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	<description>Association Sahraouie Des Victimes des Violations Graves des Droits de l’Homme Commises par l’Etat du Maroc</description>
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		<title>MOROCCAN AUTHORITIES ARRESTED  TWO YOUNG HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS IN MAY 10 DEMONSTRATIONS/ANOTHER HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST TRIAL POSTPONED</title>
		<link>http://asvdh.net/6609</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 15 May 2012 18:01:01 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description><![CDATA[El-Aaiun – Sahara Occidental 14.05.2012 On Friday, May 11 2012, the Moroccan authorities have put two young Saharaui in the Black Prison of El Aaiún for having participated in a demonstration organized by the Saharawi to denounce the repressive practices against the Saharawi population, expressing their solidarity with the political prisoners in the Moroccan prisons. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>  El-Aaiun – Sahara Occidental<br />
14.05.2012</p>
<p>On Friday, May 11 2012, the Moroccan authorities have put two young Saharaui in the Black Prison of El Aaiún for having participated in a demonstration organized by the Saharawi to denounce the repressive practices against the Saharawi population, expressing their solidarity with the political prisoners in the Moroccan prisons.</p>
<p>Mr. Mustapha Boudani and Mr. Mohamed Bizi have undergone investigations and inquiries prior to being put in the Black Prison in El Aaiún following a decision by the prosecutor of the king.</p>
<p>According to the families of the detainees, the two young activists have suffered torture at the headquarters of the prefecture of police. The authorities prevented their families from visiting them.</p>
<p>The young Saharawi Jayed El Medrej was provisionally released on Friday morning,</p>
<p>On the other hand, the trial of Mahjoub Aaiach, who was arrested on April 28, 2012, in charge of having attacked a police officer has been postponed until next Friday.</p>
<p>El Aaiún, 14.05.2012</p>
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		<title>Morocco/Western Sahara: No Action on Police Beating Dead-End Investigations of Attack on Human Rights Worker Fuel Impunity</title>
		<link>http://asvdh.net/6587</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 15 May 2012 12:38:28 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description><![CDATA[For Immediate Release Morocco/Western Sahara: No Action on Police Beating Dead-End Investigations of Attack on Human Rights Worker Fuel Impunity (Rabat, May 15, 2012) – The failure of Moroccan authorities to follow through on investigating the beating by police of a Human Rights Watch research assistant is a case study of impunity for police violence, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<blockquote><p><img width="150" title="" class="alignleft" src="http://www.asvdh.net/img/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&#038;g2_itemId=1539&#038;g2_serialNumber=1">For Immediate Release</p>
<p>Morocco/Western Sahara: No Action on Police Beating<br />
Dead-End Investigations of Attack on Human Rights Worker Fuel Impunity</p>
<p>(Rabat, May 15, 2012) – The failure of Moroccan authorities to follow through on investigating the beating by police of a Human Rights Watch research assistant is a case study of impunity for police violence, Human Rights Watch said today.</p>
<p>On November 8, 2010, Moroccan police in the city of El-Ayoun, Western Sahara, pulled aside Brahim Elansari and beat him in plain sight of an American journalist. In the 18 months since the beating, Moroccan authorities have provided neither Elansari nor Human Rights Watch with any information about the progress of any investigation, despite written requests from Human Rights Watch.</p>
<p>“If there is impunity for police who beat up a citizen who works for an international organization in broad daylight, in front of witnesses and despite formal complaints, it’s clear how vulnerable ordinary citizens are,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.</p>
<p>On November 22, 2010, Human Rights Watch wrote to the Interior Ministry, providing evidence about the beating from Elansari and the journalist who witnessed the beating, and requesting an investigation. The ministry responded two days later with a written pledge to conduct an investigation and to inform Human Rights Watch of the results. On December 22, 2010, Elansari himself filed a written complaint about the beating with the Office of the Prosecutor in El-Ayoun, requesting an investigation.</p>
<p>In the November 22, 2010 letter from Human Rights Watch, both Elansari and the journalist John Thorne, who was based in Rabat at the time for the Abu Dhabi-based daily The National, provided detailed accounts of the attack. A group of policemen surrounded Elansari on a downtown street and beat, slapped, kicked, and insulted him, calling him a “traitor” and a “separatist,” both said. Elansari is of Sahrawi origin and had previously been affiliated with Sahrawi human rights organizations in El-Ayoun. The authorities consider these associations to be hostile to Morocco’s rule over the disputed territory and sympathetic to calls for self-determination or independence for Western Sahara.</p>
