Moroccan police brutalize protester in Sidi Ifni

This guy is getting beaten up for participating in protests last month in Sidi Ifni, Morocco. The protests weren't related to Western Sahara, but the video gives you a sense of the way Moroccan police treat protesters.

Abderrahim Lemsaoud and Mustapha Rochdi, Hamdi Lembarki's killers, released 8 years early

Hamdi Lembarki (pictured) was beaten to death by Moroccan security forces during the 2005 intifada. His killers, Abderrahim Lemsaoud and Mustapha Rochdi, were sentenced to 10 years in prison but only served 2 after being released early last month. Pretty outrageous stuff, and just one example of the flippant attitude the Moroccan government takes toward human rights in Western Sahara.

I'm pretty behind the times on this, but it's too depressing not to mention. Giving his killers a little negative Google juice, even in their transliterated names, is a little justice but not near as much as Lembarki deserves.

Book on non-violent resistance has tactics for Sahrawis

Non-violence is trendy in Western Saharan resistance. In the spirit of keeping things both effective and pacifist, Sahrawis and their allies should check out this extensive e-book about non-violent resistance. Produced by the Centre for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies, the book discusses tactics used across the world, using protests against Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia as a model. If their ideas helped stopped Milosevic, I'm sure they can be employed effectively in El Aiun.

Weirdly, I wasn't able to find it in any other languages. If translations aren't available yet, I'm sure they will be soon--for Western Saharan purposes I'd like to see one in Spanish and Arabic.

Via the HAMSA Crime Report, which also tipped me off about Algeria's machinations.

Pictures from Western Sahara rally in Washington

Sahrawis and Americans rallying for self-determination

Last week, the US-Western Sahara Foundation, along with members of Christ the Rock Church in Wisconsin and Sahrawis visiting the US with the church's help hit Washington hard with their demands for self-determination.

On Thursday, they rallied in Lafayette Park. Several cool people, including Frank Ruddy and Suzanne Scholte, spoke.

That night, there was a congressional reception that was sponsored by reliable House allies Zach Wamp, Joseph Pitts, and Donald Payne. They were joined by Tim Ryan (D-OH), who seems like a snazzy up-and-comer. On the Senate side, there was Russ Feingold (my hero!), James Inhofe, and Jim DeMint. It's nice to see someone on the Hill is standing up for Sahrawis.

Here are some pictures from the rally courtesy of Mohammed of Western Sahara Echo. If you know of any more, tell me!
A woman I don't know gives a speech. Below her, Frank Ruddy waves a Polisario flag.


The rally was postponed until gravity returned to normal.


I'm jealous of those brown shirts. On the front they say, "Be their voice."

I'm glad Christ the Rock, US-WS Foundation, and everyone else involved pulled it together. Mrs. Lenz at the church said they were feeling optimistic after the great embassy protest of 2006, so I can only imagine how well this is playing in Tindouf. And how sourly it's being received in Rabat.

Spain sells 600,000 Euros worth of anti-riot equipment to Morocco

Spain, which lately hasn't been feeling too guilty about the Madrid Accords, is one step closer to taking the "neo" out of "neocolonialism." According to the Spanish newspaper El Pais (via ARSO), the Spanish government is selling 600,000 Euros worth of riot control equipment to Morocco. It's no secret where the Moroccan plans to use the purchase.

They'll put their new weapons to good use in Western Sahara, where the intifada is flaring up again, and Morocco is starting to feel the heat. I suppose they figured the usual repression isn't working, and they call in the last colonial occupier for help.

Morocco's gleeful assault on Sahrawi demonstrators has long since ceased to shock or even surprise. What is disgusting, though, is Spain's about-face regarding Western Sahara. Under President Jose Zapatero, Spain has sold Morocco army vehicles and supported its autonomy proposal. I might've expected this from Jose Maria Aznar, but Zapatero's supposed to be a socialist. Socialism's reputation for peace hasn't been this injured in western Europe since Georges Clemenceau.

Someday, Spain will reconsider its policy towards the Moroccan occupation and realize that no amount of time in Ceuta and Melilla is worth being complicit in Sahrawi deaths. Until then, Moroccan oppression will continue to be hecho en Espana.

Moroccan increases assaults on Sahrawi activists

It sounds like Morocco is going crazy in Western Sahara this month. I'd expect Morocco to play it cool until the autonomy plan is passed or rejected, but maybe the competing plans have excited the Sahrawis so much Morocco has to respond.

