February 2019

Occupied Aaiun, Feb 19, 2019 (SPS) - the Moroccan occupation police in the occupied city of Aaiun has arrested a minor child, the student "Rageb Mohamed Rgeibi" on Sunday evening, near the street of Skeikima where they brought him to the police station and subjected him to severe beatings and psychological torture.
The arrest of the minor child " Rageb  Mohamed Rgeibi " on the ground of his participation in a peaceful demonstration demanding the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination and independence.

El Aaiun (Refugee Camps), February 17, 2019 (SPS) – Campaigns has been initiated for collecting the crops of the national farms in the wilayas and institutions of the Sahrawi Republic, with the aim of creating self-sufficiency for the population of the refugee camps.
In this regard, a harvest campaign was made on Saturday in the wilaya of El Aaiun, with the participation of President of the Republic, Secretary General of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, where considerable amount of vegetables and fruits were collected.

Bir Lehlu, February 16, 2019 (SPS) - Head of Sahrawi Petroleum and Mining Authority, Dr. Ghali Zubeir, on Saturday announced the signing of an agreement with Australian Resources Limited company, to explore for minerals in the liberated Sahrawi territories.
The agreement grants four licenses for mineral exploration covering an area of 8000 km2 in the southeast of the Sahrawi Republic, targeting discovery of iron, gold, uranium and other minerals.

Bir Lahlou (Liberated Territories), February 16, 2019 (SPS) - Sahrawi Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohmaed Ould Salek affirmed Thursday, in a statement to the media, that the 32nd African Union Summit has strengthened the achievements of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
In this respect, Ould Salek said that this summit had clearly shown that AU attaches a big interest to the conflict between Morocco and Western Sahara through its support to the efforts made by the United Nations’ envoy Horst Kohler for the decolonization of Western Sahara.

Strasbourg, February 16, 2019 (SPS) - The European Court reiterated in a ruling Tuesday, on the day of the European Parliament’s vote on the EU-Morocco fisheries agreement, illegally including the occupied Sahrawi territories, the inalienable right of the Sahrawi people to exercise their right to self-determination, calling on the European Union to comply with the rules of the international law linking the European Union (EU) to Morocco.

Madrid, Feb 14, 2019 (SPS) – the Spanish Workers Commissions (CCOO) regretted that the European Parliament ignores the verdict of the Court of Justice of the European Union regarding the illegal exploitation of Saharawi natural resources.
In this way, CCOO joins the movement of solidarity with the Saharawi people to ask for rectification of the effects of this shameful agreement that once again means a new attempt to broaden agreements that include products and other goods from Western Sahara.

Madrid, Feb  13, 2019 (SPS) - The delegate of the Frente POLISARIO in Spain, Jira Bulahi, regretted that the "European Union becomes an accomplice to the theft that the Moroccan occupier continue to perpetrate on the Saharawi people.

Bir Lehlu (SADR Liberated Territories), February 13, 2019 (SPS) -. The Saharawi Government and the POLISARIO Front have reminded the King of Spain and the Spanish Government that Spain continues to be the administering Power of the Territory of Western Sahara under international law unless the Spanish State succeeds in completing the decolonization of the territory allowing the Saharawi people to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination.

Bir Lehlu (SADR Liberated Territories), Feb 12, 2019 (SPS) -The President of the Sahrawi National Council, Jatri ad-duh sent a message of condolences to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, S.E. Mr. Muhammadu Buhari, for the physical disappearance of the former president of the Pan-African Parliament, Bethel Nnaemeka Amadi.

Strasbourg, Feb 13, 2019 (SPS) -Dozens of protesters from the Saharawi community in France and Belgium gathered in front of the European Parliament building in the French city of Strasbourg.
The rally coincides with the European Parliament vote on the fisheries agreement between the EU and Morocco, which includes occupied Western Sahara in flagrant violation of international law and the decisions of the CJUE of 2016 and 2018.

Brussels, February 11, 2019 (SPS) - About 98 Sahrawi associations called on the Euro-deputies to vote against the EU-Morocco fisheries agreement, extended to the occupied Sahrawi territories, pointing out that this text aims to “plunder the natural resources of Western Sahara” and contributed to “the continuation of the Moroccan occupation.”

Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) February 11, 2019 (SPS) - President of the Republic, Secretary-General of the POLISARIO Front, Brahim Ghali, on Sunday held official talks with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. 
The talks centered on the United Nations-led peace process in Western Sahara in the context of the efforts of the UN Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy, Horst Koehler, to find a just and lasting solution to the conflict on the basis of international legitimacy.

Addis Ababa, February 10, 2019 (SPS) -  Scheduled for Sunday evening in Addis Ababa, the first meeting of the African Mechanism on Western Sahara will culminate in a roadmap that enables the African Union (AU) to “significantly contribute” to the efforts made by the United Nations (UN) and fully play its role in the resolution of this conflict that “has lasted far too long,” President of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat announced Sunday in Addis Ababa.

Addis Ababa, February 10, 2019 (SPS) - The African Mechanism on Western Sahara holds on Saturday, in the Ethiopian capital, its constitutive meeting to address the conflict in Western Sahara and to set up an efficient approach to enable the United Nations to reach a solution to this lingering conflict.
The African Union (AU) has decided to hold, on Saturday, the first meeting of the African Mechanism on Western Sahara.

Western Cape (South Africa), February 9, 2019 (SPS) - The Ambassador of the Sahrawi Republic to South African, Bashir Asaghir, on Friday held discussions with Mr. Alan Richard Winde, Western Cape Provincial Minister of Community Safety, a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament, on the bilateral relations between the two countries, the Sahrawi Republic and South Africa.

Addis Ababa, February 9, 2019 (SPS) - The African Union (AU) reiterated its support to the efforts conducted, under the auspices of the United Nations, through the African mechanism established in Nouakchott Summit to reach a solution to the conflict in Western Sahara, said Thursday, in Addis Ababa, the head of AU Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat.

Oslo, February 9, 2019 (SPS) - The Norwegian Parliament announced the creation of a friendship committee with the Sahrawi people, comprising nine political parties represented at the Parliament to show solidarity with Western Sahara and defend its people’s right to self-determination.
Set up on Tuesday at the Norwegian Parliament, this friendship group, which is the only one to activate outside Norway, is part of the solidarity with the Sahrawi people occupied by Morocco since 1975.

On 13 February, the European Parliament will vote on the newly proposed EU-Morocco Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA). In spite of two rulings from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) concluding such an agreement could not be applied to Western Sahara as that would constitute a violation of the right to self-determination, the geographical scope of the proposed deal refers explicitly to the last colony in Africa - rendering its legal foundation highly questionable.

Pretoria (South Africa), February 9, 2019 (SPS) - South African international climate and human rights activist, Catherine Constantinides, has affirmed that her participation in the 19th edition of the Sahara Marathon, together with foreign delegations, is part of a broad international solidarity campaign with the Sahrawi people.

Addis Ababa, Feb  07, 2019 (SPS) - The President of the Commission of the African Union (AU), Mr. Moussa Fakih Mohamed, reaffirmed the position of the African Union as guarantor of the solution in Western Sahara together with the United Nations in accordance with the decisions and charters of the two organizations