 550 خيمة.
ومنذ أول أمس بدأ الحصار يشتد، حيث عمدت السلطات المغربية الى منع الدعم من أكل وأدوية وماء، وذلك بمطاردة السيارات التي تحمله لثنيها عن الوصول، ولم تنجح نسبيا. بالموازاة مع ذلك انقطعت شبكة الاتصال الهاتفي، مع العمل على بث الشائعات التي تلين من عزم النازحين وترهيب كل من حاول الانضمام اليهم. وكان النازحين قد وجهوا نداء استغاثة للمنتظم الدولي من أجل توفيرالتغذية اللازمة لهم والعمل على انقاذ مرضى السكري والربو الحاد من الموت البطء من خلال ارسال مادة الأنسولين والأكسجين.
وظهر أمس الأربعاء 20 أكتوبر 2010، تحركت الدعاية الاستخباراتية المغربية وعملائها ببث الأكاذيب والمغالطات عن النازحين في ظل التعتيم الاعلامي المفروض عليهم، من قبيل:
- أن لجنة النازحين تفاوض مع ولاة في الداخلية المغربية قادمين من الرباط،
- أن النازحين سيحصلون على العمل والسكنى.
الا أن ما شوهد عكس ذلك حيث طوقت العيون المحتلة وبخاصة الجهة الشرقية والشرقية الشمالية منها بالكامل، من طرف الشرطة المغربية التي استقدم عدد هائل من أفرادها الى حدود ظهر اليوم في أفواج من أكادير ومراكش المغربيتين، والتي تنظم دوريات متلاحمة ومتواصلة بأحياء المدينة، وتقيم هذه القوات المستقدمة من داخل المغرب في:
- دار الطالب،
- شارع الفرسان،
- المستودع الاقليمي،
- شارع الحزام،
- ملعب الشيخ محمد لغظف،
- شارع السمارة،
- مقر مكتب الكهرباء
- مستودع شركة بيرا
- شارع راس الخيمة.
- شارع المغرب العربي
وعزز الجيش المغربي من تواجده وتعداده بالموازاة مع ذلك، حيث حاصرت المخيم أمس 110 سيارات من نوع تويوتا مكدسة بعناصر الجيش قادمة من أم أدريكة والسمارة والكلتة، دعمت ب 30 سيارة مكشوفة، بالاضافة الى (الديارات) " تشكيلات التدخل السريع العسكري"، كل هذه الآليات قادمة من مناطق عسكرية بالصحراء الغربية حيث تتمركز منذ بداية الاحتلال، وهي كالآتي:
- الراجمة الأولى بمنطقة الكلتة المحتلة،
- الراجمة السادسة بالسمارة المحتلة،
- لابريكاد العاشرة بمنطقة حوزة المحتلة.
وصبيحة اليوم الخميس 21 أكتوبر 2010، شدد الجيش المغربي الى جانب القوات المساعدة الحصارعلى النازحين الصحراويين وتطويق كل المنافذ المؤدية اليهم، ومطاردة السيارات القادمة من العيون المحتلة ومنعها من الدخول الى المخيم مستعملين: الرصاص الحي والحجارة وقنينات الزجاج والهروات، مما ينذر بكارثة انسانية وتقتيل جماعي بحق الصحراويين العزل.
هذه المطاردات والملاحقات والتطويق و العسكري والأمني، أدى الى الهجوم على السيارات الوافدة على المخيم، حيث أنه حسب لائحة أولية من مصادر موثوقة بعين المكان، تعرضت 12 سيارة من نوع لانردوفير الى تكسير زجاجها والتهجم والاعتداء على من فيها بالضرب والرمي بقنينات الزجاج، وهو الذي أدى الى اصابة العديد بصابات متفاوتة الخطورة من بينهم حسب اللائحة الأولية دائما:
- فاطمة بوتباعة: اصابة على مستوى العين بزجاج،
- حورية الموساوي: اصابة على مستوى العين بزجاج،
- المهداوي أحمد ولد المحجوب، اصابات متفاوتة الخطورة على مستوى الرقبة والكتف والكلي،
- خديجتو ماء العينين: اصابة على مستوى الذراع،
- صلاح الجبار: اصابة على مستوى اليد،
- سيداتي الشكوطي: اصابة على مستوى اليد،
- أحسينا أحمادي: اصابة على مستوى الذراع،
- لحسن الحيسوني: اصابة على مستوى الرجل.
ولم يقف الحصار عند هذا الحد، بل تعمل السلطات المغربية على أشكال جديدية قديمة لحصار النازحين وتجويعهم، حيث شوهدت منتصف اليوم الخميس 21 أكتوبر 2010 جرافتان تعملان على حفر حزام رملي شبيه بحزام الذل والعار، يفصل العيون المحتلة عن النازحين الصحراويين شرقا، حيث حفرتا الى حدود كتابة هذا التقرير ما يعادل متر ونصف الى متران، وذلك ابتداءا من شمال شرق حي الراحة الذي يوجد في أقصى شرق العيون المحتلة متجهتان نحو جنوبه، في احتمال واضح الى حصار المدينة عسكريا وأمنيا وذلك بمحاولة سلطات الاحتلال المغربي فتح بوابات صغيرة لا يتسنى لمن يريد مغادرة العيون المحتلة شرقا المرور من غيرها.
كل هذا وغيره من أشكال الحصار المفروض على النازحين شرق العيون المحتلة والعيون المحتلة نفسها، يشير الى أن حياة النازحين الصحراويين ومصيرهم في خطر شديد، سيما وأن الجرحى والمرضى والحوامل منهم في حالة سيئة جراء هذا الحصار والتجويع والتقتيل البطيء الذي يطالهم.
الخميس 21 أكتوبر 2010
العيون المحتلة
بعد ما يزيد عن ثمانية أيام من النضال السلمي الراقي الحضاري الذي عبر عنه الصحراويين من خلال نزوحهم الجماعي، هاهي سلطات الاحتلال المغربي بشتى تلاوينها الأمنية والعسكرية تحاول اعادة صياغة جرائمها التي ارتكبتها أثناء غزوها الصحراء الغربية يوم 31 أكتوبر 1975، وذلك من خلال التعزيزات المتواصلة للجيش المغربي والقوات المساعدة والدرك الملكي والشرطة وقوات التدخل السريع، بمعداتهم وآلياتهم وأسلحتهم وذخيرتهم الحية.
ففي الأيام الأربع الأولى كانت الاستفزازات من اختصاص الدرك الملكي، والتي بدأت بزيارات كبار مسؤوليه الاستفزازاية للمخيم، واعطائهم الأمر للطائرات الاستطلاعية العمودية منها والمروحية لأن تقوم بطلعاتها الجوية من أجل تخويف النازحين، وقد سبب في سقوط جنين من رحم أمه وهي لالة أم لخوت. وأمام عدم اكتراثهم لهذه الاستفزازات، نهجت السلطات المغربية سياستين متوزايتين ترسخان مدى تنسيق كل الأجهزة القمعية، حيث أن القوات المساعدة التي كانت ولازالت الى جانب الدرك الملكي قبل ثلاث أيام من كتابة التقرير استنفرت قواها الساعة الثالثة بعد منتصف الليل لتخويف النازحين، مما سبب ذعر في صفوف النسوة والأطفال والمسنين الا أن عزيمة حرس المخيم ذللت من جبروت هذه القوة بالتنظيم المحكم ومحاولتها صد أي هجوم بصدورهم العارية، في المقابل الشرطة المغربية وفي ذات الأثناء تمركزت في مناطق متعددة شرق وشمال شرق العيون المحتلة حتى لا يتمكن النازحين الجدد من الوفود على المخيم، فتمت مطاردة العديد من السيارات والاعتداء على من فيها ومصادرتها بحجة النقل السري، ورغم ذلك انضمت الى المخيم يوم السبت الماضي 550 خيمة.
ومنذ أول أمس بدأ الحصار يشتد، حيث عمدت السلطات المغربية الى منع الدعم من أكل وأدوية وماء، وذلك بمطاردة السيارات التي تحمله لثنيها عن الوصول، ولم تنجح نسبيا. بالموازاة مع ذلك انقطعت شبكة الاتصال الهاتفي، مع العمل على بث الشائعات التي تلين من عزم النازحين وترهيب كل من حاول الانضمام اليهم. وكان النازحين قد وجهوا نداء استغاثة للمنتظم الدولي من أجل توفيرالتغذية اللازمة لهم والعمل على انقاذ مرضى السكري والربو الحاد من الموت البطء من خلال ارسال مادة الأنسولين والأكسجين.
وظهر أمس الأربعاء 20 أكتوبر 2010، تحركت الدعاية الاستخباراتية المغربية وعملائها ببث الأكاذيب والمغالطات عن النازحين في ظل التعتيم الاعلامي المفروض عليهم، من قبيل:
- أن لجنة النازحين تفاوض مع ولاة في الداخلية المغربية قادمين من الرباط،
- أن النازحين سيحصلون على العمل والسكنى.
