Saharawi Voice: Stories from the Last African Colony

Boy from Western Sahara. Image by Flickr userAlvaro León Rodríguez (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).

Saharawi Voice compiles the “stories from the forgotten people of Africa's last colony”, with the aim of conveying a sense of daily life in Western Sahara and the hardships of living in an occupied territory.

Western Sahara is a disputed territory in the Maghreb region of North Africa, and one of the most sparsely populated places in the world, mainly consisting of desert flatlands. Nearly 40% of the population lives in El Aaiún, the largest city in Western Sahara.


Occupied by Spain since the late 19th century, in 1975 it relinquished administrative control of the territory to a joint administration between Morocco and Mauritania. A war erupted between those countries and the Sahrawi national liberation movement, the Polisario Front, proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) with a government-in-exile in Tindouf, Algeria.

Mauritania withdrew in 1979, and Morocco eventually secured effective control of most of the territory.

Over the past two decades, recognitions have been extended and withdrawn according to changing international trends.
In the words of Saharawi Voice, they hope to:

[...] to be a voice for those who lost theirs. [...] We want to offer our readers knowledge about the other side of the Saharawi life. Besides their longing for freedom, the culture, music, daily life in the refugee camps.

The website includes a blog, news and videos contributed mostly by young Saharawis who are living in refugee camps. They say:

It's also a space for Saharawis who are living in the refugee camps, in the occupied territories and in Spain to connect, exchange ideas and share their points of view about the collective destiny.

The website recounts first hand testimonies about personal experiences, like the answer given by Saharawi athlete Salah Amidan when asked why he runs representing France instead of his own country:

Simply, 'till we have an independent country, we will have to
represent [another country] if we want to participate in international competitions.

Education is another issue addressed on the blog. Native Saharawi Agaila Abba Hemieda shares a difficult decision she made in her childhood:

[...] my life took a turn in a new direction when [at ten] I was selected for a special program that takes children who lost their fathers in the war to spend the summer with a Spanish host-family away from the hardship and the heat of the refugee camps.
[...] I made the decision to stay in Spain to begin my education. It was not an easy decision to make after leaving behind my most beloved ones for the next twelve years.

Contributor Aseria Mohamed Taleb shares her thoughts on what the question “what is home for you?” means to someone who has “only seen these refugee camps”. She says she has to answer this question every day.

‘Sahara zaina’ (Sahara the beautiful) my grandmother once said while we were sat listening to our national radio. The difference between my grandmother and I is that she knew what our homeland looked like and I do not because I have only seen these refugee camps.

Sahawari Voices also tweets in English, where members of the group occasionally express their longing to return:

Source: http://rising.globalvoicesonline.org/

Somaliland: Smoking the Major Cause of Heart Attacks in the Country

A nicotine filled human heart

By: Mo Ali/Medeshi

Somalilandsun - Cigarettes are cheaper in Somaliland than in any other country in the World simply because tobacco companies dump cheap cigarettes in the third world to promote consumption. A pack of 20 costs $13 in UK while the same costs a fraction of that in Somaliland.

There is no data in Somaliland which shows how many people die of heart attack but it is assumed that most of the people that die young as well as those in their middle ages are the victims of smoking complicated by Khat chewing and poor diet. People should therefore, be maid aware of the health hazards and the mental and physical effects of cigarettes on the whole population. Heavy tariffs should be imposed on cigarettes to discourage consumers from excessive smoking.

Cigarette Smoke filled arteries 

"The video illustrates the toxic cycle of cigarette smoke as it enters the blood and affects the lungs, heart and brain. It shows the damage that smoking can do to every part of the body -- and explains that every time you smoke, blood that is thick and dirty with toxins circulates through your body in seconds, increasing your chances of a heart attack or stroke."

So this is the message for the people of Somaliland , particularly the smokers : If you could see the damage, you should stop.In a video below, 

Public Health England creates awareness among public through the above video message:

Source: Medeshi

URGENT NEWS: US Supreme Court rejects appeal by former Somali official over rights abuses

Most Somali War Criminal General Mohamed Ali Samantar

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a former top official in Somalia who has been ordered to pay Somali torture victims $21 million.

The justices did not comment Monday in letting stand lower court rulings against Mohamed Ali Samantar, who now lives in a suburb of Washington. He had been a top official in dictator Siad Barre's regime in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Federal courts found that Samantar could be held liable for human rights abuses and rejected claims that he should be immune because he was an official of a foreign government.

The case is Samantar v. Yousuf.




edmontonjournal.com

By Matthew Vickery  

By Matthew Vickery  

‘Every protest is crushed by the great brutality of Morocco’

YoTuT under a Creative Commons Licence

By Matthew Vickery

Western Sahara is the forgotten region of the world, its people the forgotten inhabitants, and its refugee population the forgotten homeless.

