Sesto Fiorentino (Italy), Nov 25, 2012 (SPS) - The Sahrawi activist Aminatou Haidar awarded the “Honorary Citizen” by the Council of the Italian municipality of Sesto Fiorentino (region of Tuscany), for her struggle in favour of the respect for human right in the occupied Sahrawi territories.
The Honorary Citizen Award was given to Haider by the Mayor of Tuscany Gianni Gianassi during a ceremony marked by the presence of the President of the Province of Florence Mr. Andrea Barden and the President of Robert F. Kennedy Foundation-Italy, Ms. Marialina Marcucci.
Scheduled for spring 2010, the ceremony was postponed because of the health of the Sahrawi human rights activist, Aminatou Haider, at that time, explained the mayor, adding that he went to the occupied Sahrawi capital El-Aaiun on March 2011 to present to her the award, and visit other Sahrawi activists as well as the families of the victims of Gdeim Izik protest camp.
“The awarding of this honorary title is a testament to the solidarity of Sesto Fiorentino with a woman who is fighting peacefully for freedom and respect for human rights in Western Sahara,” said the Mayor of Sesto Fiorentino.
For her part, Ms. Marcucci Marialina recalled to the position of the Robert F. Kennedy vis-à-vis the Saharawi cause, stressing that “this institution works with the U.S. government to put pressure on Morocco and cause it to stop its intransigence and enable the Saharawi people to exercise their legitimate rights.”
President of the Province of Florence called on the European governments to “act so that justice is applied and international law for the Saharawi people and thus enable them to live freely on their land.”
In receiving this honorary award, Ms. Haider expressed her sincere thanks to the municipality of Sesto Fiorentino, saying that this honorary citizenship is conferred to Saharawi people and not her person.
She therefore took the opportunity to testify on the “dramatic” situation in which the Sahrawi population lives in the occupied territories, noting, in this context, that even when Special Envoy of the Secretary General of the UN, Christopher Ross, visited occupied Western Sahara, repression and violations of human rights of the Saharawis had not ceased.
On Monday, a similar event will be organized by the municipality of Pontedera in Tuscany.
Aminatou Haidar has already received several international awards for its peaceful struggle in favor of human rights and the holding of a referendum on self-determination in Western Sahara. She has been subject to arrests, imprisonment, mistreatment and expulsion by the Moroccan authorities of occupation. (SPS)
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