الا أن ما شوهد عكس ذلك حيث طوقت العيون المحتلة وبخاصة الجهة الشرقية والشرقية الشمالية منها بالكامل، من طرف الشرطة المغربية التي استقدم عدد هائل من أفرادها الى حدود ظهر اليوم في أفواج من أكادير ومراكش المغربيتين، والتي تنظم دوريات متلاحمة ومتواصلة بأحياء المدينة، وتقيم هذه القوات المستقدمة من داخل المغرب في:
- دار الطالب،
- شارع الفرسان،
- المستودع الاقليمي،
- شارع الحزام،
- ملعب الشيخ محمد لغظف،
- شارع السمارة،
- مقر مكتب الكهرباء
- مستودع شركة بيرا
- شارع راس الخيمة.
- شارع المغرب العربي
وعزز الجيش المغربي من تواجده وتعداده بالموازاة مع ذلك، حيث حاصرت المخيم أمس 110 سيارات من نوع تويوتا مكدسة بعناصر الجيش قادمة من أم أدريكة والسمارة والكلتة، دعمت ب 30 سيارة مكشوفة، بالاضافة الى (الديارات) " تشكيلات التدخل السريع العسكري"، كل هذه الآليات قادمة من مناطق عسكرية بالصحراء الغربية حيث تتمركز منذ بداية الاحتلال، وهي كالآتي:
- الراجمة الأولى بمنطقة الكلتة المحتلة،
- الراجمة السادسة بالسمارة المحتلة،
- لابريكاد العاشرة بمنطقة حوزة المحتلة.
وصبيحة اليوم الخميس 21 أكتوبر 2010، شدد الجيش المغربي الى جانب القوات المساعدة الحصارعلى النازحين الصحراويين وتطويق كل المنافذ المؤدية اليهم، ومطاردة السيارات القادمة من العيون المحتلة ومنعها من الدخول الى المخيم مستعملين: الرصاص الحي والحجارة وقنينات الزجاج والهروات، مما ينذر بكارثة انسانية وتقتيل جماعي بحق الصحراويين العزل.
هذه المطاردات والملاحقات والتطويق و العسكري والأمني، أدى الى الهجوم على السيارات الوافدة على المخيم، حيث أنه حسب لائحة أولية من مصادر موثوقة بعين المكان، تعرضت 12 سيارة من نوع لانردوفير الى تكسير زجاجها والتهجم والاعتداء على من فيها بالضرب والرمي بقنينات الزجاج، وهو الذي أدى الى اصابة العديد بصابات متفاوتة الخطورة من بينهم حسب اللائحة الأولية دائما:
- فاطمة بوتباعة: اصابة على مستوى العين بزجاج،
- حورية الموساوي: اصابة على مستوى العين بزجاج،
- المهداوي أحمد ولد المحجوب، اصابات متفاوتة الخطورة على مستوى الرقبة والكتف والكلي،
- خديجتو ماء العينين: اصابة على مستوى الذراع،
- صلاح الجبار: اصابة على مستوى اليد،
- سيداتي الشكوطي: اصابة على مستوى اليد،
- أحسينا أحمادي: اصابة على مستوى الذراع،
- لحسن الحيسوني: اصابة على مستوى الرجل.
ولم يقف الحصار عند هذا الحد، بل تعمل السلطات المغربية على أشكال جديدية قديمة لحصار النازحين وتجويعهم، حيث شوهدت منتصف اليوم الخميس 21 أكتوبر 2010 جرافتان تعملان على حفر حزام رملي شبيه بحزام الذل والعار، يفصل العيون المحتلة عن النازحين الصحراويين شرقا، حيث حفرتا الى حدود كتابة هذا التقرير ما يعادل متر ونصف الى متران، وذلك ابتداءا من شمال شرق حي الراحة الذي يوجد في أقصى شرق العيون المحتلة متجهتان نحو جنوبه، في احتمال واضح الى حصار المدينة عسكريا وأمنيا وذلك بمحاولة سلطات الاحتلال المغربي فتح بوابات صغيرة لا يتسنى لمن يريد مغادرة العيون المحتلة شرقا المرور من غيرها.
كل هذا وغيره من أشكال الحصار المفروض على النازحين شرق العيون المحتلة والعيون المحتلة نفسها، يشير الى أن حياة النازحين الصحراويين ومصيرهم في خطر شديد، سيما وأن الجرحى والمرضى والحوامل منهم في حالة سيئة جراء هذا الحصار والتجويع والتقتيل البطيء الذي يطالهم.
الخميس 21 أكتوبر 2010
العيون المحتلة
Friday, October 15, 2010
Saharawi Govt. Press Release _ French Version.
Ministerio de Información
Communiqué
En signe de protestation contre les conditions socio-économiques plus que précaires et l’occupation de leur pays, le Sahara Occidental par le Maroc, les populations sahraouies dans les territoires occupés ont opté depuis trois jours pour une autre forme de la résistance pacifique en s’exilant massivement en dehors des villes et en dressant des Campement de fortune. Le nombre de ces personnes qui se trouvent à 18 km à l’est d’El Aaiun, capitale du Sahara Occidental, avoisine 7000 personnes.
La réaction des autorités marocaine ne s’est pas faite attendre puisqu’ elles ont dépêché, en plus de l’inspecteur général des forces armées marocaines, Abdelaziz Benani, du patron de la gendarmerie, Housni Benslimane et de hauts gradés de l’armée, des unités des forces armées royales, de la gendarmerie et des forces auxiliaires qui ont procédé à l’encerclement des dites populations par des fils barbelés et en leur refusant tout approvisionnement en eau, la nourriture ou les médicaments.
La répression marocaine féroce et les descentes punitives des services secrets marocains, notamment à Boujdour dont les populations se sont solidarisées avec celles d’El Aaiun et Smara ont fait 70 blessés et débouché sur des centaines d'arrestations, sur fond de violences massives des droits de l'homme. A l’heure qu’il est, et selon les témoignages qui continuent d'être recueillis, les informations en provenance du Sahara Occidental font état d’une pratique généralisée de la torture
La gravité de la situation dans les territoires occupés du Sahara Occidental, et notamment celle de ces populations, exige un engagement réel de la part de toute la Communauté internationale, d’autant que leur protection ne peut plus attendre, et chaque retard apportera inéluctablement de nouvelles souffrances.
Le gouvernement de la République Arabe Sahraouie Démocratique et la Direction du Front POLISARIO, tout en dénonçant énergiquement la réaction brutale des forces d’occupation marocaines, lesquelles doivent respecter les obligations qui leur incombent en matière du droit humanitaire international, relatif à la protection des populations civiles en temps de guerre.
Le gouvernement sahraoui et le Front POLISARIO lancent un appel pressant à la Communauté internationale, notamment le Haut Commissariat des Nations Unies pour les Réfugiés (HCR), le Haut Commissariat des Nations Unies aux Droits de l’Homme pour mettre en application, sans délai, la quatrième Convention de Genève de 1949.
Ce mouvement de protestation, qui interpelle la communauté internationale pour trouver une issue urgente au conflit du Sahara Occidentale, basée sur la justice et le droit, intervient à la veille de la visite de M. Christopher Ross et démontre, de manière on ne peut clair, la frustration du peuple sahraoui devant l’impasse et l’échec des Nations Unies dans la mise en application des résolutions pertinentes quant à la décolonisation du Sahara Occidental.
Bir-Lehlou , 15 Octobre 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
Landmines in Western Sahara: A summary of 10 years
Western Sahara
Ten-Year Summary
Both the Polisario Front and Moroccan forces used antipersonnel mines until the 1991 UN-monitored cease-fire. In 1999, a Polisario representative stated that it would join the Mine Ban Treaty if eligible to do so. In November 2005, Polisario proclaimed a ban on antipersonnel mines by signing the Geneva Call Deed of Commitment. Polisario has been destroying its stockpile of antipersonnel mines since 2006.
Western Sahara is contaminated with mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW). A 2008 survey by Landmine Action identified considerable contamination, particularly from unexploded submunitions and mines. Landmine Action initiated battle area clearance operations in 2008.
Between 1999 and 2008, Landmine Monitor identified 151 mine/ERW casualties in Western Sahara (44 people killed, 102 injured, and five unknown) with most casualties reported in 2006–2008. Casualty data collection improved over the past decade, but was incomplete and the number of casualties was probably under-reported. Intensive risk education was carried out from 1998–2000. After this, efforts were limited and mostly carried out by volunteers in programs that lacked the funding necessary for adequate dissemination of risk messages.
Victim assistance efforts have been limited throughout the past decade. Emergency transport remained inadequate and many mine/ERW survivors died before reaching assistance. Medical facilities in refugee camps lacked adequately trained staff and resources. Rehabilitation and prosthetics improved in 2008, with the start of an ICRC-supported program. Despite some assistance, there was an acute lack of economic opportunities for survivors and psychological support in refugee camps.
Mine Ban Policy
The sovereignty of Western Sahara remains the subject of a dispute between the government of Morocco and the Polisario Front (the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguía el Hamra and Río de Oro). Polisario’s Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is a member of the African Union, but is not universally recognized. It has no official representation in the UN, which prevents formal accession to the Mine Ban Treaty. Polisario officials have, since 1999, stated that they would adhere to the Mine Ban Treaty if permitted to do so.
