"Spanish Government Seeks to Force-Feed Western Sahara Human Rights Activist Aminatou Haidar
Updated on Tuesday, [December 8, 2009] at 3:19 a.m.

Last week Democracy Now! covered the story of thje Western Saharan human rights activist Aminatou Haidar. She has been on a hunger strike for three weeks since being deported against her will by Moroccan authorities occupying her homeland. Haidar, known as the “Sahrawi Gandhi,” was at the airport on the Canary Islands up until Friday.

María Carrión, a Madrid-based journalist and human rights activist, has been sending Democracy Now! updates about what is happening with Aminatou Haidar.

Tuesday at 3:19 a.m. EST
After Morocco threatened over the weekend to end its collaboration with Spain in the fight against terrorism, drug trafficking and illegal immigration, the Spanish government has backed down on the diplomatic confrontation it has held with Rabat over the deportation of Sahrawi human rights activist Aminatu Haidar to the Canary Islands. Instead, it has begun a different confrontation, this time with Haidar herself.

A judge, accompanied by a team of doctors and several armed police, charged into the Lanzarote airport terminal Saturday evening where she has been protesting peacefully and demanded to physically examine her in order to determine whether she needs to be force-fed.

Haidar, who today enters her 23rd day of hunger strike with her life hanging on a thread, accused the Spanish government of engaging in “Moroccan tactics” and assured the judge that she did not want medical treatment. “My beliefs are not for sale,” she said. “I will continue with this protest until I am allowed to return home.” Spain has force-fed hunger strikers in the past but only those in custody, and there is no legal precedent here to force-feeding non-prisoners against their will. After pushing Haidar´s supporters out of the room where she now spends most of her time and conducting a brief check-up, the team left the airport.

Haidar also decided to forgo regular medical check-ups by her personal doctor after the judge ordered him to turn over confidential medical reports.

In a plea to Spanish authorities and the international community, Haidar asked for international protection for her family, who remains under siege in the occupied Western Sahara. Haidar´s mother is at the family home, while her two teenage children are at the home of another renowned human rights activist. Both houses are surrounded by police, who prevent anyone from entering.

“Police harassment of Aminatu´s family reflects the increasing aggression being directed by Morocco against her,” said Spanish actor Willie Toledo, who remains at Haidar´s side in Lanzarote airport.

The Spanish government has withdrawn the request it made Friday to Rabat to fly Haidar to the Western Sahara on a government airplane. Hundreds of people protested yesterday outside the Spanish Foreign Ministry. They asked the Spanish government to put Haidar on a commercial plane to Layounne, her hometown, and to begin diplomatic efforts to resolve the 35-year military occupation by Morocco of the Western Sahara.

But the Spanish government does not want a face-off with Morocco, which they consider of strategic interest both politically and commercially. “Morocco is not hundreds of kilometers away, but only 14,” stated a government official.

Moroccan representative are due to meet today with EU officials over the terms of the preferred commercial status Morocco has been granted by Europe. Haidar´s supporters have asked for the meeting to be suspended until Morocco allows her to return. Efforts also continue at the United Nations to find a solution. In the United States, Senators Patrick Leahy and Russ Feingold, as well as several other members of Congress, have demanded Morocco allow Haidar back home and have asked the Obama administration to help resolve the crisis.

Sunday at 4:41 a.m. EST
Aminatu Haidar, the Sahrawi human rights activist entering her 21st day of hunger strike, may not have more than a few more days—or even hours—to live, according to the doctor who is monitoring her health, Lanzarote Hospital director Domingo de Guzmán Pérez Hernández. Her blood pressure is fluctuating dangerously, and she suffers from a number of other life-threatening ailments due to her hunger strike and the sequels of abuse and torture in a Moroccan prison. Hernandez said today that Haidar´s health is uncertain, and that she could require hospitalization at any time. But Haidar, who has vowed to persist “to the end” if Morocco does not allow her to return home, has asked doctors not to medicate her or revive her should she need intravenous fluids or hospitalization.

