Rome, June 16, 2012 (SPS) - An international conference to raise awareness about the human rights abuses in the occupied territories of Western Sahara is to take place today in Florence, Italy, under the title: “the right to human rights: Western Sahara between occupation and self-determination”, in the presence of the President of the Republic and Secretary General of the POLISARIO Front, Mr. Mohamed Abdelaziz.
The conference jointly organized by the Florence Province and Tuscany Coordination for the Support to Sahrawi Republic, and directly supervised by the President of Florence, Mr. Andrea Balducci.
The conference will be attended by European and Italian deputies, mayors of Tuscany and Florence, Saharawi activists and friends of the Saharawi people.
The Conference also invited the Saharawi activists of human rights Mohamed Motawakel and Najat Khneibila.
It is the second of its kind after the one held in 2010 about the right to self-determination.
The two-day conference will be marked by exhibitions, interventions, screening of a documentary about Gdeim Izik, and lectures presented by Saharawi human rights activists and specialists in the issues of human rights and self-determination of the Saharawi people.
Moreover, it will be concluded by a comprehensive evaluating speech by the President Mohamed Abdelaziz.
Organizers of the conference pointed, in a memorandum, to the difficult condition has been experiencing by the Saharawi people since 1975 following the military invasion by Morocco to their territory.
“After a long and unequal war followed by a cease-fire, which respected by the Saharawis, part of the Saharawis have been living in camps in the Algerian desert since more than 30 years, where they built villages, schools and hospitals awaiting for the referendum of self-determination to take place as required by the United Nations in 1991,” underlined the organizers.
They recalled to violations of human rights practiced by Moroccan occupying troops, especially during the dismantling of the camp of dignity in Gdeim Izik on November 2011, settled by the Saharawis near the occupied capital El Aaiun to protest against the situation of occupation.
It should be recalled that the President Mohamed Abdelaziz is accompanied by an important delegation composed of the Minister Delegate for Europe, Mr. Mohamed Sidati, Counselor to the Presidency, Mr. Abdati Breika, and the POLISARIO Representatives to Italy and Tuscany: Amih Omar and Abdullah Bushaiba. (SPS)
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