STATEMENT OF AMINATOU HAIDAR TO THE SPECIAL POLITICAL AND DECOLONIZATION COMMITTEE (FOURTH COMMITTEE)

Mr. Chairman, distinguished delegates:

My name is Boi-Tia Stevens.  I am here on behalf of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights (RFK Center), representing Ms. Aminatou Haidar, a long-time leader in the struggle for the protection of the human rights of the Sahrawi people of Western Sahara. In 2008, Ms. Haidar received the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award for her extraordinary courage and heroic leadership for human rights in Western Sahara.  For over forty years, the RFK Center has worked for a more peaceful and just world by supporting the work of human rights defenders, such as Ms. Haidar.  

We thank you for the opportunity to appear before this Committee today to read a statement from Ms. Haidar.

Statement by Aminatou Haidar:

Dear Mr. Chairman:

As the Chairwoman of the Collective of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders (CODESA) which is based in El Aain in Western Sahara, I am honored to address your distinguished committee.  I speak here today especially on behalf of CODESA, but also on behalf of the Sahrawi people living in the Moroccan-controlled territory of Western Sahara. We seize this opportunity to highlight the entrenched assault on the dignity of the Sahrawi people by Morocco, which has continuously and systematically violated the human rights of the Sahrawi people in the territories under Moroccan control.     

The pattern of human rights abuses inflicted upon the Sahrawis by Morocco dates back to 1975, when Morocco, in flagrant violation of international law, occupied three quarters of the territory of Western Sahara. The abuses range from killings, kidnappings, forced disappearances and torture of innocent civilians, as well as the denial of the right to association and freedom of expression.  What has been happening to the Sahrawis in recent years is appalling; sadly, these violations have continued to occur with complete silence from the international community, not to mention conspiracy.

Peaceful demonstrations calling for the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination and respect for human rights are usually met with resistance by Moroccan authorities.  In September of this year, Sahrawis calling for  their right to self-determination and advocating for independence held demonstrations in El Aaiun, Smara, and Dakhla.  Moroccan police and auxiliary forces responded with violence and brutality, arbitrarily arresting several of the protesters (Omar Daoudi, Aalouat Hassanna, Rachid, to name a few) and placed them in prison in El Aaiun.  One demonstrator, Mohamed Berkane, was thrown from the top of a house in Maatallah district. He was seriously wounded and sent to prison without medical treatment.

Two Sahrawi human rights defenders, Sultana Khaya and Mohamed Tahlil, who were attacked and injured by Moroccan police officers, were denied medical treatment at Belmehdi Hospital, where nearly all the doctors are Moroccans. Sultana had sustained a broken arm and Tahlil, a broken nose.  Not only did the doctor at Belmehdi Hospital refuse to attend to them, he insulted them and denied them medical certificates.

Using the pretext of criminal conduct, Moroccan authorities regularly initiate criminal proceedings against Sahrawis for expressing their views on the right to self-determination, and impose unfair and harsh sentences on them. Such was the case recently with the Sahrawi human right defender, Ennaama Asfari, who was sentenced to two months imprisonment in Tantan, South Morocco, in August, 2009.  There are several Sahrawi political prisoners languishing in prisons in Morocco and Western Sahara in unfavourable conditions; CODESA member, Yahya Mohamed Elhafed, high school teacher, Mustapha Abdedaim, post-graduate students, Brahim Baryaz, Alisalem Ablagh and Khallihanna Aboulhassan, to name but a few.  I appeal to the United Nations and the larger international community to put sufficient pressure on the Moroccan authorities to release all Sahrawi political prisoners and human rights defenders.

Sahrawi human rights organizations in Western Sahara have not been permitted to register.  Mr. Chairman, as I speak here today, CODESA, despite having taken all the requisite steps, has not been granted authority by Moroccan officials to organize its constitutive assembly. On October 7, 2007, Moroccan police and officials intervened and banned CODESA from holding a general assembly meeting. The denial of the right to register puts a strain on our activities as human rights defenders. 

Even students and youth are not immune from Morocco’s oppressive practices.  This year, on August 5th, a group of six Sahrawi youth between the ages of 17-24 were terrorized by Moroccan officers at the airport in Agidir, Morocco and prevented from travelling to the United Kingdom to participate in a meeting organized by the organization, Talk Together.  The meeting was being held to bring together youth from Morocco and Western Sahara and students from seven other countries, including the UK and Norway, to exchange views on the Western Sahara conflict.     

On September 12th of this year, 23-year old Sahrawi university student, Elwali Qadimi, was received by the Sahrawi population in Assa, South Morocco after 8 months of medical treatment in Spain. Elwali, once an optimistic and ambitious young man, returned home paralyzed and confined to a wheel chair.  He had sustained injuries when he was thrown from the 4th floor of a building on the university campus at Marrakech by Moroccan police for his participation in a pro-independence student demonstration. Elwali represents the Sahrawi young generation and students who suffer enormously for the expression of their belief in independence for Western Sahara. 

All of these human rights abuses stem from one issue: the expression of the right to self-determination for the people of Western Sahara. This was also the conclusion of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights after its visit to Western Sahara in November 2006, in a report that to-date has not been published.  It is therefore even more incumbent on the United Nations to take an active role in the decolonisation of the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara, colonised by the Kingdom of Morocco; the Western Sahara conflict has been on the agenda of the United Nations for far too long--for more than three decades. 

In the interim, the human rights situation in Western Sahara requires urgent attention. We call upon the United Nations to expand the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) to cover the protection of human rights. While CODESA highly appreciates the leading role of the United Nations in solving armed conflicts all over the world, it raises the injustice that the Western Saharan people endure because of the exclusion of a human rights component from MINURSO’s mandate. MINURSO is the only peace-keeping mission in the world without a human rights mandate. This is certainly one of the main factors behind Morocco’s indifference and continuous disrespect of the dignity of the Sahrawi people. We also call for the immediate publication of Report of the OHCHR Mission to Western Sahara and Refugee Camps in Tindouf of 2006.  

Mr. Chairman, 

What I have highlighted are only some of the human rights violations taking place in Western Sahara, to raise your awareness of some of the sufferings endured by our people under Moroccan control.  Neither time nor space permits a full disclosure of all the abuses, which cannot be limited to a few pages. My appeal to you is to take measures to ensure the respect for the dignity and fundamental human rights of the Sahrawi people by Morocco.

On a final note, I ask that you accept my greatest esteem and I hope that you remain in the service of peace and freedom for all nations and people of the world.

Thank you.

Aminatou Haidar
Chairwoman of the Collective of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders (CODESA)
2008 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Laureate 

Ms. Aminatou Haidar is the 2008 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award Laureate.  She was recognized for her courageous work in support of the self-determination of Western Sahara from its occupation by Morocco and against enforced disappearances and abuses of prisoners of conscience.  For forty years, the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights has worked for a more peaceful and just world.  The Human Rights Award was established in 1984 to honor courageous and innovative human rights defenders throughout the world.  Upon awarding a Laureate, RFK Center begins a partnership with the Laureate provides technical, advocacy and legal support to achieve their social change goals.  Ms. Haidar was presented with the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award at a ceremony on November 13, 2008 in the Russell Office Building’s Caucus Room of the United States Senate.