Saharawi President calls the UN Security Council to protect the Saharawi population repressed by Morocco

Bir Lehlu, 26/05/2005 (SPS) The President of the Saharawi Republic, Mohamed Abdelaziz, asked the President of the UN Security Council, H.E. Ellen Margrethe Loj, on Thursday to protect Saharawi civil population against the violations perpetrated by Moroccan authorities against them in El Aaiun this week. Here is the complete text of the letter.

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"Her Excellency Ambassador Ellen Margrethe L?j, President of the Security Council United Nations New York

Bir Lehlu, 26 May 2005

Excellency,

The question of Western Sahara has been, since the sixties, on the agenda of the United Nations as a question of decolonisation. All resolutions adopted successively by the General Assembly and the Security Council regarding Western Sahara, including the latest one approved on 28 April 2005, called for its resolution on this basis through the exercise by the Saharawi people of their inalienable right to self-determination and independence. However, all the tremendous efforts, which the international community has deployed to this end during all those years, have been frustrated by the Moroccan intransigent position, which was blatantly made clear in April 2004.

Besides its obstruction of the implementation of the UN-OAU Settlement Plan, which it had formally concluded with the Frente POLISARIO being the other party to the conflict, Morocco has not only rejected the Peace plan for Self-determination of the People of Western Sahara” (Baker’s Plan) that was a result of remarkable efforts by the international community and which was unanimously endorsed by the Security Council in its resolution 1495 (July 2003), but has also declared its rejection of any solution that would not ensure its “sovereignty” over the territory of Western Sahara, which it occupied militarily and illegally on 31 October 1975. By opting for intransigence and defiance, Morocco has clearly shown its disregard for the principle of self-determination and hence for all UN principles and conventions.

More seriously, if left undeterred, this dangerous position of Morocco will inevitably jeopardise peace and stability of the entire region, which makes it imperative for the Untied Nations, whose mission (MINURSO) is already on the ground, to assume fully its responsibilities in brining about the decolonisation of Western Sahara.

I am addressing to you this letter to draw your attention to the alarming situation in the occupied territories of Western Sahara where Moroccan forces continue to date its brutal repression of Saharawi civilians who, in peaceful demonstrations, have taken to the streets to demand the respect for human rights, for the Security Council resolutions regarding Western Sahara and particularly for the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination. Excellency, On 21 May 2005, the Saharawi prisoner of conscience, Ahmed Mahmoud Hadi, known as Kainan, was transferred against his will by the Moroccan occupying authorities from the “Dark Prison” in the occupied El Aaiun to the prison of Ait Melloul, south of Agadir in the Moroccan Kingdom. According to many sources, the transfer, of which the family of the prisoner was not notified, took place under degrading conditions where the prisoner was ill-treated and savagely tortured and even forcibly anesthetised in the process.

In response to this unjust situation, Kainan’s family, together with a group of Saharawi human rights activists, staged a sit-in in front of the “Dark Prison” to protest against the inhuman treatment to which he was subjected and against his transfer into Morocco, which was conducted as part of a Moroccan systematic policy aimed at emptying the Territory of its active forces. The protestors also demanded that Kainan be returned immediately to his initial place of imprisonment where his family could have access to him.

At noon, on 22 May 2005, the protestors were, without warning, attacked by units of Moroccan intervention forces and police that instantly began beating them with truncheons and brutalising them, while causing numerous casualties among the protestors of whom many had to be hospitalised.

Excellency, Nor sooner had the Moroccan occupying authorities repressed the protestors than they mobilised more of their security corps that were given orders to place under siege all Saharawi neighbourhoods in El Aaiun such as Maatala quarter, Zemla quarter, Smara street and the boulevards of Tan Tan, Ras-el-Khaima, Skeikima, Boukraa, Smara as well as Sheila camp, among others.

On 24 and 25 May 2005, in order to suppress and contain the Saharawi population in those areas who only were demonstrating peacefully in order to exercise their legitimate rights to free expression and movement, the Moroccan occupying forces intensified their repressive and brutal practices including not only beating with truncheons and using tear gas but also violating the sanctity of Saharawi houses, confiscating belongings, assaulting women and children as well as arresting and kidnapping in addition to torture. All these repressive measures have already caused many casualties among Saharawi civilians of whom some are still in serious conditions.

As the Saharawi civilians cannot, under whatever circumstances, be deprived of their right to demonstrate and express their opinions peacefully, we energetically denounce this brutal repression to which many of our citizens in the occupied El Aaiun have been subjected as was the case of Ihssan Fadeli El-Bar, known as Temim.

The Moroccan campaign of repression has already caused many casualties among not only the Saharawi civilians who were demonstrating and protesting peacefully but also many others who did not take part in the demonstrations. The initial account of those who so far have been wounded, arrested, and of the families whose houses were assaulted indicates the gravity of the situation as shown below.

