Western Sahara
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Modern Decolonization: The Role of the UN and the Responsibility of All of Us
Tags Share In December 1960, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a landmark resolution, Resolution 1514 XV, better known as the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. Resolution 1514 proclaims “the necessity of bringing to a speedy and unconditional end colonialism in all its forms and manifestations” and asserts that…
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5 Things to Know About Western Sahara
Tags Share Western Sahara hosts the second largest wall in the world, coming up short only to the Great Wall of China. This wall, known as the Berm, is 1600 miles long, 10 feet tall, and made of sand. The Berm runs all the way from Western Sahara’s southern border with Mauritania, to its northern…
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Sahrawi activist and Awards Laureate Aminatou Haidar hacked with Pegasus spyware
Tags Share In November 2021, Apple sent Sahrawi human rights defender Aminatou Haidar a security alert warning that her phone may have been targeted by state-sponsored attackers. Amnesty International’s Security Lab, where the case had been referred, conducted a forensic analysis of Haidar’s devices, confirming that Pegasus spyware recently targeted two of her phones. According…
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Joint statement on new assault against Human Rights Defender Aminatou Haidar in Western Sahara
Tags Share On Dec. 5, Sahrawi human rights defender Aminatou Haidar was physically assaulted by Moroccan police forces and paramilitary during a peaceful demonstration. She was protesting against the renewed attacks on her fellow colleague and human rights defender Sultana Khaya, who has been subjected to repeated violent physical and psychological aggression, including of a…
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Deep Concern Over Attacks on Human Rights Defender Sultana Khaya and the Retaliation facing Sahrawi Activists in Western Sahara
Tags Share Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights is deeply concerned about recent reports of attacks and human rights violations by Moroccan authorities against Sahrawi human rights defender Sultana Khaya, as well as the retaliation that the Sahrawi activist and 2008 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award laureate, Aminatou Haidar, faces for her activism. On Nov.…
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RFK Human Rights and Amnesty International USA Call on the Biden Administration and UN Security Council to Renew Minurso and Add Critical Human Rights Monitoring
Tags Share Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and Amnesty International USA jointly call on the United Nations Security Council to renew the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), and for the Biden administration—representing the U.S. as the mandate’s penholder—to ensure the inclusion of a human rights monitoring component. Such…
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Biden Must Undo Trump’s Damaging Decision on Western Sahara
Tags Share In August 2012, my daughter Mariah and I took part in an international human rights delegation trip to Western Sahara, where we met with hundreds and hundreds of victims of abuse. People there told us they had been threatened, beaten, raped, tortured and had family members killed, all for criticising the Moroccan regime…
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UN: Western Sahara Media Worker was Arbitrarily Detained
Tags Share The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (“Working Group”) has determined that Mohamed al-Bambary, a Sahrawi media activist serving six years in prison as a result of his journalism, is being arbitrarily detained in Morocco. Freedom Now and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights announce today that on June 29, 2018, the Working…
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Need for Human Rights Monitoring Mechanism in Western Sahara
Tags Share (April 29, 2016 | Washington, D.C.) Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights welcomes the Security Council’s decision to reauthorize the mandate for the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) and calls for the mission’s restoration to full functionality. However, the mandate shamefully continues to lack a human rights monitoring and…
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Security Council Must Pass Strong Western Sahara Peacekeeping Mandate
Tags Share (April 28, 2016 | Washington, D.C.) Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights calls on members of the United Nations Security Council to pass a strong mandate for the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), including a human rights monitoring and reporting mechanism. The Security Council must vote to extend the…
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UN: Unprecedented Concluding Observations on Western Sahara
Tags Share (October 20, 2015 | Washington, D.C.) Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights commends the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) for its Concluding Observations to Morocco with regards to Western Sahara. In September 2015, the CESCR reviewed the Kingdom of Morocco’s compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and…
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