Western Sahara News

by Khalil Asmar Starting from US/Morocco joint statement on November 22nd, 2013 that comprised a whole paragraph on Western Sahara till the 2014 appropriation bill signed into law by president Obama on January 17th and passed by congress, Rabat regime’s lobbyist doesn’t seem to swallow the hard blows every time the US administration stresses on international legality on the decades long procrastinated struggle between Morocco and Western Sahara republic’s sole representative the Polisario Front, and desperately endeavoring to search for the slightest hint to market fancy stories fearing the disappointment of a generous regime ready to pay for any comforting lies.  First, in the joint statement, the US administration considered Morocco plan of autonomy an option among others to resolve the Western Sahara issue and not the only valid and viable solution as channeled by Morocco corrupt US-based lobbyist and state propaganda media and press. The paragraph in the joint statement

New document provided by WSHRW as an exclusive worldwide presentation. A new exclusive world first revelation by WSHRW. For the first time is published the opinion of the Legal Service of the European Parliament on the so-called “Agricultural Agreement”, the new Association Agreement between the EU and Morocco signed at the end of 2009, at the time that Morocco illegally deported Aminatu Haidar. Said Agreement was finally published in 2012 in the Official Journal of the European Union. The Trade Committee of the European Parliament requested an opinion of this Institution’s Legal Service on the legality of the agreement. The opinion issued by the Legal Service, which is very negative for Moroccan interests, was kept secret. The European Commission and the European Council themselves have not ventured to invoke it to address the action brought before the European Court of Justice by Frente Polisario against this Agreement. The opinion establishes in two key paragraphs

by Khalil Asmar Just few years after Morocco took its independence from France in 1956, the ruling monarchy found itself in palpable tension with the Moroccan national movement, resulting in the assassination of its high-profile political leader El Mahdi Ben Barka in 1965. This incident generated a legacy of bitterness and uncompromising mistrust, not only between the monarchy and the Moroccan national movement, but extended to the international level. In the 70s of the last century, the monarchy reached its peak status of isolation both nationally and internationally, and what remained of the political parties descended from the national movement stood obstinately resolute against any participation or power sharing with a corrupt monarchy, which in any case was about to be wrecked by two coups d’état. Since then, Morocco entered what became known as “the leaden years,” and the yelling of the democratic voices rose up, denouncing the grave human rights situation that spread a

SALE (MOROCCO)- The Saharawi political prisoners, "Gdeim Izik" group, jailed in the Moroccan prison of Salé, stressed Tuesday that MINURSO is the only UN mission which does not have a mechanism of human rights monitoring. These prisoners, cited by the Sahrawi news agency (SPS) recalled "the incessant calls from international human rights defending organizations and the UN Secretary General’s call in his latest report for the implementation of a UN mechanism to monitor human rights in Western Sahara." They expressed the "full and complete compliance with national and international campaigns for the protection of human rights in Western Sahara", calling on all Sahrawi people to spare no effort to ensure the success of these campaigns initiated by coordination of human rights defending organizations in Western Sahara." In addition, Moroccan policemen brutally tortured on Sunday Saharawi citizen, Lala Lhatra Aram before setting her hous

Saharawi Voice  compiles the “stories from the forgotten people of Africa's last colony”, with the aim of conveying a sense of daily life in Western Sahara and the hardships of living in an occupied territory. Western Sahara  is a disputed territory in the  Maghreb  region of North Africa, and one of the most sparsely populated places in the world, mainly consisting of desert flatlands. Nearly 40% of the population lives in El Aaiún, the largest city in Western Sahara. Occupied by Spain since the late 19th century, in 1975 it relinquished administrative control of the territory to a joint administration between Morocco and Mauritania. A war erupted between those countries and the Sahrawi national liberation movement, the  Polisario Front , proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic  (SADR) with a government-in-exile in  Tindouf , Algeria. Mauritania withdrew in 1979, and Morocco eventually secured effective control of most of the territory. Over the past two decade

In October of last year a Canadian company imported possibly the first conflict materials into the country since the South African Apartheid. Even though the phosphate rock bought is from the Bou Craa mines in Western Sahara, the money has ended up in the hands on the Moroccan government. As purchases of this nature become commonplace in the international community, serious questions are raised concerning their legality and the impact they are having on progress to the region. In October 2010 a shipment of Phosphate arrived on the shore on North Vancouver carrying a cargo of worth $10 million. The new owner of this shipment is Calgary based agricultural business ‘Agrium’, who have entered into an agreement with Morocco to buy 1 million tones a year until 2020, a deal worth over $100 million. Mike Watson, president and CEO of Agrium, said: “We believe this agreement signifies the start of a significant partnership between Agrium and Morocco, offering clear benefits to bot

by Khalil Asmar If you stop the loud noises coming from the fanfare of the Moroccan media, about its diplomats-special envoys-flamboyantly adventurous trips and achievements in central and South-America, you will be deafened by the absurd silence its diplomacy makes. In other words, big hats no cattle. The king grouped all his ambassadors last year, announcing he wanted to give his diplomacy a new road-map, a Facelift actually. Because underneath this cosmetic surgery, still lay the old wrinkles of the old weak foreign policy of Rabat. The king sent a flamboyant group of envoys or as they are also known as "experts in corruption diplomats" to Haiti, Panama and Paraguay to gain their support for the autonomy plan in Western-Sahara. They have also made a quick stop in the Dominican Republic. The first three countries mentioned above, have had supported the Polisario and the call for the self determination of the people of Western-Sahara. But as history recalls