WINNIE MANDELA REAFFIRMS HER COMMITMENT WITH THE SAHARAWI PEOPLE

The historical anti-apartheid activsit,Winnie Mandela, has reaffirmed her commitment of supporting the the Saharawi people´s struggle for freedom and independence.

The symbol of the struggle of the all african women, Mrs. Winnie Mandela, has been invited by the main Vice-Chancellors of the seven Public Universities of Madrid for attending an interesting conference on Western Sahara which has been held in the spanish capital, Madrid, where a great number of experts in the issue of decolnization of Western sahara have taken part during the three days talks. They invited her to participate in the International Conference because since last month of March she was elected as the President of the International Platform of Solidarity with the Saharawi People.

Winnie Mandela called in her speech in Madrid for the decolonization of Western Sahara, "the last colony in Africa," and condemned the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara, comparing it with "the fascist apartheid regime" in South Africa.

During the Public Universities Days on Western Sahara, opened on Wednesday, May 26th, in Madrid, Winnie Mandela stated that the "solution to the question of Western Sahara is clear, which is the self-determination and independence, based on the application of the UN legitimate resolutions and international recognized principles."

The ANC historic leader and nowadays South-African´s M.P. pointed out that "Western Sahara remains the last colony in Africa at a time when we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the UNGA resolution which is the cornerstone of the decolonization course under the auspices of the United Nations in the framework of international law and major independences in the African continent."

Winnie Mandela - President of the International Women's platform in support of the Sahrawi cause - also stated that the struggle of the Saharawi people for its inalienable right to self-determination is "a just and legitimate struggle for liberation led by a legitimate government."

She further stated "it is a struggle against colonialism and occupant and repressive state, indicating that Spain "has stolen the land and left it to other colonizer, namely Morocco, which continues to benefit from the support of Madrid as well as other Western powers exploiting the natural resources of the Saharawi people" She said in her speech.

WINNIE MANDELA: "I AM VERY SURE THAT THE SAHARAWI PEOPLE WILL BE FREE SOONER OR LATER"

The historic South-African women´s leader, Winnie Mandela, is in the spanish capital, Madrid, responding to an invitation from the main Public universities of Comunidad de Madrid which have invited her as the President of the International Plattform of Solidarity with the Saharawi Women.

The fourth edition of the Madrid public universities meeting on Western Sahara  helds from May 26th to 29th  in the Spanish capital with the participation of many academics, experts in the colonial conflict, as well as several political personalities, including among many others Sahrawi Prime Minister Abdelkader Taleb Omar or the South African Winnie Mandela. The fourth-day, which is meant to be a public space for reflection and debate on the Sahrawi issue, will be held at the prestigious Fine Arts Circle in Madrid under the theme: "Western Sahara, an outstanding agenda, decolonization and human rights."

In a meeting hold today between the South-African Women´s leader and the President of the Spanish Plattform of Women´s Artist, cristina del Valle acompigned by the Sahrawi Women´s International Relations Officer, Suelam Beiruk, she said that is going to launch a huge international campaign of solidarity with the saharawi people and mainly with their women whom are an example of emancipation and empowerment in the arab and muslim world.

SAHARAWI WOMEN CONDEMN THE UNFURLING OF THE WORLD´S BIGGEST FLAG

The Saharawi Women condemn the innitiative of the moroccan occupuders authorities to add a moroccan huge flag in the illegal occupied city of western Sahara, Dakhla, and we express our total support to the campainers who have dismissed the unfurling of the world’s biggest flag in occupied Western Sahara as a political stunt by Morocco and demanded that Guinness World Records strip them of the record which they were awarded on 9th May.

The giant 20 tonne, 60,000 metre Moroccan standard was laid out on 9 May in Dakhla, Western Sahara and Guinness World Records sent a judge to authenticate the record. But campaigners from Europe, America and Australasia have pointed out that Western Sahara is classified by the United Nations as a non-self-governing territory and that Moroccan claims to sovereignty over the territory have been dismissed by the International Court of Justice. Indeed not a single nation recognises Morocco’s occupation.

Campaigners last week contacted Guinness to point out that by authenticating the record they were legitimising the unlawful occupation of Western Sahara and requested that the record be rescinded. In response a spokesperson for Guinness responded stating that “our task is to measure, count, monitor all world records. We are not in a position to comment on the political nature of things - we simply document the world around us.” Stefan Simanowitz who chairs the global campaigning intiative the Free Western Sahara Network does not accept this. “Under international law, the situation of Western Sahara is unambiguous. Morocco’s invasion was a serious breach of the UN Charter and the UN has passed over a hundred Resolutions reaffirming the inalienable right of the Western Saharan people to self-determination” he argues. “By authenticating this record in occupied Western Sahara they are effectively legitimising an illegitmate occupation.”

The Free Western Sahara Network together with other campaigning groups around the world accuse Morocco of using the giant flag as a clumsy attempt to distract attention from a series of PR disasters surrounding Morocco’s 35 illegal occupation of neighbouring Western Sahara. The record attempt came just days after it emerged that the Moroccans had persuaded the French government to use their veto to prevent any mention of human rights being included in the latest UN Resolution on the disputed territory and just months after Morocco was forced to readmit hunger striking Nobel Peace Prize activist Aminatou Haidar after having her deported. Simanowitz believes that it is incumbent on Guinness to strip Morocco of their record. “If Saddam Hussein had unfurled a giant Iraqi flag in Kuwait in 1990 I am confident Guinness would not have flown out a judge to measure it” he argues. “By sending a judge to authenticate a record attempt that has clear political overtones, Guinness cannot claim to be non-political. We ask that this record be rescinded.”

NEW FILM ON WESTERN SAHARA: "SONS OF THE CLOUDS"

The Saharawi Women would like to express their deepest thanks to the actor Javier Bardem and the other artists and professionals for their wonderful idea to make a film on the issue of Western Sahara for giving awareness on this unjustice that is facing the people and of the territory known as the Africa´s last colony.

 Javier Bardem, who toplines Cannes competition player "Biutiful," will produce and narrate the Western Sahara-focused documentary feature "Oulad Lemzun" (Sons of the Clouds).

Bardem will produce through his Spanish label Pinguin Films. Wild Bunch will handle international rights outside Spain.

"Sons" reps the directorial debut of Alvaro Longoria, one of Spain's most internationally minded indie producers.

Based out of Madrid's Morena Films, which will co-produce "Sons," Longoria exec-produced Steven Soderbergh's "Che" and Oliver Stone's "Comandante." Both Bardem and Longoria will take producer credits. "Sons" has been pre-bought by Spain's main pay-TV operator, Canal Plus.

Now in pre-production, "Sons" will shoot in Western Sahara, Algeria, Mauritania, U.S., Spain and France.

"Sons" is an attempt, said Bardem, to analyze the "political and economic interests" behind a "geopolitical chess game" played by Morocco, Algeria, the U.S., Spain and France. This has left the Western Sahara as a colony -- the last in Africa, said Bardem -- and nearly 200,000 people living in refugee camps, largely in Algeria.

"Our objective is to illustrate, explain and expose this unknown story in a neutral way, telling all sides of the story and leaving the final judgement to the audience," Longoria told Variety.

Intended interviewees include French president Nicholas Sarkozy, Abdelaziz Butlefika of Algeria, Mohamed Abdelaziz of the Arab Saharaui Republic, former Ronald Reagan and George H.H. Bush chief of staff James Baker, former Spanish p.m. Jose Maria Aznar, Jacques Chirac, Felipe Gonzalez, former U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger and former U.S. president Bill Clinton.

Bardem and Longoria both attended the 5th Sahara Intl. Film Frstival in 2008, which is held in refugee camps in South-West Algeria.

