Country/Topic: Morocco
Date: Friday 17 June 2005
Source: Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Person(s): Salama Zoukani, Abdessalam Razzak, Lahcen Aouad, Murad
Burja, Miguel Ángel Idígoras Urrezola, Maria Cristina Berasain, Anne
Torhild Nilsen, Radmund Steinsvag
Target(s): journalist(s) ,media worker(s) ,photographer(s)
Type(s) of violation(s):
arrested ,assaulted ,banned ,expelled ,harassed
Urgency: Flash
(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has called on the Moroccan authorities to put an
end to the harassment of local and foreign media in Western Sahara
and allow them to work normally.


At least 10 journalists have been attacked, arrested or expelled
from the city of Laayoune, 1,263 kilometres south of Rabat, since
the beginning of April 2005.

"It is essential that the Moroccan authorities set out a clear
framework for journalists covering Western Sahara, avoiding indirect
control methods such as having to inform the Interior Ministry prior
to their arrival in Laayoune," the organisation said.

"The Moroccan authorities swing from one extreme to the other by
banning coverage of all demonstrations in Laayoune, then chartering
a plane two days later to take journalists to lunch with the
governor.

"Moreover, the security argument is not enough to ban reporters from
entering the city. This is a decision for the journalists and their
editorial offices. Even in Iraq, the government does not ban
journalists from the country or from travelling to a particular
region," RSF added.

Large numbers of journalists went to Laayoune to cover
demonstrations from 24 to 29 May pitting Sahrawis against the
security forces. They were treated in a variety of different ways.

On 25 May, Salama Zoukani, a technician with Laayoune regional
television, was brutally beaten by security forces, who took no
notice of his press card. He needed several stitches to treat a head
wound. Police officers also damaged his vehicle.

Several journalists were initially prevented from entering the city
between 27 May and 5 June, but the authorities later organised
guided visits and a lunch with the governor to accompany their
coverage of the demonstrations.

Abdessalam Razzak, a Morocco correspondent for the Arabic satellite
television network al-Jazeera, was turned back at the airport
without explanation on 27 May. He was only able to return two days
later as part of the official visit organised by the governor.

At the beginning of June, two more journalists were stopped at
Laayoune airport. They were Lahcen Aouad of the Arabic-language
daily "Assahifa" and Murad Burja, a freelance photographer. After
checking their papers, the airport authorities told them that they
were "banned" from the city. They had to wait six hours and two
hours, respectively, before being allowed to enter.

Journalist Miguel Ángel Idígoras Urrezola and his cameraman from the
Spanish television network TVE arrived in Laayoune on 28 May. That
same day, they were prevented from freely filming demonstrations and
could not send their report from Moroccan television studios because
of "technical problems". But the next day, after taking part in the
visit organised by the governor, they were able to work and send
their footage without difficulty.

A journalist with the Basque-language daily "Berria", Maria Cristina
Berasain, was refused entry to Laayoune on 2 June. Since she had not
given her reasons for her visit to the south of the country, she was
expelled and police frog-marched her to a plane headed for Agadir
some 649 kilometres from Laayoune. Having obtained permission from
the Information Ministry a few days later, she was then prevented
from boarding a plane to Laayoune. She said that the Moroccan
authorities' control of news showed that they had things to hide.

Freelance Norwegian journalists Anne Torhild Nilsen and Radmund
Steinsvag travelled to Western Sahara in April to make a documentary
on human rights in the region. They did not disclose their
profession to the authorities so they could work independently.

On 17 April, they wanted to film a peaceful demonstration. "I
crossed the barricades around the demonstrators and started to
film," Steinsvag told RSF. "Less than a minute later several police
officers surrounded me and told me to go elsewhere. Another police
officer then arrived and asked to see what I had filmed. I refused
and he moved on.

"I was looking for a bus when I saw plainclothes police who were
transporting injured people on stretchers. When they realised I was
there, they told me to leave. When I refused they dragged me 100
metres and took me to a police post for interrogation before
releasing me," she added.

"The next day we went to the offices of the United Nations Mission
for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) to do an interview.
We had started filming 250 metres away, when police intervened and
told us to stop. After taking our papers, they told us to follow
them to the police post. We were questioned there separately for
more than hour hours.

"After the questioning, they suggested that we change our programme
to meet other people like Sidi Mohammed Daddach, whom they presented
as the real spokesman for the Sahrawi people. Daddach, along with
leaders of other pro-Moroccan human rights organisations, are seen
by local people as [leaders of] puppet organisations since they only
appear at the behest of the authorities.

"We met three chairmen of organisations in one of the most luxurious
local hotels. They tried to persuade us that local people were no
longer either harassed or tortured, that the street demonstrations
had been authorised and that most Sahrawis wanted to be part of
Morocco.

"It was somewhat strange to hear this after being followed all week
by secret police in Laayoune and having been arrested twice. The
Moroccan authorities did treat us well and never seized our
equipment, but they did control our two last days there and
prevented us from working independently," the two Norwegian
journalists said.

MORE INFORMATION:
For further information, contact Séverine Cazes at RSF, 5, rue
Geoffroy Marie, Paris 75009, France, tel: +33 1 44 83 84 84, fax:
+33 1 45 23 11 51, e-mail: northernafrica@..., Internet:
http://www.rsf.org