President and Nobel Laureate expresses solidarity with Aminatou Haidar
Noble Peace Prize Laureate and President Jose Ramos-Horta spoke by telephone on 27 November 2009 with the Saharawi human rights defender Aminatou Haidar.
The 1996 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate made the following statement:
“I have expressed my profound solidarity and sympathy with Aminatou Haidar, the symbol of the struggle of the Saharawi people for self-determination and independence.
I urge the Moroccan and Spanish authorities to urgently facilitate the return of Aminatou Haidar to her family and to her homeland- Western Sahara.
Aminatou’s action to engage in a hunger strike has inspired many people around the world but we want her to be alive. She must start drinking some water and juice and following doctors’ recommendations start eating.
I appeal for the immediate and unconditional release of seven Saharawi human rights activists member of human rights organisations, who were detained on the 8th of October 2009 at Casablanca airport.
I call upon Morocco to ensure that all Sahrawis can exercise their right to freedom of expression, movement and assembly which are enshrined in international law and to allow freedom of access and movement within the territory for international observers and the media.
I appeal to the Moroccan authoritative to engage the Polisario front in negotiations to find a solution consistent with the respect of the rights of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination and independence.”
Ms. Aminatou Haidar is a prominent human rights defender in Western Sahara. She was awarded the 2006 Juan Maria Bandres Human Rights Award (Spain), the 2007 Silver Rose Award (Austria), the 2008 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, and the 2009 Civil Courage Prize. She was also nominated for the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize.
Morocco refused Ms. Aminatou Haidar, who is president of the Collective of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders (CODESA), re-entry into occupied Western Sahara and expelled her to Spain on November 14 after she listed her place of residence as ‘Western Sahara’ on a border control form. The expulsion of Haidar comes at a time of mounting repression by Morocco of peaceful activism by advocates of self-determination for Western Sahara.
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.