It is a nation crippled by an aggressive Moroccan military occupation supported, in essence, by the impotence of the international community. Moroccan settlers now outnumber native Saharawi inhabitants. Yet unlike the Palestinians’ or the Tibetans’, the Saharawis’ aspirations for self-determination are largely ignored. To many people, they are simply unknown.

This collective punishment of a whole nation – stretching not just to those who live in the territories occupied by Morocco but also to the extensive refugee population – ensures that Saharawis are unable to live as individuals with political and human rights in a nation of their own. Individuals who speak up against this injustice are brutally silenced. Aminatu Haidar, a human rights and self-determination activist, has over the years spent prolonged periods in prison, being systematically tortured and threatened with rape. The mass arrests and injuries carried out by the Moroccan security forces against individuals involved in the Gdeim Izik protest camp are another example of what individuals face when they refuse to stay silent. As Saharawi Agaila Abba told me:

‘Every attempted protest on the side of the Saharawis is crushed by a great brutality on the side of Morocco. Most Saharawi activists are now jailed, and those who led the protests last year were put on trial in a Moroccan military court and given a life sentence. The brutality of Morocco’s human rights violations against the Saharawi is not getting better; they have just started.’

Mohammed Wered describes the many techniques that Morocco uses to find and silence activists in the occupied territories:

‘There’s a wide and complicated network of security forces, military soldiers, secret agents, Moroccan civil informants... [Activists are subjected to] intimidation, beatings, imprisonment, torture, forced disappearance, fabrication of confessions, and the threat of rape, especially against male activists.’

The control that Morocco exercises in the resource-rich occupied Western Sahara is overwhelming. Imagine having to get approval from Moroccan authorities before you can name your child, or knowing that wearing traditional clothes could result in punishment. Imagine trying to stop yourself from speaking your own dialect, aware that if caught, this too is a punishable act, or being unable to raise the flag of your nation or participate in peaceful demonstrations for fear of being beaten, imprisoned, tortured or killed. This is the reality of living in Western Sahara.

Activists around the world must start to foster an understanding of the situation in Western Sahara, learn and raise awareness about it. In particular, those already active in other self-determination movements and human rights issues, such as Palestine, should recognize the parallels and be vocal about them.

Those parallels do not just exist with regards to military occupation and its consequences, but also to the words, thoughts and desires of the individuals who bear the brunt of international impotence, and the colonial actions of an aggressive state. Echoing similar sentiments of freedom and hope around the world, Saharawi refugee Kamal Fadel writes:

‘I have a strong and constant longing to breathe the fresh air from the sea breeze of the Atlantic Ocean on the Western Sahara coast, and to walk barefoot on the dunes of a free Western Sahara.’  - See more at: http://newint.org/blog/2014/01/13/remember-western-sahara/#sthash.adCbufkh.dpuf

Western Sahara is the forgotten region of the world, its people the forgotten inhabitants, and its refugee population the forgotten homeless.

It is a nation crippled by an aggressive Moroccan military occupation supported, in essence, by the impotence of the international community. Moroccan settlers now outnumber native Saharawi inhabitants. Yet unlike the Palestinians’ or the Tibetans’, the Saharawis’ aspirations for self-determination are largely ignored. To many people, they are simply unknown.

This collective punishment of a whole nation – stretching not just to those who live in the territories occupied by Morocco but also to the extensive refugee population – ensures that Saharawis are unable to live as individuals with political and human rights in a nation of their own. Individuals who speak up against this injustice are brutally silenced. Aminatu Haidar, a human rights and self-determination activist, has over the years spent prolonged periods in prison, being systematically tortured and threatened with rape. The mass arrests and injuries carried out by the Moroccan security forces against individuals involved in the Gdeim Izik protest camp are another example of what individuals face when they refuse to stay silent. As Saharawi Agaila Abba told me:

‘Every attempted protest on the side of the Saharawis is crushed by a great brutality on the side of Morocco. Most Saharawi activists are now jailed, and those who led the protests last year were put on trial in a Moroccan military court and given a life sentence. The brutality of Morocco’s human rights violations against the Saharawi is not getting better; they have just started.’

Mohammed Wered describes the many techniques that Morocco uses to find and silence activists in the occupied territories:

‘There’s a wide and complicated network of security forces, military soldiers, secret agents, Moroccan civil informants... [Activists are subjected to] intimidation, beatings, imprisonment, torture, forced disappearance, fabrication of confessions, and the threat of rape, especially against male activists.’

