First EU-Morocco summit: Don’t forget human rights in Western Sahara 05.03 - 2010 18:24 Amnesty International Press Release, Brussels 5 March - In a letter to the Spanish EU presidency, Amnesty International is urging for the inclusion of a specific human rights item on the agenda for the first EU-Morocco summit in Grenada on 7 March. Amnesty International wants that EU leaders at the summit to address the growing intolerance of Sahrawi human rights defenders and others in Morocco who are favouring the self-determination of Western Sahara.
Take action for human rights monitoring in Western Sahara05.03 - 2010 MINURSO, the UN mission in Western Sahara, is the only contemporary UN peacekeeping mission in the world without a mandate to monitor human rights. In April the UN will address the renewal of MINURSO's mandate - we must ACT NOW to make sure that this time it includes human rights monitoring!Read more
European Parliament's lawyers declare EU fishing illegal 24.02 - 2010 Brussels, 23 February 2010 - In a previously confidential legal opinion, the European Parliament’s Legal Service has declared fishing by European vessels in Western Sahara’s waters to be in violation of international law.Read more
Parties to Western Sahara dispute commit to further UN-backed talks12.02 - 2010 UN News Center – The parties in the dispute over the status of Western Sahara have wrapped up two days of United Nations-backed talks in upstate New York by reiterating their commitment to continue their negotiations as soon as possible. Read more
Parties in Western Sahara dispute to hold new round of talks tomorrow09.02 - 2010 UN News Centre - The parties in the dispute over the status of Western Sahara, where fighting broke out between Morocco and the Frente Polisario after Spain’s colonial administration ended in 1976, have agreed to a United Nations proposal to hold their next set of informal talks next week in the United States.Read more
Morocco slammed for Sahara travel ban28.01 - 2010 Daily Mirror - Western Sahara campaigner Aminatou Haider brought worldwide attention to her country's plight by going on hunger strike.
Peak phosphorous: mankind's latest threat23.01 - 2010 Some believe that dwindling supplies of potable water is humanity's great resource challenge; others think it is the imminent prospect of "peak oil". But an equally important milestone in modern history will be an inevitable tightening of global supplies of phosphorus. Read more
Activist's "victory" over Morocco puts Sahara back on world agenda18.12 - 2009 Deutsche Presse-Agentur - Western Sahara activist Aminatou Haidar has been reunited with her two children and mother after she was allowed to return to the Moroccan-controlled territory overnight, a representative of a Spanish platform supporting her said Friday. Read more
Activist heads home after ending hunger strike18.12 - 2009 Euronews - The Western Sahara independence activist Aminatou Haidar has returned to her desert homeland, easing a diplomatic rift between Spain and Morocco. Read more
As UN Council meets on Western Sahara, ill Haidar is freed17.12 - 2009 UNITED NATIONS, December 17, updated -- As the UN Security Council kept the request for a briefing on Western Sahara in the shadows on Thursday, word reached Inner City Press that seriously ill hunger striker Aminatou Haidar is being released and will return to Western Sahara. "It's good news," the well placed diplomatic source told Inner City Press.
Morocco demands apology from hunger strike activist 03.12 - 2009 BBC News - A senior Moroccan official has said a Western Sahara activist refused re-entry to Morocco must apologise before her passport is returned.
Fears grow for hunger strike Nobel nominee30.11 - 2009 The Guardian (29/11/09): Supporters including Pedro Almodóvar are demanding justice for Western Sahara activist Aminatou Haidar, who was deported by MoroccoRead more
Concert backs 'Gandhi of Sahara' 30.11 - 2009 BBC News - Spanish artists, singers and actors have staged a concert in support of a Western Sahara activist on hunger strike on the Spanish island Lanzarote.Read more
Amnesty: Urgent Action - Enforced Disappearance Sahrawi man24.11 - 2009 Ahmed Mahmoud Haddi, a Sahrawi man aged about 32, was abducted on 28 October by people suspected of being members of Moroccan security forces. He may have been subjected to an enforced disappearance, and is at risk of torture or other ill-treatment. Read more
Africa's last colonySince 1975, three quarters of the Western Sahara territory has been illegally occupied by Morocco. The original population lives divided between those suffering human rights abuses under the Moroccan occupation and those living in exile in Algerian refugee camps. For more than 40 years, the Saharawi await the fulfilment of their legitimate right to self-determination.