Spain has reapplied for flight and landing permits from Moroccan authorities to fly Haidar home to Layounne, a city in the Western Sahara occupied by Morocco since 1975. On Friday night, a Spanish medicalized airplane carrying Haidar and high-ranking government officials, was refused entry into the Western Sahara when it was preparing for take-off from the Canary Islands. Spanish officials and Haidur´s supporters fear that Morocco could protract the crisis until it is too late to save Haidar´s life.

Haidar is very frail but upbeat, flashing signs of victory to her friends and supporters who are camping out with her at the Lanzarote airport.

Saturday at 2:30 a.m. EST
Aminatu Haidar today enters her twentieth day of hunger strike, frustrated but determined. After Morocco last night backpedalled on an agreement to let a Spanish airplane carrying her and Spanish government officials to land in Layounne, in the occupied Western Sahara, the human rights activist was transported on a gurney back to the airport terminal in Lanzarote (Canary Islands), where her disappointed supporters awaited her.

The Moroccan government has not officially explained why it decided to rescind on the landing permission, which was granted at 6pm local time. At first, authorities said that Spain had not given a 24-hour notice on its landing request, which was sent through diplomatic channels rather than directly to airport authorities. But many speculate that the real reason was that the Moroccan King, Mohammed I, was angered at what appeared to be a victory for Haidar and the Sahrawi pro-independence movement.

Haidar has told supporters that she will not give up her hunger strike until she sets foot in her homeland. Yesterday, UN top officials, including Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres and High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay had been involved in the negotiations with Morocco and Spain to return Haidar to Layounne, and will continue to do so over the weekend.

Haidar’s health is rapidly deteriorating. She now slides in and out of consciousness and is too weak to stand, or often to sit up. After three weeks of hunger strike, the body begins to mine vital organs, as well as bone marrow. Haidar’s health was already fragile due to years of torture and mistreatment in Moroccan jails, and a prior hunger strike that lasted 40 days.

Supporters are asking people to take action by sending urgent action appeals. One, directed to the UN, is available at the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights). Amnesty International USA is asking people to send letters to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Templates can be found here

Friday at 4:33 p.m. EST
The government of Morocco is apparently saying that Spain did not give enough notice about the flight. Spain denies this and says that it advised Morocco about the flight earlier today. Spain will re-submit flight and landing requests, but the outcome is uncertain. As she boarded the plane to cheers from her supporters, Aminatu stated that “I may be going home, or I may be going to jail. But I thank the Spanish government for finally flying me home.” Aminatu’s supporters were shocked to learn minutes later that the airplane would not be leaving Lanzarote. The situation has produced a grave diplomatic crisis between Spain and Morocco.

Friday at 3:08 p.m. EST
Morocco will not let the Spanish government plane that Aminatu Haidar is on land in Layounne. She will thus not abandon her hunger strike. She is on the plane but it looks like she will have to return to the airport in Lanzarote.

Friday at 2:59 p.m. EST
After 19 days on a hunger strike to protest her deportation from the Western Sahara by Morocco to the Spanish Canary Islands, renowned human rights activist Aminatu Haidar was flown Friday evening to Layounne, her hometown, on a Spanish government airplane. Moroccan authorities confiscated Haidar’s passport and deported her as she returned from New York City after stating on an entry form that she was a citizen of the Western Sahara, a territory that Morocco has occupied since 1975. Thousands of Spaniards, including Oscar-winning actor Javier Bardem and director Pedro Almodovar, mobilized to pressure Spain to allow Haidar to return. Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy and other members of the US Congress also urged the Obama administration to intervene in the case. Haidar was accompanied on the plane by a doctor and a Spanish government official."

 "Your support can make a difference at a crucial time in the campaign to save the life of Aminatou Haidar known as the ‘Saharawi Gandhi’. Aminatou is a prominent human rights activist and former political prisoner and Nobel Peace Prize nominee.  She is known for her non-violent resistance to the illegal occupation of Western Sahara by Morocco.
On Sunday she entered her 21st day of hunger strike after being expelled from her home in Western Sahara. Negotiations are still taking place between Spain and Morocco, with involvement from the UN and the African Union, but so far this it has not been successful – you can exert the pressure needed to influence them.    
Aminatou should not need to die to demonstrate to the world the extent of the Moroccan oppression against the people of Western Sahara.