Western Sahara Info, the Norwegian Support Committee for the Western Sahara, and ASVDH (a Sahrawi human rights group) have extensive coverage of this recent outbreak of repression that's hitting Sahrawis, especially youths. Here's what's happening:

• Morocco arrested 3 young Sahrawis aged 13 and 14 after pro-independence demonstrations in El-Aiun. According to ASVDH, Morocco also tortured a 14 year-old boy. Seriously?
  
• Mohammed Tahlil, the Boujdour ASVDH representative, was beaten by security forces in El-Aiun.
• Amadayne el-Ouali, a 21 year-old Sahrawi active in the independence movement, was sentenced to 5 years in prison. Check out Western Sahara Info's highly-recommended profile of Amadayne. On the plus side, I think I have a crush on his self-determination- loving sister.
  

Can someone explain to me why MINURSO isn't getting a human rights component this renewal? [Kudos to Western Sahara Info for tipping me off to this latest wave of repression].

Videos chronicle Sahrawi protests inside Western Sahara

Youtube is a great way to see what's going on in the Moroccan-occupied portion of Western Sahara, even more so because traditional journalists are often denied access to the country. Previously, I wrote about videos of Mohammed Daddach on the site. There is also a wealth of footage of Sahrawis protesting, along with subsequent Moroccan repression.

Here are two of my favorite videos of Sahrawi resistance inside Western Sahara.



If you stick with this video, you'll be rewarded. At first I thought it was just hooded Sahrawis holding a Polisario flag, but actually, there's an enjoyable ending when they try and display the flag.



In this clip, Moroccan police assault Sahrawis demonstrating for self-determination. They kick and hit the youths, including some women. I realize Youtube videos aren't paragons of accuracy, and this makes me even more suspicious. I mean, Morocco would have to be insane to let images like this get out of the country.

There are a lot of other videos to choose from, although most are from SADR television and have crummy quality and martial music. I liked this one of confrontations between Sahrawis and Moroccan police, though. It opens with Sahrawis lowering Morocco's flag and replacing it with Polisario's!

Hopefully, we'll get more videos like these. Until Morocco increases journalistic access to the territories, they're one of the best resources we have to gauge the mood of Sahrawis inside the Berm.

Moroccan Embassy Post-Mortem

Every year, Georgetown students go trick-or-treating on Embassy Row. Some of the embassies participate and hand out candy, while others are flustered when you ask and hand out ubiquitous red mints.

I had a soft protest planned for the Moroccan Embassy. A commenter named Justin, as well as Saharanlistan helped me prepare what I was going to say. Originally I was going for "I refuse your blood candies, free the Western Sahara," which sounds intense and would surprise whoever was handing out Tootsie Rolls, but Saharanlistan convinced me to say in Arabic "I don't want your sweets, I want a free Western Sahara," which is better parallelism anyway.

When we got our maps of the embassies, I noticed the first problem: Morocco wasn't participating! But I had worked hard to learn this Arabic, and Morocco was close by, so I was undeterred.

Around 5, after we had shaken down the other embassies (congratulations to the Mexican Embassy for having the best presentation and candy), I went off alone to Morocco. I rang the doorbell and several people came out.

Woman: Hello!
Me: Trick-or-treat
Woman: Oh my! Go look inside, see if we have anything. We're all going home.

The thing is they were all terribly nice, which isn't news to me, as I've always recognized that the Moroccan people are nice, besides being complicit in the occupation. But it's unnerving. I would have preferred a grouchy man in a fez. Anyway, another embassy worker stepped out and waited for me to do something. I just said "Free the Western Sahara!" and walked away.

So it wasn't much. I'm sure I'll have juicier Moroccan embassy stories to tell later, but to tide you over until then, here's a picture of my Halloween outfit. This should give you an idea of how baffled the Moroccans were.


I'm Thomas Friedman, New York Times columnist extraordinaire, and Erica is a Thai person. Topical!

Petition against arbitrary arrests of Saharawi activists

In May of last year some non-violent protests for independence were organized in Western Sahara. The Moroccans reacted harshly, and began a new campaign of repression and intimidation. They've arrested many activists, including two who are currently on a hunger strike.

The nice folks at ASVDH, which I'm told translates roughly to the Sahrawi Association of Victims of Grave Human Rights Violations Committed by the Moroccan State, have a petition against this recent assault on human rights. Go ahead and sign it. You'll feel a little better about yourself, and you'll have thumbed your nose at the occupation.