On 3 November 2005, Polisario Minister of Defense, Mohamed Lamine Buhali, committed Polisario unilaterally to a ban on antipersonnel mines through the Deed of Commitment administered by the NGO Geneva Call. The Deed pledges Polisario to a ban on use, production, transfer and stockpiling of antipersonnel mines, and to cooperation in mine action.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Both Polisario and the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces used mines extensively until the 1991 UN-monitored cease-fire. In the past decade, Morocco and Polisario have periodically traded accusations of new mine use, but both have denied it.[1] In October 2008, Moroccan officials told a visiting ICBL delegation that Polisaro rebels are still laying mines, but no concrete evidence has been presented.[2] In May 2009, however, Morocco told Landmine Monitor that it did not have any information about Polisario mine use in 2007 or 2008.[3]
Polisario is not known to have produced or exported antipersonnel mines. Polisario officials claim they acquired antipersonnel mines in the past by lifting them from Moroccan minefields, especially those around the berms (defensive earthen walls about three meters high).[4] Based on mines destroyed in 2006, 2007, and 2008, Polisario stocks have included antipersonnel mines of Belgian, Chinese, German, Israeli, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Soviet, United Kingdom, and Yugoslav manufacture.[5]
Polisario has not revealed the total number of antipersonnel mines it possesses. In 2002, Polisario told Landmine Monitor that it no longer had a stockpile of antipersonnel mines, except for 1,606 disarmed mines on display in a military museum.[6] In January 2006, however, Polisario’s Chief Engineer told Landmine Monitor that its stockpile consisted of more than 10,000 antipersonnel and antivehicle mines.[7]
Polisario has undertaken three public destructions of stockpiled antipersonnel mines, pursuant to the Deed of Commitment. It destroyed a combined total of 8,637 antipersonnel mines in February 2006 (3,316 mines), February 2007 (3,321 mines), and May 2008 (2,000 mines).[8] Landmine Monitor had previously reported that the 2006 and 2007 destruction events included 284 antivehicle mines. Geneva Call, which requested clarification from Polisario, was told that the destroyed mines were MK1 antipersonnel mines, not K1 antivehicle mines. Polisario also said that mines recorded as FMP1 were actually Portuguese-made M969 mines.[9]
Scope of the Problem
Contamination
Western Sahara is contaminated with mines and ERW, especially cluster munition remnants and other UXO, although the precise extent of contamination is not known. More than 2,000km of berms were built during conflict in the 1980s, and remained after the 1991 cease-fire between Morocco and Polisario. Moroccan troops emplaced antipersonnel and antivehicle mines in and around the berms. Landmine Action has claimed that Western Sahara is “one of the most heavily mined territories in the world.”[10]
Landmine Action deployed to Western Sahara in 2006 and trained local operators to conduct a survey of dangerous areas and items. The survey, which concluded at the end of 2008, identified 154 cluster munition strike sites, 40 mined areas, one ammunition storage area, and 486 individual items requiring spot clearance.[11] It found that contamination is concentrated around water holes, traditional settlement sites, and transport routes and determined that unexploded submunitions pose the greatest threat to people and animals.[12] Landmine Action believes that further survey is required in the 5km buffer zone leading to the berms.[13]
Casualties
Casualty data is hard to obtain. From reports received, Landmine Monitor identified 26 casualties (nine killed, 16 injured, and one unknown) in Western Sahara in 2008, resulting from 16 mine/ERW/cluster munition incidents. Casualties included 12 adults (11 men, one of unknown gender), four children (three boys and one girl) and 10 casualties of unknown age (at least three of whom were male, the gender of the rest was unknown). Antivehicle mines caused 10 casualties, antipersonnel mines four, submunitions four, and unknown devices eight. Seven casualties occurred in Polisario-controlled Western Sahara (one killed and six injured) and 19 casualties occurred in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara (eight killed, 10 injured, and one unknown). The most common activities at the time of the incident were travel (seven), herding/tending livestock (six), and playing (three). The activities of the other casualties at the time of the incident were not known [14]
Morocco reported 11 mine/ERW casualties (three killed and eight injured) in an annex to its voluntary Article 7 report for calendar year 2008, in mine-affected provinces of Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara.[15] Mauritania’s National Humanitarian Demining Program for Development (Programme National de Déminage Humanitaire pour le Développement, PNDHD) reported that two men from Mauritania, both nomadic herders, became casualties in a mine incident in Western Sahara in 2008. It was not noted if they were killed or injured. [16] It is not clear if these casualties overlap with those identified by Landmine Monitor in 2008.
The 26 casualties identified in 2008 represent a decrease from the 36 mine/ERW casualties in 18 incidents identified in Western Sahara in 2007 (12 killed and 24 injured). However, reporting for 2008 is not thought to be comprehensive. In 2007, seven casualties also occurred in Polisario-controlled Western Sahara (three killed and four injured) and 29 in were reported in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara (nine killed and 20 injured).
Casualties continued to occur in 2009, with 22 reported as of 10 August. One person was killed and 21 injured in nine mine/ERW incidents, include one citizen of Mauritania. Eight casualties occurred in Polisario-controlled Western Sahara (all were injured) and 14 were reported in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara (one killed and 13 injured). Six casualties were caused by antipersonnel mines, 11 by antivehicle mines, four by unknown mine types, and one by ERW.[17] This number includes five people injured while crossing a mined area of the berm during a protest, some 70km from the Saharawi refugee camps.[18]
In 2009, PNDHD reported two Mauritanian casualties, both nomadic men in two separate incidents in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara. One incident was caused by an antipersonnel mine and the other by an antivehicle mine. Both casualties died while being transported to Mauritania for emergency medical assistance.[19] There was insufficient detail to ascertain if these casualties were included in other reporting for Western Sahara.
Between 1999 and 2008, Landmine Monitor identified 151 mine/ERW casualties in Western Sahara (44 people killed, 102 injured, and five unknown). The majority, 86 casualties, were reported in the period from 2006–2008. This was most likely due to improved casualty data collection in recent years. The total probably under-represents the actual number of casualties during the period.[20]The total number of mine/ERW casualties in Western Sahara is not known and many incidents may not be recorded; estimates of the number of casualties since 1975 range up to some 2,500 people.[21] According to official Polisario estimates found in the ICRC annual report there were some 450 mine/ERW survivors from Western Sahara among the refugee population living in camps in Algeria.[22] A Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) assessment in the Tindouf refugee camps in 2000 identified 320 landmine survivor amputees. The Saharawi Campaign to Ban Landmines (SCBL) registered 345 mine/ERW survivors from the refugee camps. The Moroccan Association of Mine Victims in Smara reported that in 2007 at least 100 mine survivors were living in Smara, in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara.
Risk profile
Based on casualty and survey data the people most at risk of mine/ERW incidents are nomads with their herds, children playing, and people driving cars or riding camels. Mine/ERW contamination is concentrated around water holes, traditional settlement sites, and transport routes.[23]
Program Management and Coordination
The UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) has established a mine action coordination center (MACC), which was upgraded from a mine action “cell” in February 2008. Western Sahara does not have official victim assistance or risk education coordination.
Data collection and management
The MACC began to collect mine/ERW casualty data in 2008, and data collection continued to improve in 2008–2009, though under-reporting likely continued.[24] Due to the lack of facilities—including hospitals—in Western Sahara, incidents in remote areas often go unreported. In addition, people who are injured by mines/ERW close to the vicinity of the buffer zone often do not seek medical assistance, due to the political situation.[25] As a result many of them unnecessarily die from their injuries.
As of June 2009, the MACC was not yet entering casualty data into the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA). IMSMA was being adjusted to accept casualty data for 2009.[26] In October 2008, the MACC installed IMSMA at the Landmine Action office in Tifariti and provided training to both local and UK-based staff. The format of casualty data collection forms was finalized and they were being used by Landmine Action for entry of current incidents into IMSMA. No retrospective entry of casualty data had taken place as of August 2009. Landmine Action planned to work with the Chehid Cherif Landmine and War Victims Centre in Rabouni to verify casualty data at the center and enter it into IMSMA. [27]
The Collective of Saharawi Human Rights Defenders El-Aaiun Western Sahara (Collectif des défenseurs saharaouis des droits de l’homme El-Aaiun Sahara Occidental, CODESA) occasionally identified casualties reported in the media, but did not systematically report on casualties in 2008. In 2008, CODESA continued to operate informally, but a lack of legal status hindered its activities.[28] The SCBL did not provide casualty data to Landmine Monitor for 2008–2009.