The control that Morocco exercises in the resource-rich occupied Western Sahara is overwhelming. Imagine having to get approval from Moroccan authorities before you can name your child, or knowing that wearing traditional clothes could result in punishment. Imagine trying to stop yourself from speaking your own dialect, aware that if caught, this too is a punishable act, or being unable to raise the flag of your nation or participate in peaceful demonstrations for fear of being beaten, imprisoned, tortured or killed. This is the reality of living in Western Sahara.

Activists around the world must start to foster an understanding of the situation in Western Sahara, learn and raise awareness about it. In particular, those already active in other self-determination movements and human rights issues, such as Palestine, should recognize the parallels and be vocal about them.

Those parallels do not just exist with regards to military occupation and its consequences, but also to the words, thoughts and desires of the individuals who bear the brunt of international impotence, and the colonial actions of an aggressive state. Echoing similar sentiments of freedom and hope around the world, Saharawi refugee Kamal Fadel writes:

‘I have a strong and constant longing to breathe the fresh air from the sea breeze of the Atlantic Ocean on the Western Sahara coast, and to walk barefoot on the dunes of a free Western Sahara.’  - See more at: http://newint.org/blog/2014/01/13/remember-western-sahara/#sthash.adCbufkh.dpuf

By Matthew Vickery  

By Matthew Vickery  By Matthew Vickery By Matthew Vickery 

SANAD GUURADII 1AAD GEERIDII JAMA MOHAMOUD HAYD DAAWO TAARIIKHDA MARXUUM JAMAC MAXAMUUD XAYD , WAREYSI WASIIRKA ISGAARSIINTA

SANAD GUURADII 1AAD GEERIDII JAMA MOHAMOUD HAYD DAAWO TAARIIKHDA MARXUUM JAMAC MAXAMUUD XAYD

DAAWO: Difaacayaasha Xuquuqda Aadamiga Somaliland iyo Hogaamiye Dhaqameedka Bulshada Somaliland ee La Takooro oo Si Xoogan u Cambaareeyay Gafaf iyo Xadgudubyo Xisbiga UCID ka galay Gabooyaha Somaliland

MASUULIYIINTA XISBIGA UCID OO MAR KALE KU QUUDHSADAY RAALI GALIN AY KA BIXINAYEEN XADGUDUB MAGACA BEESHA GABOOYE AY KU GALEEN !!!

"mana ahayn eray aan anigu u aqaanay reerkaas, waxaanan u aqaanaa beelaha Gabooye balse anigu MIDGO uma aqaano" Xoghayaha Arimaha Bulshada ee xisbiga UCID Cabdiraxmaan Axmed Cali

Hargeysa-Waxa Maanta shir jaraaid ku qabtay Magaalada Hargeysa Xoghayaha arimaha bulshada ee xisbiga Ucid Cabdiraxmaan Axmed Cali Iyo Jiir Cali Madoobe oo ka tirsan xisbiga UCID, Masuuliyiintan oo sheegay in ay raali gelin buuxda ka bixinayaan hadal hore uga soo yeedhay oo ay dhibsadeen beelaha Gabooye. Balse waxa dadbadan oo dhagaystay Hadalka masuuliyiiintan ayaa sheegay Masuul dhan oo ku leh Gabooyaha uma aqoono Midgo ma run buu sheegayaa?

Xubnahan oo maanta la hadlay warbaahinta ayaa waxay sheegeen in ay raali gelin ka bixinayaan eraygaas oo aanay ula jeedin beelaha Gabooye balse ay dhibsadeen.

Ugu horayn Xoghayaha Arimaha Bulshada ee xisbiga Ucid Cabdiraxmaan Axmed Cali oo la hadlay warbaahinta ayaa raaligelin ka bixiyey hadalkaas oo isaga hore odhaahdani uga soo yeedhay waxaanu yidhi "Arinta beelaha Gabooye waxaan marka hore u cadaynayaa inaan anigu marka hore hadalkaasi  muranku ka dhashay aan idhi  una odhanin si ku tala gal ah, mana ahayn eray aan anigu u aqaanay reerkaas, waxaanan u aqaanaa beelaha Gabooye balse anigu MIDGO uma aqaano, cid kasta oo  hadalkaas dhibsatay  oo reerkaas ka tirsan gudo iyo debadba ha joogaane raali gelin balaadhan ayaan ka siinayaa."

Xoghayaha arimaha bulshada ee xisbiga Ucid oo hadalkiisa sii wata ayaa sheegay inay beesha Gabooye u aqoonsan yihiin beesha ugu balaadhan ee degta guud ahaan gobolada dalka Somaliland waxaanu yidhi "Anagu xisbi ahaan waxaanu u haysanaa beelaha Gabooye  mudnaanta koowaad waxaanan u naqaanaa beesha ugu balaadhan ee degta lixda gobo lee Somaliland, Saleebaan Xuquuqna waxaan leeyahay xuquuqda aad halmaanka kaga hadlayso haddii aad aqoon u leedahay waxa xuquuqda kaw ka ah xaqa ah inuu qofku noolaado, beeshanina waxay dawlada ka wayday xaqii noolaanshaha, telefishanka qarankana waxaan halkan ka cadaynayaa inuu yahay telefishan xisbi, haddii aanu nahay xisbiyada mucaaridkana waxaanu ku tala jirnaa inaanu telefishan samaysano."