<p>Elansari’s and Thorne’s accounts, as communicated to the government, are below.</p>
<p>On November 24, 2010, Mohamed Ouezgane, the director of the Regulations and Public Liberties department at the Interior Ministry, replied by e-mail, saying: “The minister of interior has ordered an administrative investigation into this case. In addition … the justice minister … has instructed the general prosecutor at the El-Ayoun court to open a judicial investigation…. The Moroccan authorities remain ready to handle all allegations that you receive and to respond to them with the necessary promptness.”</p>
<p>Elansari heard nothing until April 4, 2011, when he received a call from a judicial police officer asking him to come to the security prefecture of El-Ayoun the following day. Elansari went and gave an oral statement about the beating, then reviewed and signed a written version of it. The police told Elansari they would submit the statement to the prosecutor, who would inform Elansari of the next steps.</p>
<p>On November 23, 2011, having received no further information, Human Rights Watch wrote again to the Interior Ministry, asking about the results of the investigation. Receiving no response, Human Rights Watch wrote on February 7, 2012, to the Interministerial Delegation for Human Rights, recounting the details of the case and requesting a reply. None was received. The Interministerial Delegation is a government body created by decree in April 2011. Its responsibilities include coordinating government responses to inquiries and requests from international human rights organizations.</p>
<p>On April 20, 2012, Elansari phoned the prosecutor’s office in El-Ayoun and was told that the office had submitted a response to the Justice Ministry after receiving the request from Human Rights Watch to investigate the beating. However, 18 months after Elansari filed the complaint and a year after he provided his testimony to the police, no official has informed Elansari of the status or findings of any investigation.</p>
<p>Before Elansari worked for Human Rights Watch, the police in El-Ayoun had detained him and a friend from December 14 to 16, 2007, beat them while they were in custody, and then released them without charge. At that time, Elansari was a member of the El-Ayoun chapter of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights and of the Annahj Addimocrati, the only legal political party in Morocco that advocates self-determination for Western Sahara.</p>
<p>The two men filed formal complaints with the prosecutor, and Human Rights Watch wrote to urge an investigation. The two men heard nothing from Moroccan authorities until five months later, when police informed them that the prosecutor had closed the investigation into their complaints for “lack of evidence.”</p>
<p>In an email sent to Human Rights Watch in February 2008, authorities denied that the police had abused the two men. Authorities instead denounced the complainants as “[pro-Polisario] separatists … seeking to inflame tensions and present the Kingdom as a ‘monster’ that has no respect for human rights.” The authorities maintained, falsely, that the men had filed no complaint.</p>
<p>Human Rights Watch’s December 2008 report on human rights in Western Sahara found a pattern of police beatings of Sahrawi activists and demonstrators who favor self-determination for that disputed territory, and also a pattern of dismissals of citizen complaints of police violence accompanied by official efforts to discredit the complainants’ motives. In preparing that report, Human Rights Watch submitted information to Moroccan authorities about several cases in which Sahrawis – many of whom opposed Moroccan rule over the disputed territory – had filed complaints with the prosecutor’s office in El-Ayoun.</p>
<p>Authorities provided responses in seven of the cases. Except for one that was “still pending,” the authorities said they had closed all the complaint files “for lack of evidence.” In most of the cases they also derided the complainant’s motives with comments such as, “The complaint is baseless and aims at impeding the police from confronting those who seek to disrupt public order.”</p>
<p>When Human Rights Watch later contacted the complainants whose cases had been closed, all said that no authority had ever contacted them to take their testimony about the complaints they filed – a pattern that suggests the lack of political will to investigate impartially allegations of police violence. In some cases authorities claimed they had never received the complaint, although some of these victims showed Human Rights Watch copies of their complaints stamped “received” by the prosecutor’s office.</p>