Mine action program operators
National operators and activities
Demining
Risk education
Casualty data collection
Victim assistance
MINURSO/MACC
x
Chedid Cherif Landmine and War Victims Centre
x
x
Moroccan Red Crescent Society
x
International operators and activities
Demining
Risk education
Casualty data collection
Victim assistance
Landmine Action
x
x
ICRC
x
Plans
Strategic mine action plans
A strategic mine action plan is in place, and as of June 2009, an operational plan for MACC had been completed as well.[29]
Integration of mine action with reconstruction and development
From 2008–2009, Landmine Action conducted an assessment of how development could be supported in areas cleared of contamination by its clearance teams. The assessment identified the need to increase food security for semi-nomadic populations in the northern sector where water supplies are intermittent. Goat herders are said to be most affected by lack of water and take risks by entering known contaminated areas to reach water. Some have initiated their own agricultural schemes which face suspension in the dry season when water is insufficient and herders are forced to return to the refugee camps. A proposed project would build on current entrepreneurial efforts to facilitate access to water for herders, to be launched in areas where Landmine Action has cleared farmland.[30]
Local ownership
Commitment to mine action and victim assistance
In early 1999, Morocco and Polisario signed bilateral military agreements in which both parties agreed to cooperate with MINURSO in the exchange of mine-related information, marking of mined areas, and the clearance and destruction of mines and UXO in the presence of MINURSO observers. These agreements do not cover minefields along the berm and minefields that Morocco regards as an integral part of its defenses.[31]
Mine action standards/Standing operating procedures
Landmine Action uses its own standing operating procedures and works in accordance with Memorandum of Understandings it signed with MINURSO and Polisario.[32]
Demining and Battle Area Clearance
Landmine Action was the only international demining operator in Western Sahara in 2008. It conducted only battle area clearance (BAC) and explosive ordnance disposal in 2008, but was seeking funding in 2009 to equip and train teams to conduct mine clearance.[33]
Battle area clearance in 2008
In January 2008, while its survey was ongoing, Landmine Action began clearance operations. In June 2008, it completed clearance of the village of Budib and conducted its first community handover to the local population.[34] Results of Landmine Action BAC in 2008 are summarized below.
BAC in 2008[35]
Surface BAC* (m2)
Sub-surface BAC (m2)
Unexploded submunitions destroyed
Other UXO destroyed
Antipersonnel mines destroyed
Antivehicle mines destroyed
2,911,138
32,201
548
439
8
7
* Visual inspection
Risk Education
Moroccan authorities continued to report mine/ERW risk education (RE) in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara in 2008—to 12,600 herders and nomads in 12 provinces[36] MINURSO provided improved safety training for UN staff.[37] No activities were identified in the Polisario-controlled part of Western Sahara.[38]
RE was provided by the Moroccan Army, local authorities and representatives from rural communes, provincial health authorities, the provincial offices of the Moroccan Red Crescent Society, the Disabled Persons Support Association (Association d’Appui aux Personnes Handicapées), and the Moroccan Association of Mine Victims in 2008.[39]
The Moroccan Army and its Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie (state police under the military) conducted an RE campaign which included marking with warning signs, providing information to locals regarding forthcoming large-scale demining operations, and informing local people when the land had been cleared. An annual RE campaign is conducted through public outreach including conferences, media, pamphlets, and school visits to reach people likely to enter mine-affected areas.[40] Local volunteers were trained to disseminate RE. There was no permanent capacity to implement RE and authorities had to continuously retrain RE volunteers.[41]
A number of organizations have reported providing RE in past years, including, the Moroccan Association of Mine Victims (based in Smara) in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara in 2007, Landmine Action from 2006–2007, and the Saharawi Campaign to Ban Landmines from 2005–2007. From April 1998 to May 2000, NPA implemented a large-scale RE program for approximately 100,000 refugees in Western Sahara.
Victim Assistance
The total number of survivors is unknown; reporting has indicated that there are 450 survivors in the Rabouni refugee camps near Tindouf in southwestern Algeria and at least another 100 in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara. Due to a lack of comprehensive data, these are likely significant underestimates.[42]
People involved in mine/ERW incidents in remote areas continued to die from their wounds in the long periods before receiving medical attention.[43] There are no ambulances and survivors have to wait for a passing vehicle to take them to the nearest health facility, which may be hours away. MINURSO increased its emergency response capacity for UN personnel working in contaminated areas in Polisario-controlled areas.[44] On the Moroccan side of the berm, there are medical facilities in the towns of Dakhla, La’Youn, Ousserd, and Smara. Some survivors were also treated in nearby towns in Morocco.[45]
Persons with disabilities are among the most vulnerable in the Saharawi refugee camps in Algeria. A continuing lack of adequate medical care and the absence of understanding about disability issues increased the vulnerability and distress of disabled refugees in the camps.[46]
The Polisario authorities offer basic free healthcare for all Saharawis in each of the four refugee camps near Tindouf.[47] The refugee camps’ health system consists of “regional hospitals” in camps and a referral hospital in Rabouni as well as a psychiatric hospital. Medical issues that cannot be treated in the camps are referred to nearby Tindouf, or more distant facilities if necessary. Medical facilities in the camps lacked resources, and services were dependent on international aid for medicines and materials. There was a lack of continuity of medical staff because qualified doctors and nurses work on a volunteer basis. Inadequate coordination between donors and humanitarian agencies contributing to the health system in the camps was reported in 2009.[48]
The Chedid Cherif Landmine and War Victims Centre in the Rabouni refugee camp continued to provide rehabilitation and socio-economic assistance to mine/ERW survivors, but faced challenges in providing services due to a lack of resources.[49]
In May 2008, the ICRC officially started producing and fitting prosthetic and orthotic appliances at the physical rehabilitation center established in the Chedid Cherif Landmine and War Victims Centre in 2007. ICRC services were directed to persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors and other persons with disabilities.[50] The new center can produce 80–100 prostheses annually, as well as producing other mobility devices and providing physiotherapy. The ICRC began training nine locally-hired staff, five prosthetic-orthotic technicians, and four physiotherapists to build the capacity and sustainability of the center, and provided management support. [51] In 2008, 50 people benefited from services at the center, 18 receiving prostheses (94% of them for mine survivors). Other mobility devices were also produced and most beneficiaries received physiotherapy.[52] An improvement in the manufacture of prostheses was noted following the increased ICRC support.[53]
There is pervasive unemployment in the refugee camps. Mine/ERW survivors and other persons with disabilities are among the worst affected. There was no suitable work and most remained permanently unemployed.[54] Polisario authorities and partner organizations in the camps have reportedly made significant efforts to assist persons with disabilities in economic reintegration, through income-generating schemes including small shops and a bakery.[55] In 2008, the NGO Triangle Génération Humanitaire (TGH) continued to provide economic reintegration assistance to the elderly and to persons with disabilities through centers in the four refugee camps. For 2008, TGH project staff were not aware of any direct program beneficiaries who were mine/ERW survivors.[56] Schools for children with disabilities, including physical disabilities, are run by Polisario in all of the Saharawi refugee camps.[57] Psychological support for those in the refugee camps is inadequate and the mental health needs of refugees are not systematically addressed.[58]
Morocco has reported that that the military makes land and air facilities available to transfer mine/ERW survivors to the nearest hospital, where they can receive medical care free of charge. Hospitals near mine-affected areas had their capacity increased in 2008.[59] Other accounts from mine survivors’ organizations have reported that mine/ERW survivors injured in areas of Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara need to pay for their own emergency transportation and medical costs at hospitals in both Western Sahara and Morocco.[60] An orthopedic center, including a prosthetics workshop and services for mine/ERW survivors, is connected to the in El Hassan hospital, La’Youn, in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara.[61] The ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled (SFD) had planned to provide assistance to the orthopedic center in La’Youn in 2008, but the plan was delayed due to “procedural obstacles.”[62]
Support for Mine Action
In 2008, Spain reported contributing US$294,520 (€200,000) to mine action in Western Sahara, for unspecified mine action via the UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Clearance.[63] Reported mine action funding in 2008 was 67% less than reported in 2007. No international funding reported to Landmine Monitor since 2000 has specifically addressed VA needs in Western Sahara.
Landmine Action reported overall support for its programming in Western Sahara from Germany and Norway, as well as from UNMAS and the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund.[64]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] See, for example, Landmine Monitor Report 2003, p. 651; Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 717; and Landmine Monitor Report 2001, pp. 1,059–1,060.
[2] ICBL, “Mission Report: Morocco, 26–29 October 2008.”
[3] Permanent Mission of Morocco to the UN in Geneva, “Response to Questions from the Canadian NGO Mines Action Canada,” 18 May 2009.
[4] They may have acquired mines from other sources as well. Some of the stockpiled mines Polisario has destroyed are not known to have been in Morocco’s arsenal, such as those of Belgian, Portuguese and Yugoslav origin.
[5] “Observations made during field mission by Landmine Action UK,” provided by email from Landmine Action, 3 May 2006. See also, Landmine Monitor Report 2007, p. 1,095; and Landmine Monitor Report 2006, p. 1,196.
[6] Response to Landmine Monitor questionnaire by Polisario, 27 June 2002.
[7] Interview with Mohammed Fadel Sidna, Chief Engineer, Second Military Regiment, Tifariti, 15 January 2006.
[8] See Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 1,118; Landmine Monitor Report 2007, p. 1,095; and Landmine Monitor Report 2006, p. 1,196. The mines included: 96 M-35 (Belgium); six Type 58 (China); 5,480 VS-50 (Italy); 146 SB-33 (Italy); 76 M966 (Portugal); 20 M969 (Portugal); nine MAI75 (Romania); 303 MK1 [or Number 7] (UK); 109 PMD-6 (USSR); 1,490 PMD-6M (USSR); 12 PMN (USSR); 60 POMZ-2M (USSR); 535 PROM-1 (Yugoslavia); 267 VS-33 (unknown type, presumably Italian); 22 “NEGRO” (unknown type, attributed to Israeli origin); and six E-58 (unknown type, attributed to German origin).
