Greenpeace en su informe denuncia el expolio de los recursos naturales

En su último informe Greenpeace denuncia el expolio de los recursos naturales del Sáhara Occidental por parte de Marruecos.


Pesca y fosfatos en el Sáhara Occidental

El Frente Polisario ha denunciado en repetidas ocasiones el saqueo de los recursos naturales del Sáhara por parte de Marruecos, con la colaboración de empresas e intereses extranjeros. La última ocasión fue una carta dirigida en abril de 2009 a la Asamblea General y el Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU.

En ella, este organismo denuncia que el Reino de Marruecos viola el Derecho Internacional al utilizar y comerciar con los recursos naturales del Sáhara Occidental, aunque éste es un territorio no autónomo de acuerdo a la Carta de Naciones Unidas. La resolución 63/102 de la Asamblea General de la ONU, de diciembre de 2008, señala que en virtud de ese status es el pueblo saharaui quien tiene el derecho de gestionar y explotar sus recursos naturales.

El territorio del Sáhara y sus costas y mares albergan importantes recursos naturales. Uno de ellos son los fosfatos, con unas reservas estimadas en más de 1.100 millones de metros cúbicos de roca fosfática. Sólo de la mina de BrucCaa, en la zona noroccidental de este territorio, se extraen anualmente tres millones de toneladas de roca fosfática.

Además, sus riquísimas reservas de pesca son explotadas por barcos de bandera marroquí y de otros países, especialmente de la UE (en el marco del Acuerdo de Colaboración Pesquera entre la Comunidad Europea y el Reino de Marruecos, del año 2006). Mediante este acuerdo se permite a los barcos europeos faenar en aguas de Marruecos, a cambio de compensaciones económicas.

El acuerdo es muy problemático, ya que no incluye una delimitación geográfica del territorio. Esto supone que las aguas del Sáhara podrían formar parte del mismo y que son las empresas pesqueras y las autoridades marroquíes las que interpretan cuál es el área sometida al acuerdo.

En el año 2008, la Comisión Europea reconoció que barcos de la UE estaban faenando en aguas saharauis. En respuesta a una pregunta escrita formulada por varios diputados del Parlamento Europeo, reconocía que barcos de España, Lituania y el Reino Unido actuaron en aquellas aguas durante el año 2007.

Por otro lado, en abril de 2009 se denunciaba que el carguero Sac Flix, perteneciente a Ership SA, había llegado al puerto de Huelva con fosfatos procedentes del Sáhara. El destino de los mismos era la planta de FMC Foret en Huelva.

http://www.greenpeace.org/espana/campaigns/090925/090929-22/090929-24

“End the illegal occupation of Western Sahara” Labour Party Conference urged

Campaigners ensured that the crisis in Western Sahara was high on the political agenda at the annual Labour Party Conference this week. They joined representatives from Polisario, Western Sahara’s government in exile, to attend the conference and meet with government ministers, MP’s, MEP’s and diplomats from around the world.

As well as meetings in the main conference arena, campaigners also held their own fringe meeting and organised a picket outside the conference centre. They were joined by stars from the West End musical, Avenue Q, in handing out leaflets calling for an end to Morocco’s 34 year illegal occupation which forced half the Saharawi population to flee to refugee camps whilst the other half suffer human rights abuses in their native land.

Over the three days, Y Lamine Baali, UK Polisario representative met with Baroness Kinnock, Minister of State for Europe, Michael Cashman MEP, Lord George Foulkes and several MP’s including Andy Love and Jeremy Corbyn, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Western Sahara.

At the International Reception on Monday, Mr Baali raised the question of the UN’s role in resolving the situation in Western Sahara and how activities can better be coordinated between between the UN, the EU, the G20 and the African Union.

At a meeting on international affairs attended by David Miliband (Foreign Secretary), Bob Ainsworth, (Defence Secretary) and Douglas Alexander (International Development Secretary) two questions on Western Sahara were raised. The first, from the head of the Angolan delegation, expressed concern about the human rights situation in the occupied territories. The second, from Mr Baali raised the issue of the advanced status that the EU plans to grant Morocco and its link to EU Fisheries Agreement. The question of illegal fishing by EU vessels in Western Saharan waters was also raised by the Chair of the Free Western Sahara Network, Stefan Simanowitz, at a meeting with Huw Irranca-Davies, Minister for Marine and Fisheries.

