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PUSL.- One day before the United Nations Security Council meeting on the mandate of MINURSO (United Nations Peace Mission) we interviewed Hmad Hammad, Vice President of CODAPSO and member of ISACOM, two Saharawi organizations in the occupied territories of Western Sahara that defend human rights and the right to self-determination of its people.
More than a week ago, Saharawi civilians blocked in El Guergarat the illegal breach opened by Morocco in the buffer zone in violation of the agreements signed by the parties to the conflict.
This ilegal breach is mainly used for narcotics trafficking, cannabis and other drugs, from Morocco, which then go to the Sahel and are one of the sources of financing for the terrorist groups operating there and its also used for the export of all products and natural resources that Morocco steals from the occupied territories, violating international law.
In view of this situation and the increase in violence against Saharawi civilians in the occupied territories, we asked Hmad Hammad, an activist and former political prisoner, about the situation in El Aaiun and in the other cities illegally occupied by Morocco.
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“We have hundreds of thousands of Moroccan settlers in the occupied territories. Many of them have weapons, especially bladed weapons and machetes. We don’t expect anything from them. When Moroccan power (Makhzen – the shadow power) or the King urges them against us, they attack. it happened many times during these 45 years of occupation.
How and why do settlers get here? They get here because they give them incentives, they give what they don’t have in Morocco, jobs, much higher wages, tax exemptions and incentives, subsidized products and essential goods.
However, they are fearsome people, they are afraid because they know they are stealing, even if they deny it. They see our women, our heroines, demonstrating in the streets, challenging the occupation, they see our children and young people demonstrating, they see our men taking non-violent actions against the occupation.
What they see on the streets is the most important because what they see in Moroccan newspapers, television and social media is a lie.
They can say and repeat what they are supposed to say to have the favour of the Moroccan occupation, but they are not blind. Many have Saharawi neighbors and see that we are respectful, educated people, that we have ethical and moral values, that we respect our faith and we are people of peace. But they also see our resistance and our convictions.
Today we have another world, there is more information, although there is also a lot of misinformation, something of the truth always appears.
I think that the members of the United Nations Security Council must realize that this is not sustainable, the vast majority of Saharawis yearn for war because we cannot continue to live like this. Not because we like war, but because no one gives us the opportunity for peace. Nobody respects the promises they made to us.
I ask the readers: If a thief comes into your house, he steals, destroys, kills your family members and then kidnaps and rapes your daughters, what would youdo? If that same thief is forced to sign an agreement in which he says he will respect a “cease fire” and will hold a referendum, but he never does, what would you do? What would you do if that same thug continues to go to your house where he steals, destroys, kills your family members and then kidnaps and rapes your daughters, what would you do? And if all of this happens under the United Nations Mission, what would you do?
We are currently only 9% of the population in our own country. They have introduced countless soldiers, soldiers, paramilitaries, gendarmes and colonists. Do we lower our arms? No!
They want us to become foreigners in our own country.
What I have to say about MINURSO is that it is another aspect of the Occupation, it is another occupant. Whoever sees what this Mission sees without doing anything is not neutral, it’s is an accomplice. It’s a facilitator.
MINURSO supports Morocco by not acting, by silencing, by being present. It’s another occupant.
There is nothing more I can say you have here the videos from yesterday of our women supporting our brothers and sisters in Guergarat. I am not there with them, me and many of the activists because we have our houses surrounded by the occupying authorities. They don’t let us out, our movements are completely controlled.
This is the situation that MINURSO silences, this is the situation in which we live, in forced impoverishment, torture, daily violence, arrests, farce judgments, deadly medical negligence. They kill our camels, they kill our culture. It is an extermination. This is our reality. ”
