Webinar: Reporting from Occupied Western Sahara

Western Sahara is being occupied by its neighboring country, Morocco, and has been so for 45 years. During the latest weeks of military escalations – marking the end of the ceasefire in the area – the Moroccan rack down on Saharawi journalists and human rights activists in the occupied area has intensified. An area popularly known as a news blackhole under media blockade.
Demonstrators down to the age of 12 years have been randomly arrested and beaten up in the streets by Moroccan police, activists have got their homes attacked by special forces and the military presence has increased.
Join us for this webinar where we will update you on the latest developments in the occupied Western Sahara and the situation for journalists and human rights activists in particular. The webinar focuses on the difficulties with regards to documenting human rights violations and reporting from the occupation. It opens a discussion on the complexities around ensuring reliable information from area that can be trusted by the international community as well as on the role of journalists and activists in supporting a just and peaceful solution to the long standing conflict and “no peace no war” situation.

Speakers:
– Nazha El Khalidi: Journalist in Équipe Media, Western Sahara
– Tone Sørfonn Moe: Jurist and volunteer with Støttekomiteen for Vest-Sahara, Norway

About Western Sahara:
The UN considers Western Sahara a “disputed territory” that still awaits decolonization. Until 1975 Western Sahara was a Spanish colony. In that year, the territory was invaded from the South by Mauretania and from the North by Morocco in what is known as The Green March. In 1979 Mauretania withdrew after military fights against the Polisario, the Saharawi Liberation Movement, led by the indigenous population of Western Sahara. During the 16 years of war, thousands of Saharawis fled to neighbouring Algeria to settle in refugee camps where up to 190.000 people still live to this day. A ceasefire was brokered by the UN in 1991 on the premise that a referendum for self-determination should be held. This has still yet to happen.
Today, Western Sahara remains Africa’s last colony and is still under Moroccan occupation. Following a few weeks of a peaceful, civil blockade by Saharawis of a road connecting Mauretania and occupied Western Sahara and a Moroccan military presence in the demilitarized buffer zone, Polisario declared the ceasefire of 1991 violated and consequently the conflict has become armed again.