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.

Lene Espersen er ”stærkt bekymret” for udviklingen i Vestsahara

I et svar på et brev som Afrika Kontakt sendte udenrigsminister Lene Espersen om situationen i Vestsahara, udtaler hun, at hun er ”stærkt bekymret for udviklingen” i landet. Desuden påpeger hun, at Marokkanske sikkerhedsstyrkers angreb på protestlejren i de besatte områder i Vestsahara i november, hvor snesevis blev dræbt og tusindvis såret, ”naturligvis [er] meget beklagelig”, og at hun gerne ser ”at MINURSO i forbindelse med forlængelse af missionens mandat også får mandat til at monitere menneskerettighedssituationen i Vestsahara”.

Desværre virker dette ikke til at have ansporet Lene Espersen og den danske regering til at stille nogle krav til Marokko, hverken om en undersøgelse i forhold til angrebet, eller til mere direkte at kræve den folkeafstemning i forhold til Vestsaharas tilhørsforhold, som international lov kræver det, og som adskillige FN-resolutioner har krævet i årtier.

Toothless UN resolution extends peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara

The UN Security Council has extended the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara, Minurso (The United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara), for another year with resolution 1920. The resolution was adopted unanimously by the Security Council‘s 15 members, and urged Morocco and the Polisario to “show political will to initiate more intensive and substantive negotiations” as well as to continue discussions under the auspices of the UN Secretary General to achieve a “just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution which will provide for the elf-determination of the people of Western Sahara”.