"Essentially, the film aims to prove that under the current world system those 'too small to matter' are ignored and fall between the world's political cracks," Bardem said.All profits from the film will be given to an NGO to help Saharaui children, said Longoria.

"Sons of the Clouds" is the name the Saharauis give to themselves -- "Oulad Lemzun" in Hassania.

ANOTHER YEAR FOR MINURSO DOING NOTHING IN WESTERN SAHARA

The Saharawi Women would like to express their disagreement and their concern on the recent UN Security Council´s resolution on Western Sahara aproved late this friday, April 30th 2010.

We express our concern and disaproval to this resolution because they have not included the need of protecting the human rights in Western Sahara due to the dangerous situation are facing our citizens in the occupied cities of what is known as the Africa´s last colony.

 As usually, for almost nineteen years the United Nations has  extented  the mandate of the peacekeeping force in Western Sahara, illegally occupied by kingdom of Morroco.

The Women from this country and the entire saharawi people are deeply concerded on the issue of the great violation of human rights.

Mandate of UN peacekeeping force in Western Sahara extended for another year without approving any mandate  of promoting human rights in the occupied cities of Western sahara, where the moroccan occupied authorities are violating daily the human rights like unjust prisons, detentions, turtures, etc..

We want to launch an urgent appeal to the international community to put pressure on the moroccan government to respect the international resolutions and to respect the human rights on Western Sahara.

UN Press release informed: "In a unanimously adopted resolution, the 15-member Council called on Morocco and Frente Polisario – the parties to the conflict in Western Sahara – to “continue to show political will and work in an atmosphere propitious for dialogue in order to enter into a more intensive and substantive phase of negotiations.”

The resolution was adopted after Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in his latest report on the peacekeeping mission (known as MINURSO), recently welcomed both parties’ commitment to the process of negotiations and their willingness to engage in the preparatory informal format.

But he noted that two informal meetings under the auspices of his personal envoy Christopher Ross held in August 2009 and February this year produced no movement on the core substantive issues, and more work is needed before a fifth round can be held.

Mr. Ross’ efforts to promote a settlement have been “laborious,” the Secretary-General said. “Their pace and substance have been heavily affected by the parties’ reaction to events in the region and their unyielding attachment to mutually exclusive positions.”

The recent  resolution called on the parties to continue the dialogue under the auspices of the Secretary-General without preconditions to achieve “a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.”

Last week, the Secretary-General expressed concern about alleged violations of human rights in the Western Sahara conflict and vowed to continue to promote the rights of Sahrawis after meeting with Mohamed Abdelaziz, Secretary-General of the Frente Polisario.

He reassured Mr. Abdelaziz of “the UN’s commitment to maintaining an active and balanced engagement in the search for a solution to the Western Sahara conflict that provides for the self-determination for the people of Western Sahara,” according to information released by Mr. Ban’s spokesperson.

“The Secretary-General stated that he remains very concerned about alleged violations of human rights. He said that his Personal Envoy, Christopher Ross, and the Secretariat will continue to work to promote the human rights of Sahrawis.”

RABAB AMAIDAN WRITTES AN OPEN LETTER TO HER BROTHER IN JAIL

The Saharawi Women express our total solidarity with all the saharawis that are suffering in the moroccan prisons and condemn the flagrant violations of human rights and launch an appeal to the international community to assume its responsability for the life of the saharawis that are in hunger strike for more than thirty-four days as a  protest of their inhuman situation.

Rabab Amaidan is a young human righta activists from our country who is now studying in a swedish university and she has recently sent the following open letter to her brother who is in jail:

Rabab writes: "I try to keep my sweet memories alive.. try to remember when we used to play on the roof of our grand parents’ big house, or playing with the neighbors’ kids, or sometimes we fight each others and he used always to win the fight..! When he used to call me the “cross-eyed” or the “big-nosed” to make me angry..

I remember our devil plans to steal sweets from the kitchen without my mother knowing..

Many funny things make me smile when it comes to my mind.. But, quickly, the sad and horrible memory comes to banish my sweet ones..!

I remember the police chasing him, remember him hiding, remember them storming our small house, remember the screaming, tears, beatings and torture... I remember how much I hate Morocco..

My little brother is now Hunger Striking.. with the Saharawi political prisoners and prisoners of conscience all over the Moroccan prisons, some of them have started the strike since the 18 of March.

My brother has been sent urgently to hospital today and once again earlier this week because of his weak health situation..

Being in prison for four years now, in neglect, malnutrition, bad treatment by the prison guards; Besides, the loneliness of being in a Moroccan prison, in an area where another language is spoken, not even the Moroccan accent that we are familiar with, the one is spoken by the settlers in our country..

Being far from home, it is hard for the family and friends to visit him often... Those harsh experiences make the mountain fall in ruin as we express in "Hassania..!

I wish I were the one in prison and that he would be free.. at least I am elder than him and have had some good times in my life, it would be ok for me to get in prison..

But, he is younger and has been imprisoned twice in his life, in addition to the several times he was detained and tortured..

He lost his education career, his sweet teenage life, his health, his natural and moral growth...

Oh! it is killing me to see how huge his suffering is and I can do nothing to change his situation!

Sadly, my brother is only one example of hundreds of Saharawis that are suffering in Moroccan prisons and secret jails..! " finnishs Rabab Amaidan´s open letter to her brother in jail.

TITTLE THOURA WRITES TO HER FATHER: ALI-SALEM TAMEK

The saharawi Women express their strongest condemnations to all forms of reppression particularly the reppressive moroccan policy in the occupied cities of Western Sahara and also we want to express our solidarity with all the saharawi compatriots who are in prision only because they fight for their legitimate right of self-determination and independence. littleThaura is the daughter of one of the famous saharawi human rights activists, Ali-Salem Tamek, who is in hunger strike like all his group that where taken into prison only because they visited their families in the saharawi refugee camps and who are now in their thirty-second day of hunger strike for protesting against the illegal conditions.

Thawra says to her father in the following call:

I won’t stop calling you, Daddy!

I won’t get tired of repeating out loud, “Free my dad! Free my dad!”

My father that I love brought me up to be stubborn and named me “Thawra” (Revolution), so that the revolution would be the first word I hear and answer to. He wanted me to be a seed of a revolution that grows.. and resists.. and prevails. But my name doesn’t mean anything without my people, because my people are a revolution, and the revolution, to my eyes, is my people. Each one of them is tied to the other to provide love, compassion, security and peace, because in this case, the revolution is not only blood and fire; the revolution here is also life.

My Dad, to me you are a symbol! A source that provides me with the feeling of belonging to my people. You make me proud of both my people and you. For this I loudly call, now, tomorrow and anytime, on all the free men of the world to stand up to come to the rescue of noble people like you. People who bare similar names, revolutionary people like you, militants who preferred to fight for principles and to take the risks. They abandoned their personal comfort, their personal happiness, to dedicate the most precious thing they have for the sake of the cause of the Saharawi people, to register the struggle of this people amongst the revolutions of the rest of nations.

Revolutions never die, because they are made by the people, and the people never forget. The collective memories of the peoples keep the stories and legends of their honourable sons to immortalize their names. Remember that caravans of followers took the path shaped by Martyr El Wali Mustapha Sayed, and more are still taking it, and there will be more and more tomorrow, so never feel embarrassed, my Dad! Never hesitate, because since you made your decision to fight, I looked up to you to see in you such a brave fighter, strong and courageous, you were great in my eyes, a freedom fighter who never compromises, never tires out, never despairs. And most important, Dad, never give up or fall despite of the weakness and disease, despite of death itself. If death is to come, Dad, die standing up! Because you were born to die standing. You gave me the name of the revolution and its path, so be sure, Dad, that the sadism of the torturers and their arrogance have only made me even more determined to keep on the path you chose for me, though they abusively deprived me of growing up with my Saharawi mates and deprived me from my grandparents and my homeland. Despite of all this, I fully accept and welcome my fate and that of my people.

