Saharawi activists lock themselves inside UN building
Four Saharawi human rights activists have locked themselves inside the MINURSO building in Smara, occupied Western Sahara, demanding the “Moroccan extermination of the Saharawi people” stopped.
Early this morning, Said Sidi Mohamed, Saad Enguilla Bujarsi, Said El Beilal and Hamadi Nasiri successfully entered the MINURSO-building in occupied Smara. Although their flags and pictures of Saharawi political prisoners or disappeared were confiscated, they did manage to lock themselves inside.
According to a phone-message by the four activists, Moroccan troops started blocking the entrees to the building around noon.
The activists denounce the “persecution and repression of the Saharawi people, especially of human rights activists, by Morocco, discharges, destruction of Saharawi houses, detention of youngsters, street persecution and permanent surveillance to which we are subjected”.
The MINURSO representatives were handed over a memorandum, in which the activists demand the retreat of Morocco from the occupied territories of Western Sahara and ask the international community to raise pressure on France to re-examine its perpetual support for Rabat. They also ask for the expansion of the MINURSO-mandate, so as to include human rights monitoring.
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.
Since 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.