<p>“As long as citizen complaints are swept under the rug, the problem of police violence against people in El-Ayoun – and elsewhere – will continue,” Whitson said. “Morocco needs an impartial, interactive, and prompt process in place for investigating complaints of police violence.”</p>
<p>For more Human Rights Watch reporting on Morocco and Western Sahara, please visit:</p>
<p>http://www.hrw.org/en/middle-eastn-africa/morocco/western-sahara</p>
<p>For more information, please contact:<br />
In Washington, DC, Eric Goldstein (English, French): +1-917-519-4736 (mobile); or goldstr@hrw.org</p>
<p>Below are the accounts of Brahim Elansari and the journalist John Thorne, as provided to the government of Morocco in its letter of November 22, 2010:</p>
<p>From Brahim Elansari:</p>
<p>At 7:30 a.m., as I was walking along Smara Avenue, I learned that a huge number of people were marching from the eastern part of the city toward the Maâtallah neighborhood. There was a heavy presence of various security forces: the Auxiliary Forces, the GIR [Groupe d’intervention rapide], plainclothes policemen, and police wearing uniforms.</p>
<p>I observed demonstrators throwing stones on the police cars. Cafés and shops &#8230; were closed along Smara Avenue. I heard guns firing – I think they were tear gas canisters…. There were police cars, GIR, and auxiliary forces everywhere.</p>
<p>[American journalist] John Thorne joined me at Mekka Avenue near the Hotel Jodessa. At about 9 a.m., when we saw policemen approaching us we headed away from the avenue and onto a street behind the Negjir Hotel, close to al-Morabitin school. But a uniformed, armed policeman came towards us. He searched John a little and then turned to me, insulting me and threatening me. Then other police came.</p>
<p>Mr. Thorne and I tried to retreat but the police stopped us and then started kicking, slapping, and beating me with batons. They took me near their cars parked close to the Hotel Negjir, where other policemen joined them in beating me and insulting me and calling me “a traitor” and “a separatist.” Then other policemen escorted John toward me.</p>
<p>An officer in plainclothes came and asked us our names and what we were doing there. When I told him my name, he exclaimed, “So it’s you, Elansari.” I told him that I work for Human Rights Watch. They asked me to provide a document proving that. I said I had no such document on me but gave them my national ID. Mr. Thorne showed them his press card and passport. Various policemen came, insulted me, and went away. The armed, uniformed officer who had first stopped us near al-Morabitin school returned and said he would shoot me.</p>
<p>The policemen then took my phone and searched it. When they found text messages from Mohamed Ali Ndour, a Sahrawi activist, they commented that I was in touch with “separatists.”</p>
<p>Then they took John somewhere and the other policemen surrounded me and started to kick me and beat me with their sticks and slap me. They asked me my nationality. When I refused to answer, they seemed angered and started to beat me again. Then a higher-ranking officer arrived and ordered me to reply. I said that I cannot talk while being beaten. He did not order the others to stop hitting me.</p>
<p>During this time I was able to hear some agents in uniform telling the others to stop beating me. But those doing the beating told them to leave if they didn’t want to take part in it. Then the higher-ranking officer came again and asked them to stop beating me.</p>
<p>One of the police escorted me to where Mr. Thorne was seated, in a chair. The policeman forced me to sit on the ground next to John, saying that I am a dog and that was my place. After about 10 or 20 minutes some policemen approached and told Mr. Thorne to return to his hotel and not to do any work.</p>
<p>The officer in uniform came with my phone in his hands and told John that he [Brahim] is an extremist and that he receives phone calls from abroad. The policeman in plainclothes who was talking to Mr. Thorne told the uniformed officer that the phone belonged to me. Then the man in plainclothes asked me not to accompany Mr. Thorne or to take him anywhere and that I should instead go home and stay out of trouble. They returned my phone and ID and gave John his passport, and we both left.</p>
<p>John Thorne, correspondent for the Abu Dhabi based English language daily The National, gave the following account:</p>
<p>Around 9 a.m. on November 8, 2010, Brahim Elansari and I went to Place Dchira, in central El-Ayoun, where dozens of policemen and several police vehicles were assembled. At that moment, several more van-loads of police arrived. For reasons I could not discern, police started chasing onlookers.</p>
<p>Mr. Elansari and I ran into a side street. Two policemen caught up to me and apprehended me. I did not see how they caught Mr. Elansari.</p>
<p>Both of us were taken to the edge of Place Dchira, where police were massed, and ordered to sit down. A police officer arrived. He recorded my passport and press card information, and Mr. Elansari’s identity card information. We both identified ourselves and our employers.</p>