Y Lamine Baali said today:

“The last three days have provided us with an important opportunity to make sure that the issue of Western Sahara is not forgotten. We have been here to remind the British government and the world that our country has been occupied unlawfully for more than three decades. The International Court of Justice’s ruling has been ignored. Over 100 UN Resolutions have been disregarded. And in the meantime the Saharawi people’s human rights are abused with impunity. Over 165,000 them have lived as refugees in remote camps in the Algerian desert for more than a generation. Although international action is long overdue, we believe that the force of history is on our side and our right to self-determination will soon be realised.”

Jeremy Corbyn will make an address about Western Sahara to the UN Committee on Decolonization in New York on 6th October.

To find out more about Western Sahara and the campaign visit www.freesahara.ning.com

WSRW comments on European Parliament report

Statement from Western Sahara Resource Watch, 24 March 2009.


The report was debated at the European Parliament on the 17 March 2009:

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2004_2009/documents/oj/773/773839/773839es.pdf

Western Sahara Resource Watch
24 March 2009

Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW) notes the European Parliament’s report concerning human rights in Western Sahara, and would like to express the following:

1. WSRW welcomes the European Parliament’s commitment in respect of the human rights situation in Western Sahara, be it in the area occupied by Morocco or the area controlled by the SADR.

2. WSRW welcomes the European Parliament’s recognition of the reality of systematic violations of human rights perpetrated by Morocco in the occupied territory of Western Sahara.

3. WSRW applauds the European Parliament's stance that considers the violation of the Sahrawi people’s human right to self-determination as the root of all violations, and deems it impossible to consider the human rights violations in the occupied area whilst ignoring the fundamental cause of these infringements.

4. WSRW regrets that the European Parliament, in its report on human rights in Western Sahara, ignores a right of crucial importance, namely the right to enjoy the natural resources of the territory, as recognized in the first article of the International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights and in the International Convenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This is all the more regrettable since the European Union is an active accomplice in the plundering of those resources (above all through the illegal Fisheries Agreement between the EU and Morocco), which WSRW continually denounces.

5. WSRW demands that the European institutions immediately put on hold the ongoing procedures regarding the granting of an “advanced status” to Morocco, taking into account that the European Parliament, the European institution with the highest democratic legitimacy, has established that the Moroccan authorities violate the human rights of a territory under its control.

Western Sahara Resource Watch is an international non-governmental organisation with members from more than 30 countries that defends the respect for international law upholding the decolonisation of Western Sahara and the sovereignty of the Saharawi people over their natural resources. More on: www.wsrw.org .

For questions, contact:
Cate Lewis
International Coordinator
Western Sahara Resource Watch
lewis.cate@gmail.com
+61 407 288 358
http://www.wsrw.org

DECLARAÇÃO DO OBSERVATÓRIO DOS RECURSOS NATURAIS DO SAHARA OCIDENTAL (WSRW) A PROPÓSITO DO RELATÓRIO DO PARLAMENTO EUROPEU SOBRE OS DIREITOS HUMANOS