[9] Geneva Call, “Information for Landmine Monitor 2009,” June 2009, received by email from Anne-Kathrin Glatz, Program Officer, Geneva Call, 5 June 2009.
[10] Landmine Action, “Western Sahara 2007 Activities,” London, April 2008, p. 2; and email from Melissa Fuerth, Operations Officer, Landmine Action, 19 June 2008.
[11] Melissa Fuerth, “Remnants of War: the legacy of armed conflict in Western Sahara,” Landmine Action campaign article provided by email from Melissa Fuerth, 20 February 2009.
[12] Email from Melissa Fuerth, Landmine Action, 20 February 2009.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Email from Tammy Hall, Senior Technical Advisor for Mine Action, MINURSO/MACC 29 June 2009; email from James Mbogo, IMSMA Officer, MINURSO/MACC, 19 August 2009; and email from Penelope Caswell, GIS Officer, Landmine Action, 16 July 2009.
[15] Morocco Voluntary Article 7 Report, “Annex,” April 2009.
[16]Telephone interview with Lt.-Col. Alioune O. Mohamed El Hacen, Coordinator, PNDHD, 24 June 2009.
[17] Email from James Mbogo, MINURSO/MACC, 19 August 2009; and email from Penelope Caswell, Landmine Action, 16 July 2009.
[18] Saharawi Journalists and Writers Union (Unión de Periodistas y Escritores Saharauis, UPES), “Five Saharawis injured by landmine blast during peaceful protest against Moroccan wall in Western Sahara,” 10 April 2009, www.upes.org.
[19] Interview with Lt.-Col. Alioune O. Mohamed El Hacen, PNDHD, in Geneva, 27 May 2009.
[20] See Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 1,122 (36 casualties in 2007); Landmine Monitor Report 2007, p. 1,099 (24 casualties in 2006); Landmine Monitor Report 2006, p. 1,199 (two casualties in 2005 and no confirmed casualties in 2004); Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 1,221–1,222 (one casualty in 2003; four casualties in 2002; three casualties in 2001; four casualties in 2000 in one incident); and Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 1,037 (51 military casualties in 2000–2001).
[21] See Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 1,124; and Landmine Monitor Report 2007, p. 1,100.
[22] ICRC, “Annual Report 2008,” Geneva, 27 May 2009, p. 375.
[23] Email from Melissa Fuerth, Landmine Action, 20 February 2009; and see Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 1,123.
[24] Telephone interview with Tammy Hall, MINURSO/MACC, 29 June 2009.
[25] Email from Penelope Caswell, Landmine Action, 16 July 2009.
[26] Telephone interview with Tammy Hall, MINURSO/MACC, 29 June 2009.
[27] Email from Melissa Fuerth, Landmine Action, 20 February 2009; and telephone interview with Penelope Caswell, Landmine Action, 19 August 2009.
[28] US Department of State, “2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Western Sahara,” Washington, DC, 25 February 2009; and Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 1,123.
[29] Email from Tammy Hall, MINURSO/MACC, 9 September 2009.
[30] Email from Melissa Fuerth, Landmine Action, 20 February 2009.
[31] See Landmine Monitor Report 2007, p. 1,097.
[32] Email from Melissa Fuerth, Landmine Action, 19 June 2008.
[33] Ibid, 20 February 2009.
[34] Melissa Fuerth, “Remnants of War: the legacy of armed conflict in Western Sahara,” Landmine Action campaign article provided by email, 20 February 2009.
[35] Email from Melissa Fuerth, Landmine Action, 20 February 2009.
[36] Moroccan Voluntary Article 7 Report, ‘Annex,’ April 2009.
[37] “Report of the Secretary-General on the situation concerning Western Sahara,” (New York: UN Security Council, 13 April 2009), S/2009/200, para. 28, p. 7.
[38] Telephone interview with Tammy Hall, MINURSO/MACC, 29 June 2009; email from Gaici Nah Bachir, Association of Saharawi Victims of Mines (ASAVIM), 24 March 2009.
[39] Morocco Voluntary Article 7 Report, ‘Annex,’ April 2009; and see Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 940.
[40] Interview with El Arbi Mrabet, Governor, and Hamid Barez, Adjoint Coordinator, Office of the Coordination with MINURSO, Ministry of Interior, Rabat, 29 October 2008; statement of Morocco, Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 25 May 2009; and Morocco Voluntary Article 7 Report, Form I, April 2009.
[41] Interview with El Arbi Mrabet and Hamid Barez, Ministry of Interior, Rabat, 29 October 2008.
[42] Estimate based on official Polisario estimate of 450 mine/ERW survivors from Western Sahara amongst the refugee population living in camps in Algeria. ICRC, “Annual Report 2008,” Geneva, 27 May 2009, p. 375; and Moroccan Association of Mine Victims reporting at least 100 mine survivors in Smara. See Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 1,124.
[43] Email from Gaici Nah Bachir, ASAVIM, 15 August 2009; and Landmine Monitor analysis of casualty data provided by email from Tammy Hall, MINURSO/MACC, 29 June 2009.
[44] “Report of the Secretary-General on the situation concerning Western Sahara,” (New York: UN Security Council, 13 April 2009), S/2009/200, paras. 27 and 28, p. 6.
[45] Landmine Monitor analysis of casualty data provided by email from Tammy Hall, MINURSO/MACC, 29 June 2009; Morocco Voluntary Article 7 Report, “Annex,” April 2009; Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 1,125; and see the report on Morocco in this edition of Landmine Monitor.
[46] TGH, “Improve the Living Conditions and Restore Basic Livelihoods of Disabled People in Saharawi Refugee Camps,” undated, www.trianglegh.org.
[47] See Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 1,125. The Sarahwi refugee camps in Algeria have identical names to these towns in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara, which may sometimes cause confusion as to the location of medical facilities.
[48] European Commission (EC), “Supporting document to the Commission Decision on the approval and financing of a 2009 GLOBAL PLAN For humanitarian actions from the budget of the European Communities in Algeria, ECHO/DZA/BUD/2009/01000,”, April 2009, p. 4, ec.europa.eu.
[49] Email from Gaici Nah Bachir, ASAVIM, 15 August 2009.
[50] ICRC, “Annual Report 2008,” Geneva, 27 May 2009, p. 329.
[51] Ibid, p. 375; and ICRC, “Physical Rehabilitation Programme: Annual Report 2008,” Geneva, May 2009, p. 59.
[52] ICRC, “Physical Rehabilitation Programme: Annual Report 2008,” Geneva, May 2009, pp. 58–59.
[53] Email from Gaici Nah Bachir, ASAVIM, 15 August 2009.
[54] Ibid.
[55] TGH, “Improve the Living Conditions and Restore Basic Livelihoods of Disabled People in Saharawi Refugee Camps,” undated, www.trianglegh.org.
[56] Email from Anne Trehondart, Project Manager, TGH, 7 April 2009.
[57] Timothy Kustusch, “Saharawi school sets standard in education for disabled,” UPES, 31 March 2009, www.upes.org.
[58] EC, “Supporting document to the Commission Decision on the approval and financing of a 2009 Global Plan for humanitarian actions from the budget of the European Communities in Algeria, ECHO/DZA/BUD/2009/01000,” April 2009, p. 4, ec.europa.eu.
[59] Statement of Morocco, Ninth Meeting of State Parties, Geneva, 26 November 2008; and interview with the Director of the Gelmim Military Hospital, Gelmim, 27 October 2008 in ICBL, “Mission Report: Morocco, 26–29 October 2008.”
[60] Email from Gaici Nah Bachir, ASAVIM, 15 August 2009; and Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 1,125.
[61] Interview with El Arbi Mrabet and Hamid Barez, Ministry of Interior, Rabat, 29 October 2008.
[62] ICRC SFD, “Annual Report 2008,” Geneva, April 2009, p. 23.
[63] Spain Article 7 Report, Form J, 30 April 2009.
[64] Landmine Action, “Survey and clearance - Western Sahara”, www.landmineaction.org.
Ten-Year Summary
Both the Polisario Front and Moroccan forces used antipersonnel mines until the 1991 UN-monitored cease-fire. In 1999, a Polisario representative stated that it would join the Mine Ban Treaty if eligible to do so. In November 2005, Polisario proclaimed a ban on antipersonnel mines by signing the Geneva Call Deed of Commitment. Polisario has been destroying its stockpile of antipersonnel mines since 2006.
Western Sahara is contaminated with mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW). A 2008 survey by Landmine Action identified considerable contamination, particularly from unexploded submunitions and mines. Landmine Action initiated battle area clearance operations in 2008.
Between 1999 and 2008, Landmine Monitor identified 151 mine/ERW casualties in Western Sahara (44 people killed, 102 injured, and five unknown) with most casualties reported in 2006–2008. Casualty data collection improved over the past decade, but was incomplete and the number of casualties was probably under-reported. Intensive risk education was carried out from 1998–2000. After this, efforts were limited and mostly carried out by volunteers in programs that lacked the funding necessary for adequate dissemination of risk messages.