Among those who have been wounded are:

Shreifa Mint Adlil - Lemleiha Mint Adlil - El-Arbi Uld Abd-Anabi - Abdallah Uld Lehmad - Rais Hassana - Bebit Ali-Salem - Rashid Amidan - Omar Bedi - Mousaoui Tomanna Deida - Mbarka Boulahi Abdallah - El-Mafhoud - Mohamed Sidi Heiba - Mohamed Ali Hadad - Deikh Ali Beiba - Rashidi Aminatou - Rashidi Selma - Slek El-Athmi - Mohamed Ali Sid-Zein - Azokeni Slama - Azokeni Alamin - Azokeni El-Khalia - Sidna Adefli - Seghri Belal - Trufa Mohamed Mouloud Ammar - Ghalia Herbal - Baba El-Arbi (an adolescent) - Abd-el-Wahab Asseida (4 years) - Fatma Asedia (1 year)

Among those who have been arrested are:

Mohamed El-Arbi - Rabiaa (his spouse) - Mohamed Salem Mohamed El-Arbi - Mbarak Mohamed El-Arbi - Mohamed Mouloud Mohamed El-Arbi - El-Housein Al-Issaoui - The family Isseidi Al-Houssein (all of them remain disappeared) - Bousoula Mohamed - Ben Al-Houseein Mohamed - Houssein Al-Heiresh (a child) - Brahim Bou-Amoud - Sidi Mohamed Fadel Aami - Abba Uld Mouloud Uld Ahmed - Sidi Alwat - Uld Al-Karsh

As regards the families, whose members have been assaulted and their properties ravaged, they include:

Ahel Mohamed El-Arbi - Ahel Ham Rashid - Ahel Adafli - Ahel Lehmada Deida - Ahel Mohamed Fadel Uld Lehbib Uld Daha - Ahel Al-Tarfaoui - Ahel Hassen Uld El-Heirish - Ahel Sidi Mohamed Lbeiraoui - Ahel Sid Ould Salek - Ahel Ismaïl Sidi Mohamed Omar - Ahel Mohamed Mouloud Uld El-Housein Uld Ammar - House of Salama Boutbaa - House of Amina Mint Belaoui

Excellency,

The Saharawi civilians who organised those peaceful demonstrations and sit-ins were fully acting in line with their legitimate demands as provided for in international conventions. What they were demanding was the release of all Saharawi prisoners of conscience and the accounting for all those who have disappeared as well as the recovering of the remains of those who have already perished in detention; the respect for their fundamental rights to the freedom of expression and the freedom of movement as enshrined in international conventions; and, in particular, the exercise by the Saharawi people of their inalienable right to self-determination and independence through the holding of a free and fair referendum whereby the Saharawi people can choose their future in a free, democratic and transparent manner and in accordance with the resolutions of the UN General Assembly and the Security Council.

We are firmly confident that, despite the oppressive practices pursued by the occupying Moroccan authorities, our citizens in the occupied territories will remain steadfastly attached to their inalienable right to assert their national rights. As they were peacefully demonstrating and fully acting in accordance with the dictates of international legality, the oppressive campaign, which is being conducted by the Moroccan occupying forces under the eye of MINURSO, is an extremely serious matter that necessitates your immediate intervention as to providing the UN mission with the necessary mandate in order to protect the lives of the Saharawi citizens, to ensure their safety and to provide them with the basic conditions for expressing their opinions and political convictions in a peaceful and democratic way.

We avail ourselves of this opportunity to urgently call upon you to ensure that the Security Council intervenes immediately in order to protect the Saharawi citizens in the occupied territories of Western Sahara in general and in El Aaiun in particular. According to the latest information, the situation in those territories is deteriorating dramatically and may lead to further tension owing to the persistence of the Moroccan occupying forces in their campaign of oppression and terror against the Saharawi civilians who remain attached to their legitimate rights to demonstrate and express their opinions peacefully.

Whilst facing the Moroccan terrorist and oppressive apparatus, the Saharawi civilians have great faith and hope that the Untied Nations will assume its full responsibilities as to providing them with protection pending the completion of the decolonisation process. They also remain hopeful that the Untied Nations will exert all necessary pressure on the Moroccan Government in order to abide by international legality and allow the Saharawi people to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and independence, so that genuine peace and stability may be restored in the Maghreb and the entire region of North Africa.

Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration. Mohamed Abdelaziz, President of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, Secretary General of the Frente POLISARIO." (SPS)

060/090/100 252350 Mayo 05 SPS [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] © Sahara Press Service News Wire of the Saharawi Arabic Democratic Republic SADR e-mail: sps@spsrasd.info web : http://www.spsrasd.info