Journey of solidarity to the Western Saharan women - Call to action on 18th February
The World March of Women calls all members and allied social movements to mobilize on the date of 18th February in solidarity with the women from Western Sahara, who together with all the Saharawi people are struggling for decolonization of its territory, annexed since 1975 by Morocco, when the Spanish State departed from Sahara as its colony. Since then, the Moroccan government hunts down militants and organizations defending the rights of the Sahrawi people. This persecution has already resulted in more than 500 missing and 70 people in jail. It also built a wall of around 3000 kilometers - the longest in the world - reinforced by anti-personnel mines that for the last 40 years are dividing families and the territory of Sahara and controlling the access to the natural resources in the region.
We chose the date of 18th February as a permanent date of solidarity to the Western Sahara women after a debate that began in the 9th International Meeting of the WMW, in 2013, and was recently completed in the 2nd WMW Africa Regional Meeting, in Johannesburg, South Africa. The date refers to the Chaiaa nurse, who was pregnant and martyred after the genocidal bombing promoted by Moroccan occupation forces in the camp of Umdreiga, in 1976, while she was doing her work assisting the injured fleeing from the brutal occupation of Western Sahara by Morocco.In 18th February, we invite all to express our solidarity and support to the Sahrawi women who demand:
That all nations recognize the right to self-determination of the Sahrawi people and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR)
To hold as soon as possible the referendum on the future of the occupied territory of Western Sahara, in accordance with the agreements signed in 1991 (Resolution No. 690) of the United Nations (UN)
That the Moroccan government releases the Saharawi political prisoners, stop the looting of Western Sahara natural resources and implement the right to self-determination of the Saharawi people
We share some ideas of how to express our solidarity and support to the Saharawi people:
Send letters to the UN and to the agencies responsible for human rights and international affairs of your government to demand the recognition of the SADR and the implementation of the referendum of 1991
Demonstrations outside Moroccan embassies (check addresses in https://www.diplomatie.ma/marocrepresentationetranger.aspx) and the Spanish State, complicit with the occupation
Sending messages of solidarity to the National Union of Saharawi Women (UNMS), the WMW National Coordination in the Western Sahara. They are holding their 7th Congress in the Saharawi Refugee Camps in Tindouf, from 3 to 5 April 2015 under the slogan "March for freedom. Down the Wall of Shame!" (contact: chaba.seini@yahoo.es, copy to info@marchemondiale.org)
Share on their Facebooks and social networking messages of support for the struggle of the Saharawi people with the hashtag #libertadparaelsahara #abajoelmurodelaverguenza.
UNMS Facebook: mujeres saharaui unms
UNMS Twitter: mujeressaharauisUNMS @mujeressaharaui
Actions directed to alternative and commercial media to put the struggle of the Saharawi women on the agenda of the news
Audiences with parliamentarians to demand their support to reinforce the Sahrawi struggle
http://www.marchemondiale.org/structure/cn-groupes/moyen_orient-monde_arabe/sahara_occidental/2015/en/, you will find more information about the situation in Western Sahara, and the program and slogans of the VII Congress of the UNMS.
We will be on the march until all women are free!
WMW International Committee