I love you, Dad! Unlike other kids who love their parents, because I can only live through you. When I heard the news of your arrest with your comrades and your presentation before the justice of the soldiers, I panicked, and I was afraid to the point that I hid in the corner to cry so as to ease my heart, to cry my loneliness and my homesickness. We are both deprived of our homeland, my Dad - I am living abroad living like a stranger, and you are living in the prison of the occupier. Your opinions and thoughts treated like strangers, but you never surrendered, and you overcame your thoughts and doubts to choose an open hunger strike, while I almost succumb to illusions and despair.

I am still firm, my Dad, my love of life takes me to you, and missing you every moment brings me closer to you. And I can say that it is so sad when the feelings of adults invade my childhood, when we the children start to worry about you. Am I worried about you my dad? If I am not now while you are hunger striking, when can I get worried? You and your comrades almost finished one month fighting at the limits of death in the continuous battle of the hunger strike.

Yes, I have to confess, I am scared. I am terribly scared, and I fear the tragedy and bad news, and for that I will cry, Dad! I will cry so as everybody can see my tears, and I promise I won’t stop crying until I can see you and your comrades free! Until you and your comrades give us back our smile. Give us, your kids, our smile that became a hope and an aspiration we lose thousands of times in every moment, in every day of your hunger strike.

I won’t tire, Dad, from crying out loud “Free my dad, and free all of my dad’s comrades,.. and leave to never come again. Oh, you who made our days so sad and dark! Oh, you who turned us to orphans, separated us, displaced us and imprisoned us! Aren’t you yet satisfied with all those crimes you have committed? Leave us alone and never come back, so as we can recuperate our smile, so as my dad can come back to me, so as the victims of forced disappearance can come back, and the prisoners and the refugees.”

Thawra Ali Salem Tamek

Daughter of Ali Salem Tamek, the prominent human rights defender.

"THE SAHARAWI PEOPLE MUST DECIDE FOR HIMSELF" SAID MRS. RAMDAN

Madrid´s correspondent of Intermational Press Service (IPS) published these days an article about the situation in Western Sahara specially on occassion of the visit to the region of the United Nation Secretary General Special Representative, Christopher Ross.

and the journalist interviewed Mrs. Zahra Ramdán, Chair-person of the Association of Saharawi Women in Spain.

"The only solution for the conflict over Morocco's occupation of the Western Sahara is to do what the Saharawi people decide regarding their future" said Zahra Ramdan, President of the Association of Saharawi Women in Spain, told IPS.

Christopher Ross, United Nations envoy for the Western Sahara, expressed himself in similar terms this week after a tour that took him to Morocco, Algeria, Italy, France and Spain.

The aim of his visits, he said, was to reach a mutually accepted political solution that could lead to the holding of a referendum in the framework of the U.N. charter.

Western Sahara, a phosphate-rich disputed desert territory on the northwest coast of Africa bordered by Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania, was annexed by Morocco after Spain pulled out in 1975.

A political process aimed at determining the future of the territory has been at an impasse for many years. In 1991, the U.N. brokered a ceasefire to end the armed conflict between Morocco and the Polisario Front, the Algeria-based Sahrawi independence movement, which erupted in 1976.

But while a referendum on self-determination for Western Sahara, in which the Sahrawi people would choose between independence, autonomy and integration, was promised in the 1990s, Morocco has prevented the poll from taking place.

On Thursday, students grouped in the "university platform for support for the Sahara" organised a demonstration outside the foreign ministry in downtown Madrid, as part of a series of activities calling for the territory's self-determination that began Mar. 15.

The theme of the students' activities is "Camping for the Sahara: 35 years is enough; freedom for the Sahrawi people" - a reference to this year's anniversary of the withdrawal of Spanish troops from the Western Sahara and the occupation by Morocco.

Mrs. Ramdan pointed out to IPS that the Polisario Front has respected the ceasefire and sees the U.N.'s proposed solution as positive.

But, she added, "the problem still lies in Morocco, where the king is not in favour of allowing the Sahrawi people to decide by means of a referendum."

Ross, a U.S. diplomat who U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed as his personal envoy for Western Sahara in January 2009, said "the negotiations…have stalled and we are all called to think and find the best way out of this impasse."

But he also told reporters "I remain convinced that with good faith all will be reached soon to resolve this problem."

Ross met with Sahrawi president-in-exile Mohammed Abdelaziz at a Sahrawi refugee camp in Tindouf province, Algeria; Mauritania's President Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz; Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika; and Morocco's King Mohammed VI.

Ramdan said that while the U.N. resolution for a referendum is positive, "Morocco has shown that it neither respects the U.N. nor complies with the Security Council resolutions."

She was referring to a 2003 resolution known as the Baker Plan II, which envisioned Sahrawi self-rule under a Western Sahara Authority for a period of five years, to be followed by a referendum on independence, and a later 2007 resolution.

The Sahrawi activist said it is indispensable for the U.N. to make Rabat live up to the Security Council resolutions on the Western Sahara, "especially given the fact that they are supported by all of the nations involved directly or indirectly, with the exception of Morocco."

Although the Western Sahara has rich phosphate deposits, fisheries and offshore oil reserves, it is an undeveloped, poverty-stricken territory.

Some 200,000 Sahrawi people live in the refugee camps in Tindouf province, Algeria, near the Moroccan border, where both jobs and water are scarce and summer temperatures soar to 50 degrees Celsius.

The refugee camps visited by Ross will receive another group of visitors between Mar. 28 and Apr. 3 - this time hundreds of mainly young activistsresponding to a call by two Spanish student groups, Voluntad y Determinación (Will and Determination) and Conciencia Saharaui (Sahrawi Conscience or Awareness).

The activists' trip to the camps, under the slogan "Column 2010: Let's knock down the wall and build freedom", is aimed at sending out the message that it is time to find a fair resolution to the conflict, to allow the Sahrawi people to return to their territory and live in freedom.

During the visit, the activists will march along part of the "Moroccan wall" or "wall of shame", a 2,500-km sand embankment built by Morocco in the 1980s, that separates the Moroccan-controlled areas and the Polisario-controlled section of Western Sahara.

INTERNATIOANL CONFERENCE OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE SAHARAWI WOMEN

The Second International Conference of solidarity with Saharawi Women held under the motto of " Woman and Resistance" which has taken place in the Saharawi Refugee Camps from March 20th to 22nd where a huge number of foreign delegations have participated mainly from Africa, Europe and both Americas has adopted important decitions among them the need of strenghthening the relationship among the whole women´s organizations and to help the saharawi women in all the fields mainly in the international arena.

Winnie Mandela was one off the participants in this historical event of solidarity with the saharawi women. In her intervention in the symposium the historial southafrican woman leader said that she will led the international support and solidarity with the women from the last african colony: Western sahara, and will deploy a great campaign all over the world on the saharawi people´s struggle for peace and justice.

The participants sent the following letter to the president of the Commission of the African Union.

Mr. President

We, the women participating in the Second Annual International meeting of Solidarity with the struggle of the Sahrawi women for their right to self-determination and independence, which takes place in the Sahrawi refugee camps under the theme "Women and resistance," in the presence of women from different continents, while expressing our support for the struggle of the Sahrawi women and people, we call upon the African Union to intervene to complete the liberation of the African continent by decolonizing one of its full fledged members, a found of the African Union and last African colony through the organization of a free, democratic and fair referendum to enable the Sahrawi people to exercise its inalienable right to self-determination, granted him by the international conventions, especially the Charters of the United Nations and African Union.