<p>I explained that I am accredited by the Communication Ministry as a foreign correspondent in Morocco.</p>
<p>Then the police ordered me to stand, marched me about 15 feet away, and ordered me to sit in a chair. Meanwhile, around a dozen police – some in green jumpsuits, others in blue riot gear – surrounded Mr. Elansari and began beating him.</p>
<p>I could not see how many policemen struck Mr. Elansari. I could see that he was struck with hands and batons at least twenty times during a few minutes. Then the police made Brahim sit next to me.</p>
<p>At this point, two plainclothes policemen took charge of the situation.</p>
<p>After about an hour had passed since Mr. Elansari and I were stopped, the plainclothes policemen told us we could both go. They ordered Brahim to go in one direction and me to go in another. We both left in accordance with their instructions.</p>
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		<title>Saharawi fishermen and unemployed occupy a vessel in Dakhla</title>
		<link>http://asvdh.net/6573</link>
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		<pubDate>Sat, 28 Apr 2012 11:09:15 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description><![CDATA[El-Aaiun – Sahara Occidental 27.04.2012 On Tuesday, April 24, 22 Saharawi unemployed and fishermen took possession of the fishing vessel Magnarson in the port of Dakhla/ Western Sahara. They have blocked the vessel for 13 hours in protest against the marginalization of the Saharawi in Dakhla. They denounce the systematic exclusion of 400 of them [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>  El-Aaiun – Sahara Occidental<br />
27.04.2012</p>
<p>On Tuesday, April 24, 22 Saharawi unemployed and fishermen took possession of the fishing vessel Magnarson in the port of Dakhla/ Western Sahara.</p>
<p>They have blocked the vessel for 13 hours in protest against the marginalization of the Saharawi in Dakhla. They denounce the systematic exclusion of 400 of them of all the work stations on the ships or large boats.</p>
<p>The Moroccan authorities represented by 7 persons of the Army, DST and DGEED services have taken contact with the young Saharawi to negotiate with them, so that they allow the ship start off again. The young Saharawi, members of the Nawress, Kandil associations and the fishermen have agreed to discuss so as not to risk being under siege on the boat without the possibility of dialog. On Wednesday they went to the headquarters of the delegation of the ministry of fisheries and agriculture.</p>
<p>They have agreed to negotiate with the Moroccan representatives to highlight the repeated lies of the Moroccan State and to continue to demand a change in the discriminatory policies of the government as concerns the employment of Saharawi fishers.</p>
<p>The demonstrators argue on the other hand that:</p>
<p>- the natural resources of Western Sahara belong to the Saharawi, who must decide about their exploitation and profit of it</p>
<p>- at the current rate, within 2 years the fishery resources of the Saharawi sea will be exhausted as they are in the area of Tantan in southern Morocco because 49% of the so-called Moroccan fish production comes from Western Sahara</p>
<p>- If the cessation of the fishing agreement EU/Morocco has decreased the amount of money being diverted by corruption, the Moroccan generals, diplomats and businessmen continue to benefit from Moroccan fishing licenses in Western Sahara and continue their trade with foreign countries, to the detriment of the fishermen and of the Saharawi population.</p>
<p>According to available information, the Magnarson is a fishing trawler flying the flag of Belize. It has the number IMO 8616142. Its gross deadweight tonnage is 1356 tons. The vessel is the property of General Abdelaziz Benani for 71 %, and of the businessman El Qabbaj for 29 %. The captain of the ship Hilmar Snorrason and his two assistants are Swedish. The 16 members of the crew are Moroccans.<br />
ASVDH</p>
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		<title>Police violence against Saharawi peaceful demonstration, the Human Rights still trampled</title>
		<link>http://asvdh.net/6555</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:28:40 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description><![CDATA[El Aaiun / Western Sahara April 26, 2012 Two young Saharawi activists were arrested on April 26 during a demonstration organized at Smara Avenue in occupied El Aaiún. Mahjoub Aaiach and Mustapha Lamma are prisoners at the central prefecture of the city where they may undergo acts of torture and other ill-treatment. (see EM video: [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>El Aaiun / Western Sahara<br />
April  26, 2012</p>
<p>Two young Saharawi activists were arrested on April 26 during a demonstration organized at Smara Avenue in occupied El Aaiún.  </p>