Somalia: Humanitarian Worker Wounded in Mogadishu

by Sh M Network,

Mogadishu — News from a Village of Kasbal balare ( KBB ) in Mogadishu says that armed men with pistols opened fire and wounded Somali staff member of DBJ which is one of Humanitarian agencies operating in Somalia while he was on his way towards home, Shabelle Reports .

Eyewitnesses who spoke with Radio Shabelle station in Mogadishu on via phone from the scene said that Sadak Moalim Ahmed who used to work Humanitarian agency of DBJ was shot several times by unknown men after he performed evening Prayer at a mosque called Ali Sufi Mosque.

News added that the injury of Sadak Moallim Ahmed was rushed to Madina hospital in Mogadishu for treatment.

The assailants escaped at the spot before the Somali government troops arrived at the site and conducted massive investigations hunting down perpetrators behind the the attack of Sadak Moallim.

The Somali local administration of Hodan district 'didn't comment yet on the matter, but planed assassinations are constant in Somali specially Capital Mogadishu.

No one yet claimed the responsibility of attack but Al-Qaeda's's proxy in Somali Al-Shabaab carried out similar attacks in the past.

Security Council Elects New Chairs for Somalia-Eritrea Committee

New boss for Somalia-Eritrea Committee pursuant to resolutions 751 (1992) and 1907 (2009)

By TesfaNews,

President of the Security Council, last week, elects Chairs and Vice-Chairs of the organization’s subsidiary bodies for the period ending 31 December 2014.

Accordingly, pursuant to paragraph 4 (b) of the note by the President of the Security Council dated 30 October 1998 (S/1998/1016), and after consulting with the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 751 (1992) and 1907 (2009) concerning Somalia and Eritrea, it was agreed to elect Mr. Oh Joon (South Korea) as Chair while Chad and Jordan as Vice-Chairs.

Kenyan hotelier running Somalia’s best hotel

Justus Kisaulu manages one of the hotels in the world that is highly targeted by terrorists. Photo/CAPITAL FM

By OLIVE BURROWS

NAIROBI, Kenya – It’s the kind of stuff of which television shows are made; a four-star hotel in the heart of a battle zone, Heads of State for guests, snipers for security and at the centre of it all is one Justus Kisaulu – the man that runs the show.

Except a writer somewhere didn’t exercise their creative licence in dramatising these events, the Jazeera Palace Hotel in Mogadishu has actually been bombed twice; first in an assassination attempt on the then newly sworn-in Somali President Hasan Sheikh Mahmud and as recently as January 1 when two car bombs exploded outside the hotel resulting in 10 fatalities.

And through it all, Kenya’s very own Kisaulu has borne the responsibility of putting the pieces back together as General Manager.

“I’m safer there (Mogadishu) than here,” a laughing Kisaulu unexpectedly told Capital FM News on a recent trip to Nairobi.

“If you want to snipe me here it’d be easy but not there, my security team’s even better than the General Service Unit, they’ve had the privilege of training with the AMISOM forces,” he boasted.

Kisaulu is obviously proud of the Jazeera, and understandably so given he’s fostered its development right from inception.

“It wasn’t even complete when I first moved there three years ago. I oversaw the finishing of our 70 plus rooms and now we’re even looking to expand because our services rival those of the best hotels in the world and the business opportunities in Mogadishu are enourmous,” he sold.

That is, of course, if you don’t mind being driven to and from the airport in an armoured vehicle but that hasn’t seemed to stop airlines from flying there if Kisaulu’s account is anything to go by.

“Every time I come to visit my family I have to book my ticket back two to three days in advance even though there are six airlines that ply the route including Turkish Airlines which offers direct flights from Europe to Mogadishu,” he testified.

And it certainly didn’t stop Kisaulu from leaving his wife, child, job as GM of Nomad Palace Hotel Garissa and country for a hotel that hadn’t even opened its doors yet.

“It wasn’t just the benefits. I like a challenge and I’d have taken my family with me if I didn’t have to worry about the quality of education they’d get,” he explained.

Three years, two bombings and one child later, he’s still not about to turn back, “Terrorism is not an exclusively Somali threat. It’s a global one. What we have to fear is fear itself when we’ve done everything we can to protect ourselves.

“And I for one am not about to turn my back on my neighbour.”

Source: capitalfm.co.ke