Mr. President

The meeting is held under deep concern to Sahrawis about the human rights situation in the occupied territories of Western Sahara and southern Morocco, in particular the deteriorating situation of human rights activists on hanger strike in Sale prison to demand their release or a fair trial.

We urge you to urgently intercede with the Moroccan state to release all those detained Sahrawi political prisoners in Moroccan prisons and unveil the fate of hundreds of missing persons and prisoners of war still unaccounted for.

We urge you and the international community to exert pressure on the Moroccan regime to comply with the international legitimacy and stop its ongoing human rights violations against Sahrawis, documented by credible international organizations and bodies, through expanding the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara to include the monitoring and reporting on the situation of human rights in the region. We also demand the immediate cessation of the illegal looting of natural resources of Western Sahara and dismantlement of the wall of shame and humiliation, which divides the Saharawi people and its land and contaminates the environment with millions of anti-personnel mines, thus constituting a crime against humanity and nature.

Mr. President

The independence, stability and progress of the African continent is above all a responsibility of Africa, a requirement that can only be achieved through the contribution to solve the question of Western Sahara by decolonizing it, via the organization of a free and democratic referendum, where the Sahrawi people can choose their own future and thus turn the last page of the history of colonialism in our continent and contribute to its growth and its women work side by side with their sisters in Africa to erase the vestiges of colonialism and lead their peoples to a better future.

SAHARAWI WOMEN AGAINST THE E.U.- MOROCCO TREATY

The women from Western Sahara unite their voices to all those who are launching a great campaign against the European Union´s decition to give the Kingdom of Morocco an advantatus because signing this kind of agreeement with a country like whom is ilegally occuping another country, Western Sahara, and daily violating the human rights and all the resolutions of the international community, we can not accept it.

For that reason, we, the saharawi women are going to take part in all the activities organized by the european movement of solidarity with the sahara people is going to do these days before and during the Summit between European Union and Morocco which wil take place in the spanish city of Granada from 6 to 7 of march 2010.

Saharawi Women are going to participate in different events like talks, conferences, demonstrations etc. for protesting against the EU-Morocco Summit in Granada and also for giving awareness on the dangerous situation in the occupied cities of Western Sahara.
Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Community and the Kingdom of Morocco – Declaration by the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) of 21 January 2009 of jurisdiction over an Exclusive Economic Zone of 200 nautical miles off the Western Sahara- Catches taken by EU-flagged vessels fishing in the waters off the Western Sahara.
By letter dated 6 May 2009, received by the Legal Service on 7 May 2009, you requested a legal opinion on the legal consequences for the Fisheries Partnership (FPA) between the European Community and the Kingdom of Morocco of the declaration by the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) of 21 January 2009 of jurisdiction over an Exclusive Economic Zone of 200 nautical miles off the Western Sahara.
In light of the above, the Legal Service answers the two questions as follows:
“As for the declaration of jurisdiction over an EEZ of 200 nautical miles off the Western Sahara by SADR
The declaration of jurisdiction over an EEZ off Western Sahara by SADR does not produce legal consequences on the FPA with Morocco . Such declaration cannot produce legal effects for three different reasons :
- SADR does not enjoy the characteristics of statehood;

- it is not an cannot be a signatory party of UNCLOS;

- the territory which it claims not only is barely to a limited extent subject to its control, but is considered as a whole to be a Non Self-Governing Territory within the meaning of Article 73 of the United Nations Charter.

As for the catches taken by EU-flagged vessels fishing in the waters off the Western Sahara

Following a series of parliamentary questions to the Commission, it appears that EU-flagged vessels have fished in the waters off Western Sahara. Not only this can be deducted from the data provided by the Member States to the Commission pursuant to their obligations established by Community legislation on “control”, but also it has also been explicitly acknowledged in several Commission declarations.
In its previous legal opinion of 20 February 2006, the Legal Service noted that, failing a clear delimitation in the FPA of the fishing zones in which EU vessels were entitled to fish, it could not be excluded that Community vessels would operate in the waters off Western Sahara. The Legal Service considered however that it was not possible at that time to prejudge how the FPA would be implemented. The Legal Service observed that if it could not be said that the FPA is, as such, contrary to the principles of international law, the implementation of the FPA would determine if the principles of international law concerning the rights of the people of Western Sahara will or will not be complied with.
More than two years after the entry into force of the FPA (28 February 2007) a first assessment of the implementation of the FPA can now be done, especially with regard to the implementation of the sectoral fisheries policy referred to in Article 7(1)(b) of the Agreement and in Articles 6 and 7 of the Protocol. The matrix of objectives/results of the sectoral fisheries policy identifies both global and specific objectives and lists the actions programmed to attain those objectives over the period of application of the agreement.
One has to note from the outset that this matrix does not contain specific actions explicitly foreseen with a view to benefit the population of Western Sahara . It is true that some actions foreseen in the matrix target port towns situated in the territory of Western Sahara, such a Laayoune, Dakhla and Boujdour. However, it is not demonstrated that the EC financial contribution is used for the benefit of the people of Western Sahara. Yet, compliance with international law requires that economic activities related to the natural resources of a Non-Self-Governing Territory are carried out for the benefits of the people of such Territory, and in accordance with their wishes.
The actions mentioned in the matrix essentially aim at improving the infrastructure of the ports of Western Sahara . This is not necessarily equal to benefiting the people of Western Sahara insofar as they are not mentioned in the programming document and it is not known whether and to what extent they are able to take advantage of such improvements.
The Legal Service is not in a position to establish the facts on the ground and to conclude that the abovementioned actions targeting ports of Western Sahara actually benefit the population of Western Sahara . This assessment needs to be done in concrete terms on the basis of all relevant information, and the Joint Committee established in the FPA has a role to play in this context.
On the basis of the elements that are currently available (catches by EU flagged vessels in the waters of Western Sahara, lack of evidence in the annual and multiannual programming that the exploitation of fisheries resources in Western Sahara actually benefits the Saharawi people) it is strongly recommendable that the next annual meeting or a special meeting of the Joint Committee addresses these issues with a view to find an amicable settlement, fully respecting the rights of the Saharawi people under international law. If such an amicable settlement could not be found, the Community should envisage either the suspension of the agreement in conformity with its Article 15 and Article 9 of the Protocol, or to apply the agreement in such a way that EU flagged vessels are excluded from the exploitation of the waters of Western Sahara.
In the event that it could not be demonstrated that the FPA was implemented in conformity with the principles of international law concerning the rights of the Saharawi people over their natural resources, principles which the Community is bound to respect, the Community should refrain from allowing vessels to fish in the waters off Western Sahara by requesting fisheries licences only for fishing zones that are situated in the waters off Morocco”.
The Legal Service remains at your disposal for any further information you may require.
By delegation of the Jurisconsult
Johann SCHOO

WE SHOULD SAVE DIGJA LESHGAR´S LIFE AND HER SIX COLLEAGUES

The Women from Western Sahara express their solidarity and total support to the seven saharawi human rights activist who are in moroccan prison of Salé since last october 8th when they were returning from a family visit to the saharawi refugee camps, these refugees are divided from their family for more than thirty years by the so-called "Wall of Shame" built by the moroccan occupider army.

The Sahrawi human rights activist, Dekja Lashgar, languishing at sale prison, have started, along with six of her colleagues, unlimited hunger strike since Monday, in protest of her arrest conditions.

Fatima Lashgar, sister of Dekja Lashgar, said her sister has abstained from eating since Monday, except for sugared water and is determined to carry on with her hanger strike to achieve her legitimate demands, the source added.