O Observatório dos Recursos Naturais do Sahara Ocidental (Western Sahara Resource Watch, WSRW), tendo analisado o recente relatório do Parlamento Europeu sobre os direitos humanos no Sahara Ocidental, quer expressar o seguinte:
1. O Observatório dos Recursos Naturais do Sahara Ocidental congratula-se com o comprometimento do Parlamento Europeu com o respeito pelos direitos humanos no Sahara Ocidental, quer no território ocupado por Marrocos, como no território controlado pela República Árabe Saharaui Democrática (RASD);
2. O Observatório dos Recursos Naturais do Sahara Ocidental congratula-se com o reconhecimento do Parlamento Europeu da realidade das violações sistemáticas dos direitos humanos perpetradas por Marrocos no território ocupado do Sahara Ocidental;
3. O Observatório dos Recursos Naturais do Sahara Ocidental felicita o Parlamento Europeu por ter afirmado que na origem de todas essas violações está a violação do direito à autodeterminação do povo saharaui e por considerar que é impossível fazer uma avaliação das violações dos direitos humanos no território ocupado ignorando a causa fundamental dessas violações;
4. O Observatório dos Recursos Naturais do Sahara Ocidental lamenta que o Parlamento Europeu, no seu relatório sobre os direitos humanos no Sahara Ocidental, tenha negligenciado um direito de importância primordial, reconhecido no artigo primeiro do Pacto Internacional dos Direitos Civis e Políticos e do Pacto Internacional dos Direitos Económicos, Sociais e Culturais, a saber, o direito a usufruir das riquezas naturais do território. Este esquecimento é tanto mais lamentável quanto é certo que a União Europeia é um cúmplice activo na pilhagem dessas riquezas (sobretudo através do Acordo de pescas ilegal celebrado entre a União Europeia e Marrocos), o que a WSRW não se cansa de denunciar;
5. O Observatório dos Recursos Naturais do Sahara Ocidental urge a todos os órgãos da União Europeia que interrompam imediatamente todos os trâmites conducentes à concessão a Marrocos de um “estatuto avançado”, tendo em conta que o próprio Parlamento Europeu, a instância europeia com maior legitimidade democrática, acaba de constatar que as autoridades de Marrocos violam os direitos humanos num território sob o seu controlo.


O Observatório dos Recursos Naturais do Sahara Ocidental é uma ONG internacional com activistas em mais de 30 países, que defende o respeito pelo Direito Internacional, apoiando a descolonização do Sahara Ocidental e a soberania do povo saharauí sobre os seus recursos naturais. Para mais informações, ver: www.wsrw.org.

Le président Abdelaziz appelle l'UE à reconsidérer le statut avancé accordé au Maroc

Madrid, Le président de la République, Mohamed Abdelaziz, a appelé de Murcie (sud de l'Espagne) les dirigeants de l'Union européenne (UE) à reconsidérer le statut avancé accordé au Maroc, tant que ce pays "ne s'implihttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifque pas sérieusement" dans le règlement du conflit du Sahara occidental, rapporte mardi la presse locale.

Le président de la République et secrétaire général du Front Polisario se trouve actuellement en visite de trois jours dans la région autonome de Murcie, au cours de laquelle il s'est entretenu, lundi, avec le chef de l'exécutif de cette région, M. Ramon Luis Valcarcel.

Dans une déclaration à la presse au terme de ces entretiens, M. Abdelaziz a dénoncé la "volte-face des autorités marocaines dans l'organisation d'un référendum d'autodétermination du peuple sahraoui, conformément à la légalité internationale".

Le dirigeant sahraoui a dénoncé également "l'escalade de la répression menée par le Maroc contre les populations civiles dans les territoires sahraouis occupés", ainsi que le "pillage systématique" des ressources naturelles dans cette ancienne colonie espagnole.

Il a remercié, en outre, le Gouvernement régional de Murcie et les nombreuses ONG de solidarité avec le peuple sahraoui pour leurs efforts tendant à "alléger la souffrance" des réfugiés sahraouis.

Dans ce sens, il a lancé un appel pressant à la communauté internationale pour "hâter l'application de la légalité internationale au Sahara occidental qui demeure encore le seul cas de décolonisation (non abouti) en Afrique, en organisant un référendum d'autodétermination à même de permettre au peuple sahraoui de se prononcer librement sur son destin".

Le président Abdelaziz a eu également des entretiens avec le maire de Murcie, Miguel Angel Camara, dont la municipalité est fortement impliquée dans les actions de solidarité avec les réfugiés sahraouis.

Celle-ci collabore, surtout à travers l'association locale des Amis du peuple sahraoui, dans 33 projets humanitaires dans les campements de réfugiés sahraouis pour un montant global de plus de 550.000 euros, notamment dans les domaines de l'éducation, la santé et des services sociaux, selon la mairie.

Durant sa visite dans la région de Murcie, M. Abdelaziz devra rencontrer aussi plusieurs représentants politiques et sociaux locaux, dont ceux du vaste mouvement de solidarité avec le peuple sahraoui, avant d'être reçu à l'Assemblée régionale.

Il devra également rencontrer des représentants syndicaux, le président de la Confédération régionale des organisations des entreprises de Murcie (CROEM) et le recteur de l'université de cette ville.