Western Sahara News

Hassanna Louali dans sa cellule de prison Hassanna el Wali is a Saharawi political prisoner and human rights activist from Dakhla city, south Western Sahara. He was supposed to be set free on May 1st,2015. He got sick due to the miserable conditions of the prisions and the medical negligence he endured especially after the torture he survived during the interrogations. The hunger strike he started along with his group inside the Carcel Negra( Black Prison) in Elaaiun had a great impact on his health especially that the prison warden ¨Abdelilah Ezzanfouri¨ used all means to break their will and made them suffer a lot.  The situation inside the Dakhla prison was not any better that the Carcel Negra prison. His situation was getting worse especially he was not getting any medical treatment until his group inside the prison started a strike and a hunger strike to convince the prison administration to take him to the hospital. When they finally took him to the Hassan 2 Hospital...

September 27th, 2014  The Saharawi Political Prisoners, Group Dakhla Communique  In a pertinent and well-knit dirty and intrigue operation, the Moroccan Makhzanien authority has been to this day in the process of physically liquidating the Saharawi human rights activist and current political prisoner in occupied Dakhla Hasanna El Wali. The Moroccan prison authorities in Tawarta prison of Dakhla prevented him from his simple and basic humanitarian right for medical treatment during which he remained suffering in his cell in total indifference, without mercy or the least concern to his critical health status.  Our inmate stood in this status until we, his three years prison comrades, put pressure on the prison administration to be transported to the civil hospital of Dakhla. At his arrival to the hospital where he didn’t get any pre-medical check-up, he was immediately singled out in a special room surrounded by police agents, and as they knew he was diab...

By Javier Blas, Africa Editor High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights.  When the drillship Atwood Achiever begins the search for oil off the coast of Western Sahara later this year, it will not only test geology, but also plunge into a 40-year-old conflict in what some call Africa’s last remaining colony. Western Sahara, an arid and sparsely populated strip of land larger than the UK, has been occupied by Morocco since 1975, when Spain abandoned its former colony. Since then its indigenous Sahrawi people have fought an often-violent campaign for independence while the UN has sought to broker a peace deal. High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the ...

In a letter addressed to Kosmos Energy company, The Saharawi Center For Media and Communication, based in occupied El Aaiun Western Sahara, has expressed its vehement indignation and total refusal of the illegal upcoming Oil drilling that this company is about to conduct in the occupied territories of Western Sahara. In its letter, the Center has strongly denounced the company’s decision to start drilling in the cape Boujador, Boujdour block zone “it is illegal for international companies to operate in the land and coastal waters of Western Sahara without the consent of its people and without them being consulted and benefiting from these business operations” Contrary to the heresies of Kosmos Energy that fraudulently claimed that the discovery and exploitation of Oil will help resolving the conflict, the letter stressed that “Such illegal business is also a direct threat to the whole peace settlement as it puts at stake the right of self-determination by ignoring international...

By: civil society activist in  occupied Dakhla, Western Sahara  In an attempt to find whatever alibis to justify its planned drilling operations in occupied Western Sahara, Kosmos Energy, an American-based Oil Company, is conducting these days a series of meetings in the occupied cities guided and supervised by Morocco authority and orchestrated by its intelligence services.  A Kosmos Energy delegation organized several meetings in Dakhla city, south Western Sahara on September 23rd and 24th, 2014 with many Moroccan officials and representatives of pro-Moroccan civil society on the basis that they represent the Saharawi population there. At the same time, many peaceful protests and demonstrations focusing on socio-economic and political rights were banned and heinously oppressed. The American oil company had all these meetings with fake local civil society representatives that were in fact a Moroccan creation. They were made and tailored according to thei...

In June 2014. Western Sahara Resource Watch published a report detailing information about companies that purchase phosphate from Western Sahara.  The report alleges that phosphate provides the main source of income for Morocco, which illegally occupies Western Sahara.  Furthermore, it claims that the exploitation of phosphate does not benefit local Saharawis and is undertaken without their consultation.  The report also names companies that have ended their phosphate purchases from Western Sahara (BASF, Impact Fertilisers, Mosaic, Nidera Uruguaya, Yara International). We invited the companies mentioned in the report as purchasing phosphate to respond: Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan: we will indicate whether the company responds Lifosa : we will indicate whether the company responds Innophos did not respond Ravensdown : we will indicate whether the company responds Agrium:  we will indicate whether the company responds Ballance Agri-Nutrient...

Mohamed El Beikem by Mohamed El Beikem* The status of Western Sahara is still locked in a stalemate pending the resolution of the the United Nations which oversees the file management of the negotiations between the Polisario and Morocco to determine the future of the Western Sahara. The overall situation of the people of Western Sahara is as following: – Sahrawi Refugees Camps: Thousands of Sahrawis live in harsh climatic conditions, away from home since 39 years, under severe shortage of international aid, and difficult economic conditions imposed by the asylum realities. 75 % of Western Sahara land is occupied by Morocco, while the Polisario front that represents the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic is in control of the eastern remaining part denoted as liberated zones. The situation of the region occupied by Morocco: the systematic human rights violations are still ongoing, where the prohibition of the right of peaceful protest, the right of association, the rig...

In times of economic crisis and rising unemployment in North Africa, Western Sahara's natural resources have become fiercely contested treasures. The new balance of power resulting from recent political developments in the region could lead to a renegotiation of the conflict. By Susanne Kaiser It was little more than a rumour: during Mohammed VI's visit to Tunis at the end of May, there was allegedly a diplomatic row between the Moroccan King and Tunisia's President Moncef Marzouki. The quarrel was apparently triggered by Tunisia's criticism of Morocco's undemocratic practices concerning Western Sahara and its poor relations with neighbouring Algeria. That was how the Tunisian online journal Businessnews.com.tn reported the story, citing undisclosed "diplomatic sources". A denial from the presidential palace followed immediately. It may only have been a rumour, but it adds to recent indications that cogs may be turning in the dispute over West...