It should be recalled, Dekja Lashgar, had been arrested several times and detained in secret centers during the '80s on the grounds of her position on Western Sahara question, now suffering of mental disorders since her arrest in October

The international NGO: Human Rights Watch (HRW) has denounced, in its 2010 report, published on its website, Morocco's "repressive policy" and human rights violations against the Sahrawi people in the occupied territories of Western Sahara.

"The (Moroccan) government, aided by complaisant courts, used repressive legislation to punish and imprison peaceful opponents (Saharwis) because of their peaceful advocacy of self-determination of their country (Western Sahara)," said the New York-based organization

The report indicated that "Restrictions on rights are tight" particularly in Western Sahara, which Morocco claims sovereignty over" and "Numerous Sahrawis were charged or imprisoned because of their peaceful advocacy of self-determination for the Western Sahara,"

HRW denounced the arrest of" seven non-violent Sahrawi activists on October 8 upon their return from openly visiting the Polisario-run refugee camps near Tindouf," and referred them to a military court adding that " The referral of civilians to a military court, where the procedural rights of defendants are abridged, was a rare and ominous development,"

The report criticized Moroccan government for preventing Sahrawi activists from travelling abroad and confiscated their passports, giving examples like "On October 6, Moroccan authorities detained and turned back five well-known Sahrawi activists who were on their way to Mauritania via the land border crossing,"

Human Rights Watch finally condemned that Morocco declines to extend mandate of MINURSO" to include human rights observation and protection" ,appreciating "the Polisario says it supports it.

For all these reasons, the saharawi women launch an urgent appeal to the international community to put pressure on the moroccan government to respect the most elemantary human rights and also to save the life of Mrs. Leshgar and her six colleagues who are suffering the most basic human rights.

AMINATOU HAIDAR GRANTED WITH ITALIAN HONORARY CITIZENSHIP

The Saharawi Women would like to express their deep gratitude for the italian municipality of Sesto Fiorentino in Toscana region, for granting the honorary citizenship to the Sahrawi human rights activist, Aminatou Haidar, and also we express our congratulations to Mrs. Haidar for this distinction which means a recognition to her peaceful struggle for freedom and justice in the last colony in the african continent: Western Sahara.

The Common Council of the Italian City of Sesto Fiorentino, unanimously decided to grant honorary citizenship to the human rights activist of the Saharawi people, Aminatou Haidar, indicated a statement issued 0n Thursday, January, 15tth.

According to the statement, the honour was a recognition and expression of the great solidarity of Sesto Fiorentino with the Sahrawi human rights activist, who is peacefully defending the right of her people to self-determination and freedom.

Already nominated for the European Parliament's Sakharov prize for her efforts as an ambassador of peace, Aminatou Haidar has been a victim of repression by the Moroccan government - repeatedly detained, imprisoned and tortured – and recently returned after a sensational hunger strike that lasted for more than a month, the statement added.

The statement considered Aminatou Haidar as a symbol of struggle of the saharawi people, which is divided for more than thirty years part of whom was forced to live in refugee camps and the other part is living in the under the illegal moroccan occupation where the saharawi people is facing every day flagrant violations of human rights which has been condemned several times by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch among others.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010

THE SAHARAWI WOMEN WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR AND HOPE THAT 2010 WOULD BE THE YEAR OF PEACE AND JUSTICE FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE AFRICA´S LAST COLONY: WESTERN SAHARA.

For this historical occassion, the beggining of a new year and a new decade, we think that is important to publish the letter of the Saharawi human rights activist, Aminatou Haidar, sent a letter of “gratitude and thanks” to all individuals and organisations that supported her in her struggle to return home last November and December.

Here is the complete text of the letter translated from Arabic to English:

Letter of gratitude and thanks:

The battle has finally ended as we hoped it to end, and the triumphal ship of solidarity has anchored alongside the Saharawi homeland. During this journey, Aminatou was just a weak person calling for help, a victim who was stricken by betraying hands that implemented unjust decisions to throw her into the heart of the unknown, making of her a victim in an agitated ocean of ingratitude, traps and conspiracy, or to be more specific, a space where human feelings are blatantly trampled. A woman like myself, who is exhausted from the terrible sufferings in the Moroccan secret detention camps and from the sadism and cowardice of the torturers, had no other option but to gather what is left of her strength to say no. No to the persistence of repression against innocent people; No to the attacks against the Saharawi human rights defenders; No to their judgment charged with falsified accusation of intelligence by a Moroccan military court and their incarceration in a depressing isolation; No to the abandonment of Saharawi prisoners of conscience who are dying in silence in the Moroccan prisons because of dangerous and chronic diseases; No to more than 30 years of tragedy that turned the dreams of my people to nightmares separated by the Diaspora and the fate of hundreds of victims of disappearance.

It is true that the expression of my aching body may have reflected concerns, but it is my very love of life, while the plane was landing in the airport of Lanzarote, that pushed me to go for the path of dignity and firmness in my decision, out of faithfulness to all those who still remember moments we shared under torture, in prison cells or before courts, moments that overflow with the noble values of humanity that implanted in our hearts values of generosity, fellow-feeling and selflessness. It is these same moments, when I declared my decision to start the open hunger strike in the airport and when the platform for the support of Aminatou Haidar was formed to back my battle to return home, it is these same moments that repeat themselves with memories full of new meanings that affirm that no boundaries can stop the flood of noble and beautiful human feelings coming from all countries, crossing continents to honour Aminatou as a human being, to honour her motherhood and to honour in her the values and principles of the Saharawi people.

O! how powerful were those moments with all their strong symbolism, how warm they were, like the warmth of the affection of motherhood and fondness of the homeland, moments that express the most beautiful meanings life can have.

You gave me the means to resist, you who backed me in my refuge and embraced me in my ordeal, and you strengthened my hope to survive it. You never let me feel I was fighting alone and you opened before my eyes new horizons towards a vision of the values of humanity that transcends all forms of seclusion and fanaticism, a vision that doesn’t recognise the relevance of individuality unless it enriches the heritage of humanity, because cultures and religions with all their diversity can be used to serve tolerance, friendliness and coexistence between peoples. Anyone who followed the wide international mobilization that you initiated and maintained at a steady pace to support my unconditional return to my homeland, Western Sahara, will find out that the international response gives a proof, again, that the peoples who believe in the human being and who respect the values of justice and human rights are able to impose and implement their choices.

I would like to seize the opportunity of the New Year, 2010, to wish you success, health and peace

And I name, all the members of the Platform; Robert Kennedy Foundation; the associations of support to the Saharawi people in Europe, in the US, in Africa, in Australia, in Latin America and in Asia; The Nobel Prize laureates; the lawyers, doctors, artists, actors, filmmakers, writers, professors and university students; international human rights organisations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Front Line; International bodies such as the United Nations, the UN High Commission for Human Rights, the UN High Commission for Refugees, the European Parliament, the Spanish Parliament, the Portuguese Parliament; Women’s movements, trade unions, political parties, municipalities from Spain, Italy and elsewhere, Spanish and Algerian media and all free media world-wide that helped open a window of light in the darkness of the Moroccan propaganda; and to all the Saharawi communities especially in Lanzarote and the Spanish people of Lanzarote. To all these and to all those whom I may have forgotten to mention and I apologise, I send my congratulations for our collective success in this battle and for my triumphal return. I send to all of you thanks and gratitude in my name and on behalf of the Saharawi people who are now proud of the extension of the circle of their supporters and who hope that more pressure will be exercised on Morocco to release the 7 Saharawi activists imprisoned in the prison of Sale and all the Saharawi prisoners of conscience in the rest of the Moroccan prisons, and to find the truth about the fate of the victims of disappearance while waiting for the fulfilment of their demand to exercise their right to self-determination via a free, just and regular referendum.