<p>Mahjoub Aaiach and Mustapha Lamma are prisoners at the central prefecture of the city where they may undergo acts of torture and other ill-treatment. (see EM video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&#038;v=aMSL2OEwL2Y )</p>
<p>11 other persons were injured: </p>
<p>Mmes. Salima Limam, Boumakhrotta Ghlana Lmjayed Om Lkhout, El Ghalia Aaiach , Mbarka Zerouali and Lbani Mbarka.</p>
<p>MM. Bamba Lafkir, Allal Souffi, Lehbib Salhi, Mohamed Lmghaimad, Ahmed Ahaimad.  </p>
<p>The peaceful demonstration held at the call of the Gdaim Izik coordination demanded «the release of the Saharawi political prisoners and complained about the systematic looting of our natural resources», said Allal Soufi member of the coordination. </p>
<p>Dozens of protesters respond to the call of the Gdaim Izik coordination and gather on Tuesdays before the headquarters of the CNDH (National Human Rights Council)  in the occupied city of El Aaiún and on Thursdays at the Esmara Avenue.</p>
<p>The young Saharawi who brandished portraits of political prisoners of &laquo;&nbsp;Gdaim Izik&nbsp;&raquo; chanted:&nbsp;&raquo;Where are our resources?&nbsp;&raquo;</p>
<p>Ya Chahid Rtah Rtah Sanouaslou Lkifah : Oh martyr remain calm we will continue the fight.</p>
<p>ASVDH (The Sahrawi Association of Victims of Grave Human Rights Violations Committed by the Moroccan State),</p>
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		<title>Questionable and controversial judgments for  the prisoners of Dakhla</title>
		<link>http://asvdh.net/6521</link>
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		<pubDate>Sat, 21 Apr 2012 14:43:52 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description><![CDATA[El-Aaiun – Sahara Occidental 20.04.2012 On April 18 2012, 16 Saharawi and 7 Moroccan detainees have been brought before the first chamber of the Court of Appeal in El Aaiún, occupied Western Sahara, which rendered a verdict considering them guilty of the charges brought against them. The penalties range from 8 months to 3 years [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>  El-Aaiun – Sahara Occidental<br />
20.04.2012</p>
<p>On April 18 2012, 16 Saharawi and 7 Moroccan detainees have been brought before the first chamber of the Court of Appeal in El Aaiún, occupied Western Sahara, which rendered a verdict considering them guilty of the charges brought against them. The penalties range from 8 months to 3 years in prison..<br />
The lawyers Lhbib Rguibi, Mohamed Boukhaled, Mohamed Fadel Laili and Bazeid Lhmad were present to ensure their defense.</p>
<p>The trial was followed by many foreign observers:</p>
<p>Roberta Bussolari and Federico Comillini, from Italy.</p>
<p>Inés Miranda, Juan Andrés Lisbona Noguerol, Jose Reveat, Francisco Cerrano, from Spain.</p>
<p>The session was opened by the summons of the accused and the reading of the indictment, followed by the interrogation of all the accused.  All of them have denied the accusations made against them, contradicting the assertions of minutes of proceedings, which include statements made under torture carried out by agents of the Moroccan army and police. The detainees have assigned the responsibility for the incidents of Dakhla to the Moroccan security and military forces who had abandoned their functions of protecting the population and encouraged the Moroccans residents to attack the Saharawi.</p>
<p>Two prisoners, Omar El Ghazzari and Hamada El Alaoui, stated that they had been violated by means of bottles at the police station in Dakhla.</p>
<p>4 prisoners, Mohamed Manolo, Abdelaziz Berray, Omar El Ghazzari and Hamada El Alaoui request to be submitted to a medical examination in order to prove their allegations of torture..The Saharawi human rights defenders, Ouled Chaikh Mahjoub, Kamal Trayah, Mohamed Manolo, Atikou Berray, Hassana El Wali and Abdel Aziz Berray expressed that their arrests were only the retaliation vis-à-vis their political positions and their activities in defence of human rights.</p>
<p>The defence of the detainees was based on the absence of evidence in the trial proceedings and on the fact that all detainees have been subjected to torture and ill-treatment. In spite of all the complaints of their families filed with the attorney general, no investigation has been opened…</p>
<p>The litigants have confirmed that the authorities never comply with the legal rules, and that the purpose of the arrest of human rights defenders is to reduce them to silence and to abort any attempt to create a modern civil society.</p>
<p>They also add that all the prisoners arrived before the trial judge and the attorney general bearing traces of torture.</p>
<p>For his part, the Prosecutor submitted photos saying that they prove the presence of three Saharawi activists in the centre of a demonstration. One of the prisoners contested this photo and his presence, accusing the authorities of having undertaken a photo mounting.</p>
<p>At the end of the deliberation, the court has rendered its verdict against the 6 human rights defenders, Ouled Chaikh Mahjoub, Kamal Trayah, Mohamed Manolo, Atikou Berray, Hassana El Wali and Abdel Aziz Berray. They were sentenced to 3 years in prison.</p>
