European Parliament to report on human rights situation in Western Sahara

“Dr Tannock is not in a position to answer your questions as the report has not been written and dates have not been set yet,” the personal assistant of the recently appointed Special Rapporteur of the European Parliament for Human Rights in Western Sahara, Dr Charles Tannock, wrote in a reply to Africa Contact.

The Danish solidarity organisation that has campaigned for justice and independence for Western Sahara for several years had requested information about the details of the report on the human rights situation in Western Sahara that Charles Tannock is in the process of writing.

Charles Tannock has been a member of the European Parliament for the British Conservative Party since 1999. He is presently Foreign Affairs and Human Rights Spokesman for the UK Conservative delegation, as well as being a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Human Rights subcommittee.

Danish delegation stalked by Moroccan police during visit to occupied Western Sahara

”When we left our hotel, we discovered that we were being followed by a small army of Moroccan security officers. They obviously did not want the truth about the occupation of Western Sahara to be revealed,” says Danish MEP Søren Søndergaard.

He has just spent four days in both Morocco and the Moroccan-occupied territories in Western Sahara together with Danish MP Christian Juhl and two representatives from Danish NGO, Africa Contact. Here the group met with representatives from Moroccan opposition parties and Saharawi human rights groups.

Liberal EU lovgiver mere end folketinget

Den Europæiske Kommission har for nyligt foreslået et direktiv der vil skabe en fælles Europæisk skatteharmonisering for koncerner, som opererer i flere EU-lande – den såkaldte Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB). Forslaget virker til at være designet til at minimere skattetrykket for de multinationale firmaer. ”Der hvor den laveste [selskabsskatte]sats er, vil virksomhederne være motiveret til at lægge omsætning, arbejdskraft, og aktiver”, siger Bo Sandberg, Skattepolitisk Chef for Dansk Erhverv om CCCTB.

Forslaget er bare det seneste i rækken af EU-love der påtvinger medlemslandene en liberal politik på stadigt flere områder. I den Europæiske Union er liberal politik en del af selve unionens identitet og ”grundlov”, traktaterne.

Nordic parliamentarians call for halt of unethical EU fisheries

In a press released issued today, Western Sahara Resource Watch requests the countries of the European Union to prevent the continuation of illegal fishing in the coasts off the occupied Western Saharan territories, as well as the automatic prolongation of the EU-Moroccan fisheries agreement that expires in 2011. The press release quotes passages from a letter written by 32 Nordic parliamentarians that was sent today to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Finland, Sweden and Denmark.
Both the press release and letter can be read below.

Scandinavian firms exploit Western Saharan resources

Many companies are taking advantage of the Moroccan control of Western Saharan resources, directly contravening international law in the process. These resources include Western Sahara’s fishing grounds, phosphate reserves, vegetables, solar power and oil. At the same time campaigners for Western Sahara’s liberation accuse the international community of doing too little to stop the human rights violations and illegal trade in goods produced in Western Sahara, and the companies for failing to listen to recommendations not to operate in Western Sahara from the liberation movement in Western Sahara, the Polisario Front, amongst others.