PRISONERS GO ON HUNGER STRIKE IN WESTERN SAHARA TO PROTEST CONDITIONS, TREATMENT AND TORTURE

Prison conditions such as those shown in the photos have been observed in Western Sahara and Morocco by numerous human rights organizations for well over a decade, but nothing has been done by international aid agencies or governments to induce or punish Morocco for not correcting the situation. (Photos courtesy Western Sahara Online(WSO) (http://wsahara.net)

The United States has recently designated Morocco as a "major non-NATO" ally in the "war on terror" and is providing arms and military training to Morocco contrary to the 1991 UN cease fire.
The European Union and several member nations are currently negotiating with Morocco for Western Sahara's natural resources which include the world's largest phosphate deposits, untapped fisheries and offshore oil.

The prisoners are also protesting the removal of their personal property during a search and seizure in the early morning of January 19, 2007. The property was removed after the prisoners were handcuffed and forcefully removed from their cells.

Sahrawi political prisoners are asking for their Moroccan jailors to conform to universal conventions and accords, enabling them to enjoy their rights to visit their families, receive medical care and to gather apart from the imprisoned criminals.

The striking prisoners are seeking intervention from the international community to stop the ongoing torture of prisoners, including Sahrawi human rights workers in the occupied territories of Western Sahara. In an interview with this writer, a survivor of torture in a Moroccan “Black Prison” in Casablanca spoke of the methods of torture employed by the Moroccan authorities (see TORTURE VICTIM TO BE DEPORTED INTO TORTURER'S ARMS). http://indybay.org/newsitems/2006/12/19/18338800.php

The Sahrawi political prisoners are appealing to the international community and the human rights organizations to "exercise pressures on Morocco for the immediate and unconditional release of the Sahrawi political prisoners and to put an end to the sufferings of the Sahrawi people so as they can enjoy their inalienable right to self-determination and independence."