Victim assistance efforts have been limited throughout the past decade. Emergency transport remained inadequate and many mine/ERW survivors died before reaching assistance. Medical facilities in refugee camps lacked adequately trained staff and resources. Rehabilitation and prosthetics improved in 2008, with the start of an ICRC-supported program. Despite some assistance, there was an acute lack of economic opportunities for survivors and psychological support in refugee camps.
Mine Ban Policy
The sovereignty of Western Sahara remains the subject of a dispute between the government of Morocco and the Polisario Front (the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguía el Hamra and Río de Oro). Polisario’s Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is a member of the African Union, but is not universally recognized. It has no official representation in the UN, which prevents formal accession to the Mine Ban Treaty. Polisario officials have, since 1999, stated that they would adhere to the Mine Ban Treaty if permitted to do so.
On 3 November 2005, Polisario Minister of Defense, Mohamed Lamine Buhali, committed Polisario unilaterally to a ban on antipersonnel mines through the Deed of Commitment administered by the NGO Geneva Call. The Deed pledges Polisario to a ban on use, production, transfer and stockpiling of antipersonnel mines, and to cooperation in mine action.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Both Polisario and the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces used mines extensively until the 1991 UN-monitored cease-fire. In the past decade, Morocco and Polisario have periodically traded accusations of new mine use, but both have denied it.[1] In October 2008, Moroccan officials told a visiting ICBL delegation that Polisaro rebels are still laying mines, but no concrete evidence has been presented.[2] In May 2009, however, Morocco told Landmine Monitor that it did not have any information about Polisario mine use in 2007 or 2008.[3]
Polisario is not known to have produced or exported antipersonnel mines. Polisario officials claim they acquired antipersonnel mines in the past by lifting them from Moroccan minefields, especially those around the berms (defensive earthen walls about three meters high).[4] Based on mines destroyed in 2006, 2007, and 2008, Polisario stocks have included antipersonnel mines of Belgian, Chinese, German, Israeli, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Soviet, United Kingdom, and Yugoslav manufacture.[5]
Polisario has not revealed the total number of antipersonnel mines it possesses. In 2002, Polisario told Landmine Monitor that it no longer had a stockpile of antipersonnel mines, except for 1,606 disarmed mines on display in a military museum.[6] In January 2006, however, Polisario’s Chief Engineer told Landmine Monitor that its stockpile consisted of more than 10,000 antipersonnel and antivehicle mines.[7]
Polisario has undertaken three public destructions of stockpiled antipersonnel mines, pursuant to the Deed of Commitment. It destroyed a combined total of 8,637 antipersonnel mines in February 2006 (3,316 mines), February 2007 (3,321 mines), and May 2008 (2,000 mines).[8] Landmine Monitor had previously reported that the 2006 and 2007 destruction events included 284 antivehicle mines. Geneva Call, which requested clarification from Polisario, was told that the destroyed mines were MK1 antipersonnel mines, not K1 antivehicle mines. Polisario also said that mines recorded as FMP1 were actually Portuguese-made M969 mines.[9]
Scope of the Problem
Contamination
Western Sahara is contaminated with mines and ERW, especially cluster munition remnants and other UXO, although the precise extent of contamination is not known. More than 2,000km of berms were built during conflict in the 1980s, and remained after the 1991 cease-fire between Morocco and Polisario. Moroccan troops emplaced antipersonnel and antivehicle mines in and around the berms. Landmine Action has claimed that Western Sahara is “one of the most heavily mined territories in the world.”[10]
Landmine Action deployed to Western Sahara in 2006 and trained local operators to conduct a survey of dangerous areas and items. The survey, which concluded at the end of 2008, identified 154 cluster munition strike sites, 40 mined areas, one ammunition storage area, and 486 individual items requiring spot clearance.[11] It found that contamination is concentrated around water holes, traditional settlement sites, and transport routes and determined that unexploded submunitions pose the greatest threat to people and animals.[12] Landmine Action believes that further survey is required in the 5km buffer zone leading to the berms.[13]
Casualties
Casualty data is hard to obtain. From reports received, Landmine Monitor identified 26 casualties (nine killed, 16 injured, and one unknown) in Western Sahara in 2008, resulting from 16 mine/ERW/cluster munition incidents. Casualties included 12 adults (11 men, one of unknown gender), four children (three boys and one girl) and 10 casualties of unknown age (at least three of whom were male, the gender of the rest was unknown). Antivehicle mines caused 10 casualties, antipersonnel mines four, submunitions four, and unknown devices eight. Seven casualties occurred in Polisario-controlled Western Sahara (one killed and six injured) and 19 casualties occurred in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara (eight killed, 10 injured, and one unknown). The most common activities at the time of the incident were travel (seven), herding/tending livestock (six), and playing (three). The activities of the other casualties at the time of the incident were not known [14]
Morocco reported 11 mine/ERW casualties (three killed and eight injured) in an annex to its voluntary Article 7 report for calendar year 2008, in mine-affected provinces of Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara.[15] Mauritania’s National Humanitarian Demining Program for Development (Programme National de Déminage Humanitaire pour le Développement, PNDHD) reported that two men from Mauritania, both nomadic herders, became casualties in a mine incident in Western Sahara in 2008. It was not noted if they were killed or injured. [16] It is not clear if these casualties overlap with those identified by Landmine Monitor in 2008.
The 26 casualties identified in 2008 represent a decrease from the 36 mine/ERW casualties in 18 incidents identified in Western Sahara in 2007 (12 killed and 24 injured). However, reporting for 2008 is not thought to be comprehensive. In 2007, seven casualties also occurred in Polisario-controlled Western Sahara (three killed and four injured) and 29 in were reported in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara (nine killed and 20 injured).
Casualties continued to occur in 2009, with 22 reported as of 10 August. One person was killed and 21 injured in nine mine/ERW incidents, include one citizen of Mauritania. Eight casualties occurred in Polisario-controlled Western Sahara (all were injured) and 14 were reported in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara (one killed and 13 injured). Six casualties were caused by antipersonnel mines, 11 by antivehicle mines, four by unknown mine types, and one by ERW.[17] This number includes five people injured while crossing a mined area of the berm during a protest, some 70km from the Saharawi refugee camps.[18]
In 2009, PNDHD reported two Mauritanian casualties, both nomadic men in two separate incidents in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara. One incident was caused by an antipersonnel mine and the other by an antivehicle mine. Both casualties died while being transported to Mauritania for emergency medical assistance.[19] There was insufficient detail to ascertain if these casualties were included in other reporting for Western Sahara.
Between 1999 and 2008, Landmine Monitor identified 151 mine/ERW casualties in Western Sahara (44 people killed, 102 injured, and five unknown). The majority, 86 casualties, were reported in the period from 2006–2008. This was most likely due to improved casualty data collection in recent years. The total probably under-represents the actual number of casualties during the period.[20]The total number of mine/ERW casualties in Western Sahara is not known and many incidents may not be recorded; estimates of the number of casualties since 1975 range up to some 2,500 people.[21] According to official Polisario estimates found in the ICRC annual report there were some 450 mine/ERW survivors from Western Sahara among the refugee population living in camps in Algeria.[22] A Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) assessment in the Tindouf refugee camps in 2000 identified 320 landmine survivor amputees. The Saharawi Campaign to Ban Landmines (SCBL) registered 345 mine/ERW survivors from the refugee camps. The Moroccan Association of Mine Victims in Smara reported that in 2007 at least 100 mine survivors were living in Smara, in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara.
Risk profile
Based on casualty and survey data the people most at risk of mine/ERW incidents are nomads with their herds, children playing, and people driving cars or riding camels. Mine/ERW contamination is concentrated around water holes, traditional settlement sites, and transport routes.[23]
Program Management and Coordination
The UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) has established a mine action coordination center (MACC), which was upgraded from a mine action “cell” in February 2008. Western Sahara does not have official victim assistance or risk education coordination.
Data collection and management
The MACC began to collect mine/ERW casualty data in 2008, and data collection continued to improve in 2008–2009, though under-reporting likely continued.[24] Due to the lack of facilities—including hospitals—in Western Sahara, incidents in remote areas often go unreported. In addition, people who are injured by mines/ERW close to the vicinity of the buffer zone often do not seek medical assistance, due to the political situation.[25] As a result many of them unnecessarily die from their injuries.
As of June 2009, the MACC was not yet entering casualty data into the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA). IMSMA was being adjusted to accept casualty data for 2009.[26] In October 2008, the MACC installed IMSMA at the Landmine Action office in Tifariti and provided training to both local and UK-based staff. The format of casualty data collection forms was finalized and they were being used by Landmine Action for entry of current incidents into IMSMA. No retrospective entry of casualty data had taken place as of August 2009. Landmine Action planned to work with the Chehid Cherif Landmine and War Victims Centre in Rabouni to verify casualty data at the center and enter it into IMSMA. [27]
The Collective of Saharawi Human Rights Defenders El-Aaiun Western Sahara (Collectif des défenseurs saharaouis des droits de l’homme El-Aaiun Sahara Occidental, CODESA) occasionally identified casualties reported in the media, but did not systematically report on casualties in 2008. In 2008, CODESA continued to operate informally, but a lack of legal status hindered its activities.[28] The SCBL did not provide casualty data to Landmine Monitor for 2008–2009.
