SADR/SPAIN
Sahara Press Service, Western Sahara - 3 hours ago
... delegation of the Spanish autonomous community of Galicia (North-West Spain), which succeeded in entering the occupied capital of the Western Sahara, El Aaiun ...

Madrid, 26/10/2006 (SPS) The delegation of the Spanish autonomous community of Galicia (North-West Spain), which succeeded in entering the occupied capital of the Western Sahara, El Aaiun, last weekend, denounced on Wednesday "the situation of genocide" to which the Saharawi people are subjected to and called on the international community to intervene.

During a press conference, animated at the seat of the Galician regional Parliament, Duarte Correa, Member of the National Council of the Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG), declared that the delegation noted, via "proofs" and "testimonies" the members of the delegation were able to collect,  "the genocide like practices" the Moroccan authorities are subjecting the Saharawi population to.

Mr. Correa stressed the "real situation of military occupation" lived in El Aaiun and the "total and direct harassment" to which the Saharawi citizens are submitted to. He noted, in this respect, that the delegation observed "the police and armed military presence in all corners of the streets" in this city.

He further denounced the "sequestrations" and the practice of "torture" in the police stations, stressing that the delegation had had access to photos showing Saharawis who were for example, "damped with benzene and set in fire".

On another hand, Mr. Correa denounced the fact that the members of the delegation were treated as "terrorists" by the Moroccan police in the airport in El Aaiun before they embarked, on Monday, to fly back to Spain. He declared that he is planning to raise this subject in the Galician Parliament and in the Spanish Congress of Deputies.

The Spanish newspaper "La Voz de Galicia", in fact, indicated in its Tuesday edition that the delegation was interpellated by the Moroccan police on Monday in the El Aaiun's airport and confiscated some documents containing testimonies of some Saharawis the delegation collected during its visit.

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The Deputy-President of the Municipal Council of Féné (La Corogne), Member of the Galician Fund of Cooperation, José Maria Permuy, called on the international community to "raise its voice" so as to defend Saharawi people's human rights.

The Deputy- President of the Galician Association o solidarity with the Saharawi people, José Maria Andrade, declared to be "impressed" by the "the neglect" of which the Saharawis are victims, and called on Spanish Medias and political parties to work so as to help change this situation.

On her side, the Journalist Maria Villar, who was also a member to the delegation, said she is anxious about the Saharawis the delegation met with, and who may be targets to "reprisals".

BNG Parliamentarian, José Ramon Paz, underlined the urgency of implementing the UN's resolutions regarding the Western Sahara and the organisation o a self-determination referendum for the oppressed Saharawis.

The delegation was composed of the Deputy-President of the Galician Association of Solidarity with the Saharawi people, Mrs. Maria José Andrade, Journalist Maria Villar, Galician Nationalist Bloc's (BNG) National Councillor, Duarte Correa, and a representative of the Galician Fund of Cooperation, José Maria Permuy.

More than fifteen Spanish and international delegation, composed of parliamentarian, journalists and members of associations were not allowed to visit the occupied territories of the Western Sahara since the starting of the Saharawi Intifada last May 2005. (SPS)

020/090/700/TRD 261025 Oct 06 SPS

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