<p>Omar Ghazari and Hamadi El Alaoui were sentenced to 18 months in prison.</p>
<p>Laamer Boseif, Chreif Nasri, Hadj Selami, Bella Ali Salem, Khaled Omim and Barek Allah Dalbouh were sentenced to ten months in prison and four months suspended sentence.</p>
<p>Sidati Dlim was sentenced to 8 months in prison and four months suspended sentence.</p>
<p>The same court has also condemned three Moroccan settlers to one year in prison and one year suspended sentence</p>
<p>Sarrag Mahmoud, Youssef Chadad, Younsi Youssef, Abdeljalil Nouarri Lhmama Hmeida, Sbaai Abdel-Illah and Mourad Serakhi were released after having spent more than six months in prison.</p>
<p>The ASVDH (The Sahrawi Association of Victims of Grave Human Rights Violations Committed by the Moroccan State) has followed-up this dossier and strongly condemns the violations and inhuman and degrading treatment applied to detainees under the supervision of the commissioner Hariz El Aarbi, who is responsible for a series of abuse against Saharawi citizens including ASVDH members.</p>
<p>The Association deplores the absence of an investigation into the torture of prisoners, and into the application of the Moroccan law and international conventions, in particular the Convention against torture.</p>
<p>The ASVDH also regrets that the Moroccan authorities have ignored the complaints filed by the victims of torture, which has encouraged the security and intelligence services to prosecute violations of the honour and dignity of Saharawi citizens, especially of activists and human rights defenders.</p>
<p>The ASVDH considers all Saharawi human rights defenders imprisoned in Moroccan jails as prisoners of conscience.</p>
<p>The ASVDH finally expresses its support to all Saharawi political prisoners and human rights defenders and announces that it will continue to fight to liberate them all and to put an end to the impunity that prevails in Western Sahara since 1975.</p>
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		<title>HEAVY SENTENCE under claims of false crimes to Saharaui political prisoner  Saleh Sghayer</title>
		<link>http://asvdh.net/6490</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Mar 2012 23:52:45 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description><![CDATA[El Aaiun / Western Sahara March 29, 2012 The Court of Appeal of the city of El Aaiún / Western Sahara sentenced today the Saharawi citizen Saleh Sghayer to eight months in prison with following charges: blocking of the road, grounding of a criminal gang and criminal setting of fire. He was in pre-trial detention [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img width="150" title="" class="alignleft" src="http://asvdh.net/img2/var/thumbs/prisonniers-politiques-sahraouis-de-la-ville-de-Dakhla/%C3%8F%C3%81%C3%8F%C2%BA%2B%C3%A4%C3%8F%C2%A1_%2B%C3%AA%2B%C3%A4%C3%8F%C2%BB_%C3%8F%C2%BA%C3%8F%C3%81%C3%8F%C2%A6%2B%C3%A8%C3%8F%C2%A6-1217013735.JPG?m=1323265209"><br />
El Aaiun / Western Sahara<br />
March 29, 2012</p>
<p>The Court of Appeal of the city of El Aaiún / Western Sahara sentenced today the Saharawi citizen Saleh Sghayer to eight months in prison with following charges: blocking of the road, grounding of a criminal gang and criminal setting of fire.</p>
<p>He was in pre-trial detention since October 18, 2011.</p>
<p>The Court announced that the judgment of other 7 prisoners : Omar El Yazari, Bella Ali Salem, Al Hadj Hmeida, Chreif Ennasri, Atikou Berray, Hassan El Wali,  Sghaer Saleh would be rendered on April 18 next.</p>
<p>We recall that the prisoners were arrested following police attacks against peaceful demonstrators who were denouncing the violence perpetrated by Moroccan residents in the city of Dakhla, such Moroccan residents being supported by the security forces after a football match on September 25, 2011.</p>
<p>Among the detainees who were awaiting trial, the 5 on unlimited hunger strike since March 1 have suspended their hunger strike today after obtaining the notification to appear before the judge.</p>
<p>ASVDH -EL Aaiún<br />
March 29, 2012</p>
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		<title>General Assembly:  The intervention of Madame Djimi Elghalia at Interactive dialogue with the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention</title>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 06 Mar 2012 21:06:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>asvdh</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[General Assembly Human Rights Council 19th Session Item 3: Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development Interactive dialogue with the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Madam President, Mister President of the working group on Arbitrary Detentions Our organizations continue to be disturbed by [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img width="150" title="" class="alignleft" src="http://asvdh.net/img/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&#038;g2_itemId=1846&#038;g2_serialNumber=2"><br />