Mine action program operators
National operators and activities
Demining
Risk education
Casualty data collection
Victim assistance
MINURSO/MACC
x
Chedid Cherif Landmine and War Victims Centre
x
x
Moroccan Red Crescent Society
x
International operators and activities
Demining
Risk education
Casualty data collection
Victim assistance
Landmine Action
x
x
ICRC
x
Plans
Strategic mine action plans
A strategic mine action plan is in place, and as of June 2009, an operational plan for MACC had been completed as well.[29]
Integration of mine action with reconstruction and development
From 2008–2009, Landmine Action conducted an assessment of how development could be supported in areas cleared of contamination by its clearance teams. The assessment identified the need to increase food security for semi-nomadic populations in the northern sector where water supplies are intermittent. Goat herders are said to be most affected by lack of water and take risks by entering known contaminated areas to reach water. Some have initiated their own agricultural schemes which face suspension in the dry season when water is insufficient and herders are forced to return to the refugee camps. A proposed project would build on current entrepreneurial efforts to facilitate access to water for herders, to be launched in areas where Landmine Action has cleared farmland.[30]
Local ownership
Commitment to mine action and victim assistance
In early 1999, Morocco and Polisario signed bilateral military agreements in which both parties agreed to cooperate with MINURSO in the exchange of mine-related information, marking of mined areas, and the clearance and destruction of mines and UXO in the presence of MINURSO observers. These agreements do not cover minefields along the berm and minefields that Morocco regards as an integral part of its defenses.[31]
Mine action standards/Standing operating procedures
Landmine Action uses its own standing operating procedures and works in accordance with Memorandum of Understandings it signed with MINURSO and Polisario.[32]
Demining and Battle Area Clearance
Landmine Action was the only international demining operator in Western Sahara in 2008. It conducted only battle area clearance (BAC) and explosive ordnance disposal in 2008, but was seeking funding in 2009 to equip and train teams to conduct mine clearance.[33]
Battle area clearance in 2008
In January 2008, while its survey was ongoing, Landmine Action began clearance operations. In June 2008, it completed clearance of the village of Budib and conducted its first community handover to the local population.[34] Results of Landmine Action BAC in 2008 are summarized below.
BAC in 2008[35]
Surface BAC* (m2)
Sub-surface BAC (m2)
Unexploded submunitions destroyed
Other UXO destroyed
Antipersonnel mines destroyed
Antivehicle mines destroyed
2,911,138
32,201
548
439
8
7
* Visual inspection
Risk Education
Moroccan authorities continued to report mine/ERW risk education (RE) in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara in 2008—to 12,600 herders and nomads in 12 provinces[36] MINURSO provided improved safety training for UN staff.[37] No activities were identified in the Polisario-controlled part of Western Sahara.[38]
RE was provided by the Moroccan Army, local authorities and representatives from rural communes, provincial health authorities, the provincial offices of the Moroccan Red Crescent Society, the Disabled Persons Support Association (Association d’Appui aux Personnes Handicapées), and the Moroccan Association of Mine Victims in 2008.[39]
The Moroccan Army and its Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie (state police under the military) conducted an RE campaign which included marking with warning signs, providing information to locals regarding forthcoming large-scale demining operations, and informing local people when the land had been cleared. An annual RE campaign is conducted through public outreach including conferences, media, pamphlets, and school visits to reach people likely to enter mine-affected areas.[40] Local volunteers were trained to disseminate RE. There was no permanent capacity to implement RE and authorities had to continuously retrain RE volunteers.[41]
A number of organizations have reported providing RE in past years, including, the Moroccan Association of Mine Victims (based in Smara) in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara in 2007, Landmine Action from 2006–2007, and the Saharawi Campaign to Ban Landmines from 2005–2007. From April 1998 to May 2000, NPA implemented a large-scale RE program for approximately 100,000 refugees in Western Sahara.
Victim Assistance
The total number of survivors is unknown; reporting has indicated that there are 450 survivors in the Rabouni refugee camps near Tindouf in southwestern Algeria and at least another 100 in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara. Due to a lack of comprehensive data, these are likely significant underestimates.[42]
People involved in mine/ERW incidents in remote areas continued to die from their wounds in the long periods before receiving medical attention.[43] There are no ambulances and survivors have to wait for a passing vehicle to take them to the nearest health facility, which may be hours away. MINURSO increased its emergency response capacity for UN personnel working in contaminated areas in Polisario-controlled areas.[44] On the Moroccan side of the berm, there are medical facilities in the towns of Dakhla, La’Youn, Ousserd, and Smara. Some survivors were also treated in nearby towns in Morocco.[45]
Persons with disabilities are among the most vulnerable in the Saharawi refugee camps in Algeria. A continuing lack of adequate medical care and the absence of understanding about disability issues increased the vulnerability and distress of disabled refugees in the camps.[46]
The Polisario authorities offer basic free healthcare for all Saharawis in each of the four refugee camps near Tindouf.[47] The refugee camps’ health system consists of “regional hospitals” in camps and a referral hospital in Rabouni as well as a psychiatric hospital. Medical issues that cannot be treated in the camps are referred to nearby Tindouf, or more distant facilities if necessary. Medical facilities in the camps lacked resources, and services were dependent on international aid for medicines and materials. There was a lack of continuity of medical staff because qualified doctors and nurses work on a volunteer basis. Inadequate coordination between donors and humanitarian agencies contributing to the health system in the camps was reported in 2009.[48]
The Chedid Cherif Landmine and War Victims Centre in the Rabouni refugee camp continued to provide rehabilitation and socio-economic assistance to mine/ERW survivors, but faced challenges in providing services due to a lack of resources.[49]
In May 2008, the ICRC officially started producing and fitting prosthetic and orthotic appliances at the physical rehabilitation center established in the Chedid Cherif Landmine and War Victims Centre in 2007. ICRC services were directed to persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors and other persons with disabilities.[50] The new center can produce 80–100 prostheses annually, as well as producing other mobility devices and providing physiotherapy. The ICRC began training nine locally-hired staff, five prosthetic-orthotic technicians, and four physiotherapists to build the capacity and sustainability of the center, and provided management support. [51] In 2008, 50 people benefited from services at the center, 18 receiving prostheses (94% of them for mine survivors). Other mobility devices were also produced and most beneficiaries received physiotherapy.[52] An improvement in the manufacture of prostheses was noted following the increased ICRC support.[53]
There is pervasive unemployment in the refugee camps. Mine/ERW survivors and other persons with disabilities are among the worst affected. There was no suitable work and most remained permanently unemployed.[54] Polisario authorities and partner organizations in the camps have reportedly made significant efforts to assist persons with disabilities in economic reintegration, through income-generating schemes including small shops and a bakery.[55] In 2008, the NGO Triangle Génération Humanitaire (TGH) continued to provide economic reintegration assistance to the elderly and to persons with disabilities through centers in the four refugee camps. For 2008, TGH project staff were not aware of any direct program beneficiaries who were mine/ERW survivors.[56] Schools for children with disabilities, including physical disabilities, are run by Polisario in all of the Saharawi refugee camps.[57] Psychological support for those in the refugee camps is inadequate and the mental health needs of refugees are not systematically addressed.[58]
Morocco has reported that that the military makes land and air facilities available to transfer mine/ERW survivors to the nearest hospital, where they can receive medical care free of charge. Hospitals near mine-affected areas had their capacity increased in 2008.[59] Other accounts from mine survivors’ organizations have reported that mine/ERW survivors injured in areas of Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara need to pay for their own emergency transportation and medical costs at hospitals in both Western Sahara and Morocco.[60] An orthopedic center, including a prosthetics workshop and services for mine/ERW survivors, is connected to the in El Hassan hospital, La’Youn, in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara.[61] The ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled (SFD) had planned to provide assistance to the orthopedic center in La’Youn in 2008, but the plan was delayed due to “procedural obstacles.”[62]
Support for Mine Action
In 2008, Spain reported contributing US$294,520 (€200,000) to mine action in Western Sahara, for unspecified mine action via the UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Clearance.[63] Reported mine action funding in 2008 was 67% less than reported in 2007. No international funding reported to Landmine Monitor since 2000 has specifically addressed VA needs in Western Sahara.
Landmine Action reported overall support for its programming in Western Sahara from Germany and Norway, as well as from UNMAS and the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund.[64]
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[1] See, for example, Landmine Monitor Report 2003, p. 651; Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 717; and Landmine Monitor Report 2001, pp. 1,059–1,060.
[2] ICBL, “Mission Report: Morocco, 26–29 October 2008.”
[3] Permanent Mission of Morocco to the UN in Geneva, “Response to Questions from the Canadian NGO Mines Action Canada,” 18 May 2009.
[4] They may have acquired mines from other sources as well. Some of the stockpiled mines Polisario has destroyed are not known to have been in Morocco’s arsenal, such as those of Belgian, Portuguese and Yugoslav origin.