TAKE 3 SIMPLE ACTIONS:

1. Click here to take the Amnesty International Action to the Moroccan authorities
2. Make sure key decision makers in the EU and UN take action

• Copy the following into the subject heading of an email: Please act now to allow Aminatou Haidar to return home
  

• Body text: Members of the UN Security Council have a responsibility to pressure the Moroccan authorities to act to enable Aminatou Haidar to return to Western Sahara. She should not have to die just to show the world the extent of the Moroccan oppression.  Please Act. 

• BCC it to the following addresses: acreditaciones@mpr.es; maciej.popowski@europarl.europa.eu; epmadrid@europarl.europa.eu; InfoDesk@ohchr.org; eurobarometer@ec.europa.eu; leonor.ribeiro-da-silva@ec.europa.eu; ofiprensa@psoe.es; atencion@pp.es; cdc@convergencia.cat; comunicacion@izquierda-unida.es; prensa@upyd.es; prensa@coalicioncanaria.org; Michael.Denison@fco.gov.uk; Madlin.sadler@fco.gov.uk; Sarah.Schaefer@fco.gov.uk;Matthew.gould@fco.uk, hallp@parliament.uk;lisa.glover@fco.gsi.gov.uk;ukrep@fco.gov.uk; charles.moore@fco.gov.uk 

• Take direct action – join us at 12pm on Thursday 10th December outside the gates of Downing Street (off Whitehall) to demonstrate and show the Moroccan authorities that they must act.
  

More Info
The Human rights situation in Morocco is dire with torture, rape, disappearance, false imprisonment, and unfair trials commonplace and [i] have suffered a real regression in the last few weeks [ii]. Aminatou, alongside many of the Saharawi people has suffered before. In 1987, aged 20, she "disappeared" and was tortured by the Moroccan secret police for four years for advocating independence. In 2005 she was jailed for seven months after being beaten by a Moroccan policeman during a demonstration protesting against the Moroccan occupation.

"I was kidnapped and detained in prison for 4 years.  I was blindfolded continuously throughout this time, and spent 9 months in solitary confinement…sometimes we would be forced to face the wall with our hands tied and spend the whole night standing on one foot.  If we fell, we were tortured...the threat of rape meant we were afraid to sleep…my family, including my young children had no idea of my whereabouts." [iii]

In a cruel twist on Friday, her supporters including her 2 children were jubilant as the Spanish authorities told Aminatou she could return home only to be distraught when the Moroccan authorities refused to allow the plane meant to be taking her home to leave.
Her deportation has been condemned by human rights organisations including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.[iv] Morocco has been repeatedly asked to allow her to return home including by The Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union (AU), Jean Ping and UN Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres [v] but is refusing to do so and is prepared to let her die.

Her campaign has attracted high profile support including actors Javier Bardem, Juliet Stevenson and Terry Jones, film directors Pedro Almodovar and Ken Loach, musicians Manu Chao and Brian Eno and Nobel Literature Laureate, Jose Salamango.

Media coverage

This has made international headlines with front-page news in Spanish newspapers.  For a selection of coverage in English see:
Afrik.com: Western Sahara: Joy turns to anger
Afrik.com: British MPs support Haidar
The Guardian, Hunger Striker
The Guardian, Nobel nominee hunger strike fears
BBC, Morocco demands apology from hunger strike activist
Concert backs 'Gandhi of Sahara'
The  Observer on Dec 6
The Independent Marooned at Lanzarote airport, the 'Gandhi of the Western Sahara'
Associated Press

Statements of Concern
UN commissioner for Refugees

Statement from the African Union
Statement from the South African Government
Statement from Amnesty International
Statement from Human Rights Watch Morocco: Reverse Expulsion of Sahrawi Activist
Human Rights Watch article on escalating Moroccan repression

"The Moroccan authorities confiscated Sahrawi human rights defender Aminatou Haidar’s passport on 13 November and expelled her from the country the following day, leaving her stranded in Lanzarote Airport, in Spain’s Canary Islands. She has been on hunger strike since 15 November in protest.
Aminatou Haidar, who is 42 and has two children, was detained at Laayoune airport, Western Sahara on 13 November when she returned from a month-long trip, to countries including the USA, where she accepted the 2009 Civil Courage Prize, which is awarded every year "for steadfast resistance to evil at great personal risk." She was questioned about why she had given her home as "Western Sahara" rather than "Moroccan Sahara" on her landing card; she was also asked about her travel, as well as her political opinions and affiliations. Her Moroccan passport and identity card were then confiscated and she was detained in the airport overnight. She said that on 14 November officials offered to release her in return for a public acknowledgement of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. She refused to do so, and a few hours later she was put on a flight to Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands.

