Communique of Social Movements Assembly facilitating group in Tunisia

We, the facilitation group of the Assembly of Social movements, wish to inform the public regarding the events that took place at the end of the assembly on march 29th of 2013, at the World Social Forum in Tunisia.

The program of the Assembly – a self-organized event supported by more than 50 organizations active in the World Social Forum - was interrupted in an aggresive manner by Moroccan delegates. They took over the stage and violently attempted to prevent the reading of the last section of the declaration where we were affirming that we “defend the right of peoples to self-determination and sovereignty, as in Palestine, the Western Sahara, and Kurdistan.”

Time for public comments was planned after the reading of the declaration, but that  became impossible because of the verbal and physical threats that were made against the MCs of the assembly. In light of the difficulty of continuing the debate, we announced that the end of the assembly once the reading of the declaration was finished.

We vehemently condemn this ocurrence and remind everyone that this is not the first time this ocurrs at the World Social Forum. We have documented that people who identify as members of civil society, from Morocco or the Moroccan diaspora in Europe, took similar actions at the Mediterranean Social Forum, which took place in Cataluña in 2005, and at the World Social Forum of 2011 in Dakar, where they interrupted the Women's Assembly and made it impossible to state the affirmation of the defense of the self-determination of Saharawi women. Furthermore, in Dakar there were sistematic acts of provocation and disturbance of activities organized by the Saharawi delegation.

This behavior is unacceptable. Furthermore, it contradicts the values of freedom of expresion, democracy, and mutual respect that are expressed in the Charter of Principles of the World Social Forum, and the principle of self-determination of peoples. These ocurrences should be noted when we discuss the future of the WSF.

We affirm, once again, our solidarity and active commitment with the Saharawi people and  in favor of the respect for international agreements that recognize their rights. We re-affirm our position against intolerance and in favor of space for collaboration between men and women in the same struggle. We demand from the governments of Morocco and Tunisia the security of the social movement activists from those countries, and we call on all the participants in the WSF process who are committed to the Charter of Principles to stay informed regarding these events and alert for inititiaves of solidarity and protection on behalf of the international activists that are not afraid to defend the struggle of the Saharawi people for self-determination.

March 31, 2013, Tunis.

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