Finally, I wish from all my heart that 2010 will be a year of peace, respect of human values and victory for international legality.

Aminatou Haidar,
Saharawi human rights defender

AMINETOU HAIDAR´S HOME IS SORROUNDED BY THE MOROCCAN OCCUPIDER´S ARMY

The saharawi women express their condemnation to the repression of the moroccan army in the occupaded cities of Western Sahara.

Since that the famous saharawi human rights activist, Aminetou Haidar, returned to her home in the capital of Western Sahara, El- Aaiún, two weeks ago, she has declared several times to the international media that she has been like been in a prison due to the great deployment of the moroccan occupider army in every street.
Mrs. Haidar has made very recently the following interview via telephone:
Q: would you please describe the situation around you?

A: The Moroccan troops are still holding sway on the streets and other paths that lead to my house and stiffened security all around impeaching my neighbors to come to see me. They are forced to show their identity cards to prove that they live nearby my house.

Q: What about media, did they succeed to approach you?

A: Journalists are not allowed to talk to me except those who were present on my arrival Friday early morning, but when declarations, concerning my denial of the allegations that I have officially apologized to the king and that I recognized my Moroccan nationality leaked, the Moroccan authorities ordered their security forces to tighten the rope. Journalist couldn’t get in touch with me except through phone calls.

Q: What’s the link between your return to Al Ayoun and the apology to the Moroccan King?

A: I have denied these allegations; I didn’t accept any conditions since there aren’t any and no apology to any party whatsoever.

Q: Did you think of death while going on hunger strike?

A: we are doomed to die one day or another, but one cannot live without dignity. I have given my youth and life to my people and this part of my struggle.

Q: Is it true that the French president Nicholas Sarkozy was behind your return?

A: I cannot assert that Sarkozy’s intervention weighed in the balance, but what is certain is that the American and European pressure on Morocco and even France has forced the Moroccan side to yield and accept my return.

AMINETOU HAIDAR RETURNED TO HER HOME

The saharawi women would like to express their joy for the Aminatou Haidar´s return to her house in the occupied El-Aaiun, capital of Western sahara. The famous saharawi human rights activist is today with her children thanks to her strong determination in defending the dignity and the freedom of the saharawi people. She has spent thirty two days on hunger strike due to her forced depportation by the moroccan occupiders authorities on november 14th.

Mrs. Haidar´s return to her home is a triumph of justice and the respect of human rights´s principles and the a victory of the saharawi cause.
The govenment of the United States, France and UN and EU put pressure on the moroccan government to return the saharawi R.F. Kennedy awarded.
Mr.Jeremy Corbyn, British Labour Party Member of Parliament and Vice Chair of the Parliamentary Human Rights Group and Mr.Stefan Simanowitz, journalist and Chair of the Free Western Sahara Network have written the following:
Yesterday human rights activist Aminatou Haidar called off her 32 day hunger strike and was allowed to fly home to Western Sahara without making any concessions to the Moroccan authorities who had deported her to Lanzarote. Her homecoming represents a significant victory for the Saharawi people whose last taste of real political success came over three decades ago when the Spanish colonizers agreed to leave Western Sahara. That victory proved to be hollow when, in 1976, the Moroccan’s unlawfully occupied most of the territory.

The month-long standoff that had been playing out on the volcanic Canarian Island of Lanzarote between the Moroccan government and Haidar, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, reached its dramatic denouement late on Thursday night. A day that had started with Haidar’s hospitalisation ended with the 42-year old mother of two being flown home on a special Spanish military plane equipped with medical equipment. Her return followed intense diplomatic pressure involving the UN and the governments of several nations including Spain, France and the US. It also represents a significant victory for the Saharawi people whose last taste of real political success came over three decades ago when the Spanish colonizers agreed to leave Western Sahara. That victory proved to be hollow when, in 1976, the Moroccan’s unlawfully occupied most of the territory.

Aminatou Haidar has been campaigning for Western Saharan self-determination for over two decades. Her hunger-strike had been staged very publicly in Lanzarote airport terminal in protest at her unlawful deportation by Moroccan authorities after she had refused to write her nationality as Moroccan on a landing card when returning from a trip abroad. The Moroccans were insisting that before she could be readmitted, Haidar recognise the sovereignty of Morocco and apologise for having questioned it. This she refused to do.

In the early hours of Thursday morning Haidar had asked to go to the hospital following a bout of severe abdominal pain and vomiting blood. Doctors who examined her said she was severely dehydrated and expressed fears that she could be nearing an irreversible deterioration that could result in her death even if she were to abandon the hunger strike. However, as the day progressed, concerns about her health turned to excitement as whispers about a resolution to the crisis began to circulate.

At around 10pm local time, Haidar was stretched to a waiting ambulance and driven from the hospital to the airport. She boarded the aircraft with her sister, Laila Haidar, and doctor Domingo de Guzman Perez Hernandez, director of Lanzarote Hospital who has been caring for her from the start. The aircraft took off at 10.30pm and landed at Hassan I airport in Laayoune, Western Sahara’s largest town, just after midnight. Her passport was returned to her by a customs officer and according to a Moroccan Interior Ministry statement, Haidar completed the usual customs and police formalities.

At the airport she was met by relatives including her children and was driven with them back to her home where Haidar, who had continued to fast on the the plane, tasted her first food for over a month. Dozens of her supporters congregated around the house until the early hours of the morning. An earlier larger gathering was dispersed by Moroccan police.

With international concern for Haidar building the Moroccan’s had been under increasing pressure to readmit Ms Haidar. Over the past week alone, statements were made by UN General Secretary Ban ki Moon, and on Monday Hilary Clinton flew to Madrid to discuss the matter with the Spanish Foreign Minster, Miguel Ángel Moratinos. Ironically it was Clinton’s visit to Morocco in November during which she appeared to implicitly endorse Morocco’s “autonomy” proposal that might have encouraged the Moroccans to crack down on Saharawi activists including Haidar. After her visit, the King Mohammed VI gave a speech in which he branded as "traitors" anyone who questioned Moroccan sovereignty over her "Saharan provinces" and days later Haidar was deported. The quiet diplomacy by the Obama administration to resolve the crisis might well be a way of avoiding what might otherwise have been seen as a foreign policy embarrassment.

Ultimately a combination of diplomatic pressure, mass mobilisation of civil society groups around the world and negative coverage in the media would appear to have persuaded the Moroccan’s to allow Haidar to return home without having to any concessions. "She is returning without conditions having been placed and without apologising," said Carmelo Ramirez, president of FEDISSAH a Spanish Western Saharan solidarity organisation.

Whilst Haidar’s return is a significant victory, the dust will have to settle before independence campaigners can assess whether this debacle has taken them any closer to the long-awaited referendum for self-determination in Western Sahara. Whilst the level of international awareness of the situation will undoubtedly push the matter up the international agenda, the bitterness of the dispute will not have done anything to create the atmosphere of trust and mutual respect that UN Special Envoy to Western Sahara, Christopher Ross, had hoped to foster when he met the parties for talks about talks in August.

In addition the personal safety of Aminatou Haidar is far from guaranteed. As well as concern about any permanent damage inflicted to her health by the hunger strike there are also fears that the Moroccan authorities might mete out some form of punishment now that Haidar is back under their control. Haidar has endured over four years of imprisonment and torture in the past and her situation and that of other human rights defenders such as the seven awaiting trial by military tribunal in Rabat, remains precarious. Haidar however was upbeat as she boarded the plane in Lanzarote. "This is a triumph, a victory for international rights, for human rights and for international justice" she said, her face breaking into a smile for the first time in many weeks.