General Assembly<br />
Human Rights Council<br />
19th Session</p>
<p>Item 3:  Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development</p>
<p>Interactive dialogue with the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention</p>
<p>Madam President, Mister President of the working group on Arbitrary Detentions</p>
<p>Our organizations continue to be disturbed by the numerous persons arbitrarily detained and subjected to torture, cruel and inhuman treatment. For instance the case of the people of Western Sahara.<br />
The Kingdom of Morocco must respect its international obligations. Mr. Mustafa Ramid, Minister for Justice and Liberties, reaffirmed before the Council last February 28 the commitment made by his country to respect and ensure respect, and I quote: “of the rights and obligations indicated in the international mechanisms related to the human rights”, and reiterated the attachment of the Kingdom of Morocco to the rights as universally recognized .<br />
However, it is impossible not to notice the existence of a chronic anomaly between statements and the daily life of the people of Western Sahara. Cases of arbitrary detention are frequent, like the case of the 23 political prisoners arbitrarily detained following the dismantling of the Gdeim Izik camp in November 08, 2010, including human rights defenders such as: Mr. Naama Asfari. The group is brought before a martial court, a fact that was deplored by the Committee against Torture last November 2011 .</p>
<p>-  2  -<br />
Ladies and Gentlemen,<br />
To face this persisting situation, we consider it indispensible that the kingdom of Morocco:<br />
	Stops immediately, arrests and arbitrary detentions whose victims are the militants and children of Western Sahara, and respect their fundamental guarantees;<br />
	Cooperates efficiently with the competent mechanisms, in particular the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, by inviting them officially to visit Western Sahara ;<br />
	Encourages the Un Security Council to integrate a human rights component in the UN Mission, MINURSO.<br />
I thank you Madam President.<br />
March 6, 2012</p>
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		<title>New harsh sentences against Sahrawi students</title>
		<link>http://asvdh.net/6354</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:27:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>asvdh</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[El Aaiun / Western Sahara February 28, 2012 Monday, February 27, 2012, the Court of First Instance, in Rabat, sentenced six young Saharawi political prisoners to three years in prison and fined 60,000 dirhams. (approx 6000 euros). The six young Saharawi political prisioners are: Slaima Messaad Abailail Said Ahmed Ayoub Lhbib Mansouri Mohamed Barrak Brahim [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>  El Aaiun / Western Sahara<br />
February 28, 2012</p>
<p>Monday, February 27, 2012, the Court of First Instance, in Rabat, sentenced six young Saharawi political prisoners to three years in prison and fined 60,000 dirhams. (approx 6000 euros).</p>
<p>The six young Saharawi political prisioners are:<br />
Slaima Messaad<br />
Abailail Said<br />
Ahmed Ayoub<br />
Lhbib Mansouri<br />
Mohamed Barrak<br />
Brahim Chlaih<br />
The young political prisoners  were assisted by the tow advocates Bodheir Mohamed and Said Lbreiki.<br />
The prosecutor has read the following charges against the detainees: arson ,obstruction to traffic, destruction of public and private property, unauthorized rallies.<br />
The detainees denied all the charges.<br />
According to the Saharawi political prisioners, the arrest occurred in the context of their participation in a peaceful  demonstration against the killing of a the Saharawi student, Habad Hammad, April 21, 2011, near the Campus of Suisssi in Rabat / Morocco.<br />
Young political prisoners were on the other hand protesting against ill treatment and torture inflicted by the police during the signing of the police report , a signing extorted under duress.<br />
The six young Sahrawi political prisoners began an indefinite hunger strike on February 6, in protest against poor conditions of their detention in the prison of Salé 2, north of the moroccan capital.</p>
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		<title>UN FAMILIES VISITS PROGRAM RECEPTION WAS BRUTALLY ATTACKED BY MOROCCAN OCCUPATION FORCES</title>
		<link>http://asvdh.net/6338</link>
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		<pubDate>Sun, 26 Feb 2012 21:11:32 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description><![CDATA[El-Aaiun – Sahara Occidental 26.02.2012 A reception in honor of the arrival of Mr. Lhrittani Lahcen was brutally attacked by moroccan police , friday evening, the 25 of February 2012, in the city of El Aaiún/ Western Sahara . Mr. Lhrittani Lahcen benefits from the families visits program promoted by the UN that allows Saharawi [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img width="150" title="" class="alignrleft" src="http://asvdh.net/img2/var/thumbs/Mbarek-Elmamoun/DSCF3926.JPG?m=1330288007"><img width="150" title="" class="alignleft" src="http://asvdh.net/img2/var/thumbs/Mbarek-Elmamoun/DSCF3924.JPG?m=1330288005"><br />
