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EOSG / Cenimk 05.45697 -2 V •-" • S it V -i'-A-CX 05.45697 -1- Translated from Arabic Saharan Arab Democratic Republic Office of the President Bir Lahlou, 10 August 2005 Sir, Since 21 May 2005, there have been serious developments in the Saharan territories under Moroccan occupation and in the Moroccan universities and places in the south of Morocco where there are Saharan people. In particular, there has been an escalation of the brutal Moroccan repression against unarmed Saharan citizens participating in peaceful demonstrations for legitimate demands, key among which is the right of the Saharan people to self-determination in accordance with the principles and instruments of international legitimacy. Despite the repeated warnings that we have relayed in numerous occasions, including our letters to you on 18 June 2005, 19 July 2005, 20 July 2005 and 3 August 2005, the Moroccan authorities continue to implement a policy of systematic repression and intimidation, in particular against Saharan human rights activists. At 8.30 a.m. yesterday, 9 August 2005, for instance, eight members of the Moroccan security apparatuses snatched the Saharan citizen and former abductee, Ahmad Hammad, from his home in the Villas district in the neighbourhood of Mu'tallah and took him to an unknown location. This human rights activist had already been subjected to brutal treatment by the Moroccan authorities in 1997 when he was abducted and subsequently tortured at the detention centre known as PC-CMI in Laayoune, the occupied Saharan capital. On 17 June 2005, he was further assaulted by some 40 members of the Rapid Intervention Forces and the police. They forced him onto the ground and proceeded to beat him violently until he lost bodily control and was left in critical condition, simply because he had used his car to transport Saharan citizens injured in the course of the Moroccan intervention in the peaceful demonstrations which took place on that date. He was also the subject of another abduction on 11 July from the establishment known as La Casa de Espana in occupied Laayoune, where he was taking part in a sit-in to demand protection for Saharan citizens against the ruthless intervention by Moroccan security forces. This latest abduction follows similar operations conducted recently by the Moroccan occupation authorities against other Saharan activists; Ali Salem Tamek, Mohamed El Moutaouakil, Houssein Lidri, Brahim Noumria and Laarbi Messaoud, for instance, remain held in Moroccan prisons, having been abducted on more than Mr. Kofi Annan Secretary-General of the United Nations New York EOSG / CENIMk 05.45697 -2- one occasiori. Ali Salem Tamek has entered a difficult stage of the hunger strike that he is-waging in protest against the attempts of the Moroccan authorities to force him to undergo psychological testing against his will, and to demand better conditions for political prisoners. The Saharan human rights activist and victim of an earlier abduction, Aminatou Haidar, who is suffering health difficulties, is also still detained at the Carcel Negra prison at Laayoune. Meanwhile, Saharan activists and political prisoners held at this prison and at two Moroccan prisons, Ait Melloul and Oakacha in Casablanca, have entered their third day of hunger strike, demanding the quashing of the unfair convictions against them and the immediate and unconditional release of all Saharan political prisoners. Once again, in view of this Moroccan escalation of repression, we call upon you and, through you, on all members of the international community to intervene urgently in order to secure all the conditions needed to ensure that the Saharan people are quickly able to exercise their right to self-determination by means of a free, fair and unbiased referendum with a view to finally ending the occupation of Western Sahara — the last colony in Africa. We urge the United Nations, represented by the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), to protect Saharan citizens against the Moroccan practices of repression, abduction, detention, sham trials and unfair convictions, and to guarantee conditions of security and stability, together with the freedom of expression, movement and assembly. We would also like to press for urgent intervention to save the lives of the Saharan political prisoners currently on hunger strike owing to the disregard by the Moroccan authorities for their legitimate demands in a dangerous move that could result in their death. We thus call upon you to intervene with the Moroccan authorities with a view to prompt investigation of the circumstances under which the human rights activist Ahmad Hammad was abducted, identification of his whereabouts, his immediate release, along with all his fellow Saharan human rights activists and political prisoners, and an end to the abduction and intimidation campaigns to which Saharan citizens in the occupied Saharan territories and in the south of Morocco are subjected. Accept, Sir, the renewed assurances of my highest consideration. (Signed) Mohamed Abdelaziz President of the Saharan Arab Democratic Republic Secretary-General of the Frente POL1SARIO REPUBLICA ARABE SAHARAUI DEMOCRATICA Presidencia /O l 2005 10 < 0 i i SEP - T EXEC1.,'.-' " OS-H OFTHESECI-.L -,. l^i jSLolj yjj i «2005 jjL« <> 21 -1* is Jjx«5l i"J«^l-«.ti i| jj SJ ^ al i n iJ ,_a ^jj tJAJji_)aj-all ^jjilatjAlt (Ja. ,-S •'•«. j (J3j < jJi^ixJi JJJJBJ ^ <_gjtjSM^aJl < . !•» ititi ^3^. 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Lac US 1 l-i unit JiJ Laja tj JlSjc-V' j&j JijJ V <<J ,jxi Calljlt l jUb iuSlStj ijjJJJjixiJl jjla-uill iLJLbSl ^Vl frlifij " - -'7- -II £-<<ttL; IjjU t^ji li& «t£ja. i il t5-JJjiH »tj-> . ^i\l JJA jl nil i n ' J^ »11i"nnl LP1 * J^ ' -~^ (j-lilalj-aSl MjLaaJ aUSSi <. jjuijjiAjSl ?J»JJ taAilail j& lj lijj 'OjiLa. al£=Jj Ajjji<-» iJjLaSLa-aj (Jtajfrlj ^ij xxS ^jxi 4^JJji-a5t (Jj jc. jjj4 JIJ ALUl iJl i al L'.-l i «J UJ ' a .*<U 5jJJX*il i' s"»» i itt U< JLJLJJJLJ SB> - 7 2005 OF THE 5' •'. UNITED NATIONS NATIONS UNIES MINURSO Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara Reference: SRSG/OLET/Oa5/08/0185 Date: 28 August 2005 Dear Ms. Thomas, Please find herewith two original letters in English and Arabic from the Secretary General of Frente Polisario addressed to the Secretary General which we have already forwarded to you electronically. Yours sincerely, Ingunde Fuehlau Officer-in-Charge MINURSO-Laayoune Ms Jenny Thomas Correspondence Unit Office of the Secretary-General Room S-3853 United Nations Headquarters New York, N.Y. 10017 USA.
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