Buenos Aires ends conference: “Sahara Free, Argentine Falklands!”

The II Conference of the International Federation of Journalists and Media in Solidarity with Western Sahara, closed in Buenos Aires last Friday (30), decided to “expand the efforts to break the silence wall erected by the reign of Morocco and strengthen the information network by decolonization of occupied territories”. After all, as the delegates present expressed, the Arab Republic must be supported by Democratic Saharauí (RASD) and visible the affront that represents the fact that its territory is “the last colony in Africa”.

To the choir of “Free Sahara, Argentine Falklands!”, Latin American representatives (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Paraguay, Venezuela and Uruguay), Europeans (Spain, Italy and Portugal) and Africans (Western Sahara), added enthusiastic applause to the presentation of the Tuiza group. Composed of young people who overflowed the Saarauí culture, Tuiza looked into the richness of colors and dances the closure of the ceremony.

Organized by the network of journalists in defense of the Saharauí people, coordinated by Mariano Vázquez and Dayana López Villabos, the Polisario Front, the Argentine Workers Center (CTA-Autonoma) and the State Workers Association, the event demarcated the lying, alienation and manipulation, used as weapons in the five decades of occupation by Morocco.

International solidarity expressed itself hard on the panel composed by Lofti Sebouai, Algerian ambassador; Pedro Pablo Prada, Cuban ambassador; and Mohamed there there, representative of the Polisario Front in Argentina. All focused on the relevance of the colonial struggle.

“CTA is Saarauí territory”

GODOY Dog, Secretary-General of CTA-Autonoma, made a point of stressing that “our central is Sahauí territory and having this meeting in our house is a cuddle in the soul, because we always support and continue to support this cause.”

Ahmed Ettanji, director of the Media Team – a group dedicated to breaking the Moroccan informative block – stated that it was “an honor to share a reality that was silenced, denied or distorted for decades: the situation in Western Sahara and the struggle of the Sahauí people”. “But today I do not only speak of a geopolitical or historical perspective, but also from a communicational perspective. Because, in this conflict, communication is not a secondary dimension: it is a battlefield,” he emphasized.

Fatma El Galia, president of the League of Journalists and Writers Saarauís in Europe, pointed to the value of this international forum “which highlighted the work of women Saarauís as writers, broadcasters and presenters.” Women, he stressed, that “since the early years of exile and with minimal human and technological resources, they have kept alive the voice of the Saharauí people, their history and their culture through the national media in the refugee camps.”

The main decisions of the event include “increasing the flow of journalists, communicators and media vehicles to occupied territories, refugee camps and western Sahara zones to document the situation and give voice to the Sahauí people” and “support media work in RASD, contributing to technical assistance, logistics and training to journalists and media workers” to the one of the 17 pending territories of United Nations Decolonization ”.

Morocco regime condemns journalists to life imprisonment

Participants expressed support for the march for political prisoners, which is currently traveling around Europe, bound for the arrest of Kenitra, Morocco, “to sensitize the population about the situation of the Sahauís political prisoners in the Moroccan jails.” In particular, they stressed, “we condemned the criminalization of journalistic activity by the Morocco regime,“ which holds journalists for exercising their profession: Abdalahi Lekhfauni, sentenced to the Via Viça life imprisonment; Hassan Dah (25 years in prison), from Rasd TV and Radio; Mohamed Lamin Haddi (25 years), from Rasd TV and Radio; El Bachir Khada (20 years), from the Media team; Khatri Dadda (20 years), from Salwan Media; and Mahmud Khambir (10 years), from Smara News ”.

Demonstrating deep respect and appreciation for the work of social communication already developed, they recalled that “more than 50 years ago, Saarauí National Radio, Sahauí television and Saarauí press agency (SPS) have been essential spokesmen for their people’s struggle, which faces censorship, precariousness and blockage of information imposed by Morocos”. Similarly, they recognized that in occupied territories “national and independent media create valuable and risky content through social networks, bringing to light the systematic violations of human rights committed by Moroccan authorities against the Sahauí population”.

Given this, they also highlight the work of the Union of Journalists and Writers Sahauís and the League of Journalists and Writers Sahauís in Europe, “that generate and disseminate diaspora content, reinforcing the international visibility of the cause and contributing to break the media block.”

Under the motto “Journalism and Action for Decolonization of Western Sahara”, the II Conference elected Brazilians Leonardo Wexell Severo (People’s Hour) to the International Federation and Dorgil Silva (Community TV of Brasilia/Asaarauí) for the Latin American Solidarity Network.