El-Aaiun – Sahara Occidental<br />
26.02.2012<br />
A reception in honor of the arrival of Mr. Lhrittani Lahcen was brutally attacked by moroccan police , friday evening, the 25 of February 2012, in the city of El Aaiún/ Western Sahara .</p>
<p>Mr. Lhrittani Lahcen benefits from the families visits program promoted by the UN that allows Saharawi families separated by the wall to find. </p>
<p>600 people attended the traditional reception in a tent. </p>
<p>The police attacked an hour after the arrival of M Lhrittani Lahcen, using batons and stones. </p>
<p>19 people were injured, including a pregnant woman who was due to be rushed to the hospital.</p>
<p>The attack took place in front of the UN, while M Lhrittani Lahcen was under his supervision, and rests again the question of how the UN carries out its responsibility to protect the human rights of Saharawis in the territories of Western Sahara.<br />
PROVISIONAL LIST OF WOUNDED PEOPLE:</p>
<p>Mailad Malouma (pregnant woman)<br />
Aalaia Mohamed<br />
Lmbarki Ahmed Fal<br />
Alali Boutngiza<br />
Mohamed Hmmya<br />
Kamboura Ahraiam<br />
Mohamed Nafaa Lmbarki<br />
Said Lmbarki<br />
Taglabout Mohamed Fadel<br />
Teslem Mansour<br />
Wayahi Toumi<br />
Salam Abderrahman<br />
Ali Fal Hanoun<br />
Mbarek Med Salem Maissa<br />
Mbarek Med Lmamoun Il a fait une opération samedi<br />
Sid Ahmed Lkouri<br />
Zouina Mbarek Aaiad<br />
Lghraid Med Sahel</p>
<p>ASVDH, El Aaiún, 25 February 2012</p>
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		<title>VIOLENCE AGAINST SOLIDARITY WITH POLITICAL PRISONERS IN SALÉ 2</title>
		<link>http://asvdh.net/6316</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 24 Feb 2012 11:38:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>asvdh</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[El-Aaiun – Sahara Occidental 23.02.2012 34 Saharawi citizens were injured after a violent intervention of the moroccan police and auxiliary forces that intended to disperse a peaceful demonstration. The Gdaim Izik ´s Coordination called to demonstrate on February 23, 2012, in solidarity with the 23 Saharawi political prisoners confined in the prison of Sale 2, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img width="190" title="" class="alignleft" src="http://asvdh.net/img2/var/resizes/victimes-23-f%C3%A9vrier-2012-/Slaima%20Limama.JPG?m=1330020302"><img width="190" title="" class="alignleft" src="http://asvdh.net/img2/var/thumbs/victimes-23-f%C3%A9vrier-2012-/Braigina%20Ahmed2.JPG?m=1330046207"><img width="190" title="" class="alignleft" src="http://asvdh.net/img2/var/thumbs/victimes-23-f%C3%A9vrier-2012-/Said%20Hadad.JPG?m=1330020288"><img width="190" title="" class="alignleft" src="http://asvdh.net/img2/var/thumbs/victimes-23-f%C3%A9vrier-2012-/Mohamed%20ahmed%20taleb.JPG?m=1330020284"></p>
<p>  El-Aaiun – Sahara Occidental<br />
23.02.2012</p>
<p>34 Saharawi citizens were injured after a violent intervention of the moroccan police and auxiliary forces that intended to disperse a peaceful demonstration.</p>
<p>The Gdaim Izik ´s Coordination called to demonstrate on February 23, 2012, in solidarity with the 23 Saharawi political prisoners confined in the prison of Sale 2, which began a hunger strike to protest 24 hours.</p>
<p>The families of the political prisoners accompanied by members of the Coordination tried to reach the place designated for the demonstration on Essmara Avenue, but police forces intervened violently and injured 34 people, most of whom are women.</p>
<p>Provisional list of injured people:</p>
<p>Salima Limam<br />
Mohamed Ettaleb<br />
Falla Chtouki<br />
Lkouteb Neiha<br />
Lmjaied Mbarka<br />
Zaoui Aicha<br />
Ghlanna Boumakhrota<br />
Toubali Batoul<br />
Lmaigaf Iaaich<br />
Fnnaina Labras<br />
Mazzan Boudani<br />
Abderrhman Lmrabet<br />
Ndour Salka<br />
Lfkir Salka<br />
Lhddad Said<br />
Salma Lfrik<br />
Fatma Hallab<br />
Lhbib Salhi<br />
Lkhfaouni Lwali<br />
Mohamed Mbarek Ismaili<br />
Lmsaadi Mouloud<br />
Kabbara Babeit<br />
Sid Ahmed Lhouaijab<br />
Kraibich Mohamed Lghdaf<br />
Souaad Ahmed Sidi<br />
Fraitiss Essalama<br />
Lkhlifi Ahjeboha<br />
Zraigina ment Mohamed Mouloud<br />
Mohamed Lmghaimad<br />
Zeineb ment Mokhtar<br />
Zeina Lhadef<br />
Lmbarkia ment Laarbei<br />
Meriem Toubali<br />
Ahjoubha Lhmad<br />
ASVDH expresses its deep concern at this new ban on free expression and assembly, denial of national and international low.<br />
ASVDH renew its solidarity with political prisoners , their families, and all wounded people, and launch an  appeal to the international community to use their influence on the Moroccan government</p>
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