Aminatou Haidar has been on hunger strike since 15 November in protest. According to her family, she has grown quite weak; her health is at particular risk because she suffers from anaemia and a stomach ulcer. She is refusing to take her regular ulcer medication, as part of her hunger strike. Aminatou Haidar has rejected the possibility of obtaining refugee status in Spain, insisting on her right to return to Western Sahara. Without travel documents, Aminatou Haidar is effectively confined to Lanzarote. Her situation is further complicated by the fact that neither she, nor her family, can access her bank account. A source who has asked to remain anonymous has told her family that a high-ranking security agent instructed the bank to block her account.

Amnesty International believes that Aminatou Haidar’s expulsion and confiscation of her Moroccan identification document and passport are politically motivated and that she is being punished because of her stance on Western Sahara’s self-determination.

PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in Arabic, French, English or your own language:
Calling on the authorities to return Aminatou Haidar’s passport and identity card, and allow her to return to Western Sahara immediately and unconditionally;
Urging them to ensure that Aminatou Haidar’s access to her bank account is not blocked by the security forces.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 15 JANUARY 2010 TO:
King
Mohammed VI
Bureau de Sa Majesté le Roi
Palais Royal
Rabat, Maroc / Morocco        
Fax: +212 537 73 07 72
Salutation: Your Majesty

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation
Taieb El Fassi Fihri
Ministre des Affaires Etrangères et de la Coopération
Avenue Franklin Roosevelt
Rabat, Maroc / Morocco        
Fax: +212 537 76 46 79
Email: mail@maec.gov.ma
Salutation: Your Excellency

And copies to:
President
Ahmed Herzenni
Human Rights Advisory Board        
Place Ach-Chouhada
Boîte Postale 1341
Rabat 10000, Maroc / Morocco        
Fax: +212 537 72 68 56
Email: ccdh@ccdh.org.ma
Salutation: Dear Mr Herzenni
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.

Additional Information

For many years, Aminatou Haidar, President of the Collective of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders (Collectif des défenseurs sahraouis des droits de l’Homme, CODESA), has played a leading role in a number of campaigns organized for the release of Sahrawi prisoners of conscience and political prisoners, and in raising local and international awareness of human rights violations in Western Sahara. On 20 October she accepted the Civil Courage Prize, which includes an award of US$50,000, from the Train Foundation in New York City. In a telephone interview with Amnesty International on 3 December, Aminatou Haidar said: "I am determined to continue my struggle to defend human rights peacefully… This generation and children [in Western Sahara] witness with their own eyes the police oppression… Just imagine, many children, instead of drawing toys, they draw a policeman with a gun and a stick beating people... I am scared that they will become violent and incite violence."

A mother of two, Aminatou Haidar was secretly detained, without charge or trial, from 1987 to 1991. In 2005, she was sentenced to seven months in prison after an unfair trial, on charges arising from her alleged involvement in protests in Western Sahara. Before her arrest, she required hospital treatment for injuries she sustained when she was apparently assaulted by the security forces while she was on her way to join a demonstration in Laayoune.

The Moroccan authorities have little toleration for people who speak out in favour of self-determination for Western Sahara, which was Spanish territory until Morocco annexed it in 1975. They appear to be adopting an increasingly repressive approach to the activities of Sahrawi human rights defenders, in breach of their obligations under international human rights treaties, notably the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and contrary to the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.

Western Sahara is the subject of a territorial dispute between Morocco, which claims sovereignty, and the Polisario Front, which calls for an independent state in the territory and has set up a self-proclaimed government-in-exile in refugee camps in south-western Algeria."

Read more from Florie Salno[t] and the Saharawis project outcome please visit http://floriesalnot-saharawis.blogspot.com/2009/04/personal-outcomes.html