[5] “Observations made during field mission by Landmine Action UK,” provided by email from Landmine Action, 3 May 2006. See also, Landmine Monitor Report 2007, p. 1,095; and Landmine Monitor Report 2006, p. 1,196.
[6] Response to Landmine Monitor questionnaire by Polisario, 27 June 2002.
[7] Interview with Mohammed Fadel Sidna, Chief Engineer, Second Military Regiment, Tifariti, 15 January 2006.
[8] See Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 1,118; Landmine Monitor Report 2007, p. 1,095; and Landmine Monitor Report 2006, p. 1,196. The mines included: 96 M-35 (Belgium); six Type 58 (China); 5,480 VS-50 (Italy); 146 SB-33 (Italy); 76 M966 (Portugal); 20 M969 (Portugal); nine MAI75 (Romania); 303 MK1 [or Number 7] (UK); 109 PMD-6 (USSR); 1,490 PMD-6M (USSR); 12 PMN (USSR); 60 POMZ-2M (USSR); 535 PROM-1 (Yugoslavia); 267 VS-33 (unknown type, presumably Italian); 22 “NEGRO” (unknown type, attributed to Israeli origin); and six E-58 (unknown type, attributed to German origin).
[9] Geneva Call, “Information for Landmine Monitor 2009,” June 2009, received by email from Anne-Kathrin Glatz, Program Officer, Geneva Call, 5 June 2009.
[10] Landmine Action, “Western Sahara 2007 Activities,” London, April 2008, p. 2; and email from Melissa Fuerth, Operations Officer, Landmine Action, 19 June 2008.
[11] Melissa Fuerth, “Remnants of War: the legacy of armed conflict in Western Sahara,” Landmine Action campaign article provided by email from Melissa Fuerth, 20 February 2009.
[12] Email from Melissa Fuerth, Landmine Action, 20 February 2009.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Email from Tammy Hall, Senior Technical Advisor for Mine Action, MINURSO/MACC 29 June 2009; email from James Mbogo, IMSMA Officer, MINURSO/MACC, 19 August 2009; and email from Penelope Caswell, GIS Officer, Landmine Action, 16 July 2009.
[15] Morocco Voluntary Article 7 Report, “Annex,” April 2009.
[16]Telephone interview with Lt.-Col. Alioune O. Mohamed El Hacen, Coordinator, PNDHD, 24 June 2009.
[17] Email from James Mbogo, MINURSO/MACC, 19 August 2009; and email from Penelope Caswell, Landmine Action, 16 July 2009.
[18] Saharawi Journalists and Writers Union (Unión de Periodistas y Escritores Saharauis, UPES), “Five Saharawis injured by landmine blast during peaceful protest against Moroccan wall in Western Sahara,” 10 April 2009, www.upes.org.
[19] Interview with Lt.-Col. Alioune O. Mohamed El Hacen, PNDHD, in Geneva, 27 May 2009.
[20] See Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 1,122 (36 casualties in 2007); Landmine Monitor Report 2007, p. 1,099 (24 casualties in 2006); Landmine Monitor Report 2006, p. 1,199 (two casualties in 2005 and no confirmed casualties in 2004); Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 1,221–1,222 (one casualty in 2003; four casualties in 2002; three casualties in 2001; four casualties in 2000 in one incident); and Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 1,037 (51 military casualties in 2000–2001).
[21] See Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 1,124; and Landmine Monitor Report 2007, p. 1,100.
[22] ICRC, “Annual Report 2008,” Geneva, 27 May 2009, p. 375.
[23] Email from Melissa Fuerth, Landmine Action, 20 February 2009; and see Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 1,123.
[24] Telephone interview with Tammy Hall, MINURSO/MACC, 29 June 2009.
[25] Email from Penelope Caswell, Landmine Action, 16 July 2009.
[26] Telephone interview with Tammy Hall, MINURSO/MACC, 29 June 2009.
[27] Email from Melissa Fuerth, Landmine Action, 20 February 2009; and telephone interview with Penelope Caswell, Landmine Action, 19 August 2009.
[28] US Department of State, “2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Western Sahara,” Washington, DC, 25 February 2009; and Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 1,123.
[29] Email from Tammy Hall, MINURSO/MACC, 9 September 2009.
[30] Email from Melissa Fuerth, Landmine Action, 20 February 2009.
[31] See Landmine Monitor Report 2007, p. 1,097.
[32] Email from Melissa Fuerth, Landmine Action, 19 June 2008.
[33] Ibid, 20 February 2009.
[34] Melissa Fuerth, “Remnants of War: the legacy of armed conflict in Western Sahara,” Landmine Action campaign article provided by email, 20 February 2009.
[35] Email from Melissa Fuerth, Landmine Action, 20 February 2009.
[36] Moroccan Voluntary Article 7 Report, ‘Annex,’ April 2009.
[37] “Report of the Secretary-General on the situation concerning Western Sahara,” (New York: UN Security Council, 13 April 2009), S/2009/200, para. 28, p. 7.
[38] Telephone interview with Tammy Hall, MINURSO/MACC, 29 June 2009; email from Gaici Nah Bachir, Association of Saharawi Victims of Mines (ASAVIM), 24 March 2009.
[39] Morocco Voluntary Article 7 Report, ‘Annex,’ April 2009; and see Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 940.
[40] Interview with El Arbi Mrabet, Governor, and Hamid Barez, Adjoint Coordinator, Office of the Coordination with MINURSO, Ministry of Interior, Rabat, 29 October 2008; statement of Morocco, Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 25 May 2009; and Morocco Voluntary Article 7 Report, Form I, April 2009.
[41] Interview with El Arbi Mrabet and Hamid Barez, Ministry of Interior, Rabat, 29 October 2008.
[42] Estimate based on official Polisario estimate of 450 mine/ERW survivors from Western Sahara amongst the refugee population living in camps in Algeria. ICRC, “Annual Report 2008,” Geneva, 27 May 2009, p. 375; and Moroccan Association of Mine Victims reporting at least 100 mine survivors in Smara. See Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 1,124.
[43] Email from Gaici Nah Bachir, ASAVIM, 15 August 2009; and Landmine Monitor analysis of casualty data provided by email from Tammy Hall, MINURSO/MACC, 29 June 2009.
[44] “Report of the Secretary-General on the situation concerning Western Sahara,” (New York: UN Security Council, 13 April 2009), S/2009/200, paras. 27 and 28, p. 6.
[45] Landmine Monitor analysis of casualty data provided by email from Tammy Hall, MINURSO/MACC, 29 June 2009; Morocco Voluntary Article 7 Report, “Annex,” April 2009; Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 1,125; and see the report on Morocco in this edition of Landmine Monitor.
[46] TGH, “Improve the Living Conditions and Restore Basic Livelihoods of Disabled People in Saharawi Refugee Camps,” undated, www.trianglegh.org.
[47] See Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 1,125. The Sarahwi refugee camps in Algeria have identical names to these towns in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara, which may sometimes cause confusion as to the location of medical facilities.
[48] European Commission (EC), “Supporting document to the Commission Decision on the approval and financing of a 2009 GLOBAL PLAN For humanitarian actions from the budget of the European Communities in Algeria, ECHO/DZA/BUD/2009/01000,”, April 2009, p. 4, ec.europa.eu.
[49] Email from Gaici Nah Bachir, ASAVIM, 15 August 2009.
[50] ICRC, “Annual Report 2008,” Geneva, 27 May 2009, p. 329.
[51] Ibid, p. 375; and ICRC, “Physical Rehabilitation Programme: Annual Report 2008,” Geneva, May 2009, p. 59.
[52] ICRC, “Physical Rehabilitation Programme: Annual Report 2008,” Geneva, May 2009, pp. 58–59.
[53] Email from Gaici Nah Bachir, ASAVIM, 15 August 2009.
[54] Ibid.
[55] TGH, “Improve the Living Conditions and Restore Basic Livelihoods of Disabled People in Saharawi Refugee Camps,” undated, www.trianglegh.org.
[56] Email from Anne Trehondart, Project Manager, TGH, 7 April 2009.
[57] Timothy Kustusch, “Saharawi school sets standard in education for disabled,” UPES, 31 March 2009, www.upes.org.
[58] EC, “Supporting document to the Commission Decision on the approval and financing of a 2009 Global Plan for humanitarian actions from the budget of the European Communities in Algeria, ECHO/DZA/BUD/2009/01000,” April 2009, p. 4, ec.europa.eu.
[59] Statement of Morocco, Ninth Meeting of State Parties, Geneva, 26 November 2008; and interview with the Director of the Gelmim Military Hospital, Gelmim, 27 October 2008 in ICBL, “Mission Report: Morocco, 26–29 October 2008.”
[60] Email from Gaici Nah Bachir, ASAVIM, 15 August 2009; and Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 1,125.
[61] Interview with El Arbi Mrabet and Hamid Barez, Ministry of Interior, Rabat, 29 October 2008.
[62] ICRC SFD, “Annual Report 2008,” Geneva, April 2009, p. 23.
[63] Spain Article 7 Report, Form J, 30 April 2009.
[64] Landmine Action, “Survey and clearance - Western Sahara”, www.landmineaction.org.
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