Activists in London will today take part in an international day of
protest marking the 2nd anniversary of the detention without trial of
23 Saharawis from Western Sahara. They will hand in a petition to the
Moroccan ambassador demanding the immediate release of the prisoners
who were arrested following the violent dismantling of the Gdeim Izik
protest camp by Moroccan police in 2010. The prisoners have been held
ever since in Rabat’s notorious Sale jail awaiting a military trial
which has been rescheduled twice in the last two years.

Regarded by some as the first spark of the Arab Spring, the Gdeim Izik
camp was set up by thousands of Saharawis calling for an improvement
in their living conditions and demanding the long-overdue, UN-backed
right to a referendum on independence. Its destruction on 8th November
2010 resulted in dozens of deaths, imprisonments, injuries and forced
disappearances.

Cathy Jamieson MP, Vice Chair of the All Party Parliament Group on
Western Sahara said today.

“For two years 23 Saharawis who were involved in the Gdeim Izik
protesters have held in prison without trial. Numerous human rights
organisations have expressed concerns over both their treatment and
the fact that it is an abuse of process to try civilians in a military
court. We call on the Moroccan authorities to release them without
delay.”

Today’s action in London, which will also be accompanied by two film
screenings including the UK premiere of Javier Bardem’s new
documentary on Western Sahara, is part of a wider campaign across
other European capitals. It also coincides with a visit by the
personal Envoy of the UN Secretary General for Western Sahara,
Christopher Ross, to the region. His visit has reportedly been marked
by the banning of protests by Moroccan authorities and violence
against protesters by Moroccan police.

Javier Bardem, whose Sahara documentary, Sons of the Clouds, will have
its UK premiere in London this Saturday said today:

“This demonstration in London is part of an ever growing international
clamour for justice for the Saharawi imprisoned without trial in
Moroccan jails, the Saharawi subjugated by unlawful occupation in
Western Sahara and the Saharawi exiled for 37 years in desert refugee
camps.”

- ENDS -

8/11/12 - 1 – 2pm DEMONSTRATION - Moroccan Embassy, 49 Queen's Gate
Gardens, London SW7 5NE

8/11/12 – 7 – 9pm UK FILM PREMIERE - La-Badil – SOAS Junior Common Room.

10/11/12 – 6.30 – 10pm UK FILM PREMIERE – Sons of the Clouds.- Hackney
Picture House


1) PETITIONS
AVAAZ -  http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/For_Saharawi_activists_to_be_released_in_the_absence_of_a_fair_and_transparent_trial/?cMtOzdb

CHANGE.ORG  http://www.change.org/petitions/end-human-rights-violations-against-the-people-of-western-sahara-2

2) BACKGROUND - Western Sahara, known as "Africa's last colony," has
been controlled by Morocco since 1975, when the government claimed
sovereignty over the territory, despite a ruling by the International
Court of Justice. The Moroccan government's actions ignited a
decades-long conflict with the Polisario Front, a national movement
committed to self-determination for the Sahrawi people of Western
Sahara. Because of the conflict, the Sahrawi population was divided
into those who stayed under Moroccan control and those who fled
Western Sahara for safety and now live in refugee camps near Tindouf,
Algeria.

3) The 23 Saharawi prisoners are Abdulahi Lakfawni, Abdullahi Toubali,
Ahmed Sbai, Babait Mohamed Juna, Brahim Ismaïli, Cheikh Banga, Deich
Eddaf (Daish Daf), El Ayoubi Mohamed (Mohamed Al Ayoubi), El Bachir
Khadda, El Houssin Ezzaoui, Enaama Asfari, Hassan Dah, Laaroussi
Abdeljalil, Machdoufi Ettaki (Taki Elmachdoufi), Mohamed Bani, Mohamed
Bourial, Mohamed El Bachir Boutinguiza, Mohamed Embarek Lefkir,
Mohamed Lamin Haddi, Mohamed Tahili, Sid Ahmed Lemjiyed, Sidi Abdallah
B’hah, Sidi Abderahmane Zayou. They have engaged in four hunger
strikes since their detention.