The Moroccan decision to let her return to her family owes a great deal both to international diplomacy, particularly that of the Obama administration, and to the mass mobilisation of civil society groups around the world that made politicians sit up and take notice. It is now incumbent on politicians and civil society to use the momentum generated over the past weeks to ensure that Western Sahara is granted the referendum on self-determination that has been unlawfully obstructed for so long.

CONMEMORATION OF UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

On the occasion of the conmemoration of another anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, December 10th, the saharawi women would like to launch an urgent appeal to all the peace-loving people to continue to support the saharawi human rights activist, Aminatou Haidar, who is on a hunger strike since she was depported for more than three weeks ago by the moroccan occupiders authorities and also for condemning this unhuman and unjust situation that is suffering the Saharawi Gandhi, as she is world-known due to her peaceful struggle for justice and respect of human rights in her country: Western Sahara.

On this accasion, the R.F. Kennedy 2008 Human Rights Award, Aminatou Haidar, has published the following letter:
Today is the 10th of December, International Day of Human Rights. During this day, when such a sacred day for Humanity is commemorated, a day for ideals and principles which guarantee basic rights; I, who have always been a human rights defender, am on the 25th day of my hunger strike because of injustice and lack of respect for Human Rights.

Today, after being thrown out illegally from my country by the Moroccan Authorities, after being illegally retained at this airport in Lanzarote by the Spanish Government and being separated from my children against my will, I feel more than ever the pain of those Saharawi families separated for more than 35 years by a wall more than 2.600km long.

Today, as each day, I suffer thinking about my colleagues in jail, I suffer thinking about those seven human rights activists that are going to be judged by a military court and who are threatened by death penalty because of an arbitrary decision by the Moroccan Government. I think about the Sahrawi people, oppressed daily by the Moroccan police in the Western Sahara. And I think about their future.

On this International Human Rights Day I congratulate all those free people around the world who defend basic rights, and who sacrifice themselves to achieve peace around the world, and at the same time I make them an urgent call to protect the rights of my people, the Saharawi people. Today is also an important day for hope, and I want to take advantage of this to ask the whole world and especially all the mothers around the world to support my reclaim, which is to return to the Western Sahara.My wish is to hug my children, to live with them and with my mother, but to live in dignity.

Today I want to thank the civil society for its solidarity and its continuous defence of the legitimate rights of the Saharawi people, and also its solidarity with me during these difficult days.

Aminatou Haidar, Lanzarote Airport, December 10th, 2009

A BRAVE SAHARAWI WOMAN: SYMBOL OF A PEACEFUL PEOPLE

Voices from all over the world are expressing their worry about the health of The Saharawi Human Rights activist, Aminatou Haidar, who is on hunger strike for three weeks because was expelled by the moroccan occupider authorities after a trip to New York where was awarded by the 2009 Courage Prize given by the Train Foundation. From the highest international organizations to the regionals and national ones and also some of the european political parties expressed their concerns about the unhuman situation of the " Saharawi Gandhi" as Mrs. Haidar is internationally known.

For example, United Nations Secretary General Office said in a statement:

United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, remains concerned about the condition of Western Sahara activist Aminarou Haidar who has been on a three-week-old hunger strike at a Spanish airport, his spokesman said Monday.

The secretary general reiterated the appeal made last week by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees for Spain and Morocco "to consider any measure that could facilitate a resolution of the issue and end the current impasse," spokesman Martin Nesirky told a press briefing.

"The UN is looking for ways it can help to resolve Ms. Haidar's situation," he added.

Haidar has been consuming only sugared water since November 16, days after Moroccan authorities denied her entry to her native Western Sahara, a disputed territory annexed by Morocco in 1975, allegedly confiscated her passport, and sent her back to Spain's Canary Islands.

"I will continue with my hunger strike until there is a solution," the award-winning activist, who campaigns for the Western Sahara's independence from Morocco, told AFP in an interview at the airport on the Spanish Canary island of Lanzarote.

Spain had offered to give the 42-year-old mother-of-two refugee status or Spanish citizenship so she could be allowed to return home but she rejected both options on the grounds that she did not want to become "a foreigner in her own home."

Morocco annexed the Western Sahara following the withdrawal of colonial power Spain, sparking a war with the Polisario Front independence movement. The two sides agreed a ceasefire in 1991, but UN-sponsored talks on its future have since made no headway

AMINATOU HAIDAR: SYMBOL OF THE SAHARAWI PEOPLE´S DIGNITY

The women from the Africa´s last colony, Western Sahara, express once again their unconditional support and solidarity with the Saharawi Human Rights activist, Aminatou Haidar, who is today on her twenty-first day of hunger strike.
Mrs. Haidar, is still undertaking an unlimited hunger strike in Lanzarote airport, defending her legitimate right to go back to her town city: the occupaied El Aaiún where she lives with her family.

Last Friday the Spanish government put under her disposition a special plane that was supposed to take her back to the capital of Western Sahara, El Aaiun, accompanied by officials from the Spanish Ministry of Foreign affairs.

In the last minute, the flight was canceled. Morocco says his authorities never agreed to give the permission to the flight, while the Spanish officials said they received Rabat’s agreement on Friday before it was canceled again.

This misunderstanding, between the two governments, according to many observers may be the prelude to a new crisis between Madrid and Rabat, especially that all Spanish political parties are now criticizing the Spanish government’s weak attitude before the humiliations inflicted to Spain by Morocco.

In fact, many voices raised asking the Spanish government to put pressures on Morocco to resolve Aminatou Haidar’s issue before it is too late, knowing that her doctors have openly declared that her physical conditions entered a very crucial state.

In her 21 day of hunger strike, the activist suffers from many diseases, doctors in Lanzarote airport said. She is weak, she can hardly speak, she fainted many times since last Wednesday, but they also said she is completely determined to continue the protest.

International organizations joined the campaign of support to Aminatou. the UN high commission for human rights, the UN commission for Refugees, the African Union Commission, the UN Secretary General, and many others expressed concerns about her state, and called on Spain and Morocco to find a quick solution to this embarrassing case.

The issue, is getting bigger than just a case of an activist who is fighting for her legitimate rights. For many medias and organizations, it became an opportunity to raise the question of human rights in the whole territory of Western Sahara, and most of them start asking the UN to deploy additional efforts to resolve the problem of the last colony in Africa, and to monitor human rights situation in the region.

In her latest reaction to her failed return to Western Sahara, Aminatou Haidar said yesterday in a press release, that Spain and Morocco are both responsible of any tragic outcome of her hunger strike.

She said that she is not negotiating with Morocco or Spain on her situation, she is rather just fighting for a basic right, the right to travel freely to and from her occupied country. This determination owes her an international respect, recognition and solidarity. And everyone hopes this situation be resolved before a tragedy happens, because the activist said she is willing to die struggling for her dignity and freedom and will never give up or compromise.

GREAT SUPPORT AND SOLIDARITY WITH AMINETOU HAIDAR

The women from Western Sahara reaffirm their thanks to all persons and organzations from all over the world who have expressed their support and solidarity with the saharawi human rights activist, Aminatou Haidar, who is today in her 13th day on hunger strike due that was expelled by the moroccan occupied authorities on november 14th when was trying to return to her homeland from a tryp to the USA where she was awared in New York city another Prize in recognition of her peaceful struggle for defending human rights and justice in the occupied Western Sahara.

The Saharawi Activist has received a lot of support from all the corners of the world, demonstrations, musical concerts, and also campaigns for her return to El-Aaiún with her children among them the the RF Kennedy- Center For Justice and Human Rights who have released this communique:

Aminatou Haidar, the RFK Center's 2008 Human Rights Laureate, has begun a hunger strike following her forced removal from her homeland of Western Sahara.

Upon her arrival at the Laayoune airport in Western Sahara, she declared Western Sahara -- not Morocco -- as her homeland on her immigration entry form. Moroccan authorities then confiscated her passport, interrogated her overnight, declared that she had renounced her citizenship, and put her on a plane to the Canary Islands.

Join us today and call on United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay to immediately conduct an investigation into the circumstances of Aminatou's forced removal from Western Sahara and to establish a mechanism for the protection of human rights of the Saharawi people.

To: United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay
Aminatou Haidar, known as the "Saharawi Ghandi" of Western Sahara for her peaceful resistance to violence, and the 2008 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Laureate, went on hunger strike November 16th in protest of her forced removal from Western Sahara. Ms. Haidar's health is in a precarious condition, bringing an added urgency to this situation. Her removal from Western Sahara also raises concerns about her being stateless.

Ms. Haidar was put on board a plane destined for Lanzarote in the Canary Islands against her will by Moroccan authorities on November 14th, 2009, after she attempted to return to Western Sahara on November 13th 2009, following her visit to the U.S.

Ms. Haidar, who is fighting for the right to self-determination for the Saharawi people of Western Sahara, declared Western Sahara and not Morocco as her country on the immigration entry form she completed prior to disembarkation at the airport in Laayoune, as she had done in the past. Moroccan authorities confiscated her Moroccan passport and kept her overnight at the airport where they interrogated her. According to Moroccan authorities, Haidar renounced her Moroccan citizenship at the airport in Laayoune. Ms. Haidar has remained in the Canary Islands and cannot leave as Spanish authorities have prevented her from leaving without a passport or travel documents.

Since the eruption of the Western Sahara conflict in 1975, when Morocco first asserted its sovereignty over the territory, there have been consistent reports of human rights violations by Morocco against the Saharawi people of Western Sahara.

In 2006, your office identified the human rights situation in the region as a "serious concern" and called for the creation of a mechanism for ensuring adequate and continuous monitoring in both occupied territories and in refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria. Ms. Haidar's situation highlights the importance and the urgent need for establishing such a human rights monitoring system in the region.

We urge you to immediately conduct an investigation into the circumstances of Ms. Haidar's forced removal from Western Sahara and to establish a mechanism for the protection of the human rights of the Saharawi people in Western Sahara.

IMPORTANT LETTER ON MRS. HAIDAR´S CASE

The Saharawi Women highly appreciate the important letter that the President of the New York Association, Mrs. Patricia M. Hynes, has sent these days to leaders in Spain, Morocco, Uropean Union and Amnesty International among others. She says:

I write on behalf of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York (“the Association”) to express our concern about the situation of Ms. Aminatou Haidar, Chairwoman of the Collectif des Défenseurs Sahraouis des Droits de l’Homme – CODESA (Collective of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders) and a prominent human rights defender in Western Sahara. The Association is concerned about her safety and about the legality of her expulsion to Lanzarote (Spain). Given the serious nature of this matter, the Association respectfully urges you to take all necessary measures to ensure that Ms. Haidar can promptly return to Laayoune (Western Sahara) and rejoin her family.

The Association is an independent non-governmental organization with more than 23,000 members in over 50 countries. Founded in 1870, the Association has a long history of dedication to human rights, notably through its Committee on International Human Rights, which investigates and reports on human rights conditions around the world. The Association also follows legal and policy developments in Africa through its Committee on African Affairs. Similarly, the Association’s United Nations Committee follows key international developments throughout the world. All three of these Committees have identified Ms. Haidar’s situation as an urgent matter.

Since the eruption of the Western Sahara conflict in 1975, when Morocco first asserted its sovereignty over the territory, there have been consistent reports of human rights violations by Morocco against the Saharawi people of Western Sahara. In 2006, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights identified the human rights situation in the region as a « serious concern » and called for the creation of a mechanism for ensuring adequate and continuous monitoring in both occupied territories and in refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria. While the Association is not taking a position on the issue of Western Sahara’s sovereignty, the Association does feel strongly that human rights in the region be respected.

Ms. Haidar is a prominent human rights defender in Western Sahara. She was awarded the 2006 Juan Maria Bandres Human Rights Award (Spain), the 2007 Silver Rose Award (Austria), the 2008 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, and the aforementioned 2009 Civil Courage Prize. She was also nominated for the European Parliament Sakharov Prize in 2005, for the Amnesty International USA’s Ginetta Sagan Fund Award, and for the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize. The Association is concerned that Ms. Haidar was detained, expelled, and denied return to Western Sahara for her human rights work in Western Sahara.

According to news reports, Ms. Haidar was arrested on November 13, 2009 by Moroccan authorities upon her arrival at the airport of Laayoune (Western Sahara) together with two Spanish journalists, Mr. Pedro Barbadillo and Mr. Pedro Guillén. The company was travelling through Las Palmas from the United States, where Ms. Haidar recently was awarded the Civil Courage Prize by the Train Foundation for her peaceful advocacy for human rights of the Sahrawi people. It was further reported that, while the two Spanish journalists were released after several hours, Ms. Haidar was expelled from the country to Lanzarote (Spain) after her passport was confiscated by the Moroccan authorities. According to reports, Ms. Haidar declared Western Sahara and not Morocco as her country on the immigration entry form she completed prior to disembarkation at the airport in Laayoune, which she had done in the past, and the Moroccan authorities deemed it a renunciation of her Moroccan citizenship. Ms. Haidar started a hunger strike at the airport of Lanzarote after Spanish authorities refused to allow her return to Laayoune because she was unable to produce her passport. It is further reported that Spanish authorities forcefully intervened to end her hunger strike because of serious concerns about her health.

The Association is concerned that the forced expulsion of Ms. Haidar by the Moroccan authorities was illegal. According to Article 12 (4) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (“ICCPR”), which Morocco ratified on May 3, 1979, no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country. The confiscation of Ms. Haidar’s passport constitutes a clear and severe restriction on her ability to leave Spain and to return to her country of citizenship, and consequently amounts to a breach of Morocco’s international law obligations.

With regard to Spain, we are concerned that the denial by the Spanish authorities of Ms. Haidar’s return to Western Sahara is illegal. Article 12 (2) of the ICCPR, which Spain ratified on April 27, 1977, stipulates that everyone shall be free to leave any country. Spain’s obstruction to let Ms. Haidar leave Lanzarote therefore constitutes a breach of this provision. In addition, Spain seems to have violated its own Spanish law on Foreigners (Ley Orgánica 4/2000 of January 11, 2000, also known as Ley de Extranjería de España (“Law”)). According to Article 25 (1) of the Law, foreigners need a valid passport or travel document to be able to enter the country. At the time Ms. Haidar arrived at Lanzarote, her passport had already been confiscated and thus she was no longer in possession of a valid travel document. Nevertheless, as news reports state, Spain let her enter its territory because Ms. Haidar has a resident’s permit to obtain medical treatment there. If this document was sufficient for the Spanish authorities to allow Ms. Haidar to enter Spanish territory, it can be argued that this document should equally be sufficient to leave the territory in order for her to return to Western Sahara. In addition, Article 28 (2) of the Law states that only in exceptional circumstances of national security or public health can the Minister of Interior Affairs prohibit the departure of a foreigner out of Spanish territory. To the Association’s knowledge, no official reason has been given to prohibit Ms. Haidar’s departure out of Spain, therefore making the prohibition of Ms. Haidar’s departure from Spain illegal.

We believe that Ms. Haidar’s expulsion and denial to return to Western Sahara violates international and national law. Accordingly, we respectfully request that Your Excellencies take all necessary measures to ensure the immediate return of Ms. Haidar to Laayoune.

Respectfully submitted,
Patricia M. Hynes