Washington, D.C...Sahrawi human right activist, Aminatou Haidar, was in Washington, D.C. this week where she was praised and lauded by U.S. officials and non-governmental organizations and honored at a Capitol Hill reception for her peaceful efforts in support of self-determination for the Sahrawi people.  Haidar met with Members of Congress, State Department officials and human rights organizations to expose her first-hand experiences of the violations by Morocco against the Sahrawi people in Western Sahara.  At a Capitol Hill reception, Haidar was presented the Freedom Award by Congressman Donald Payne and the Defense Forum Foundation for her tireless devotion to Sahrawi self-determination in the face of horrific torture and imprisonment in Morocco's infamous black prisons.

 

Congressman Donald Payne, ranking Democrat on the Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations Subcommittee, lauded Haidar's work promising that he "would continue to press the United States government and the United Nations for a referendum where the Sahrawis can decide their future."  He pointed out that as long as people are oppressed anywhere, then people are oppressed everywhere, and he cautioned against the trickery that Morocco has used in the past to try to thwart the free and fair referendum.  Through his representative, Lindsey Plumley, Congressman Chris Smith, chairman of the Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations Subcommittee, expressed his solidarity with Haidar pledging to continue to "stand with you as you have stood for human rights in Western Sahara."

 

In presenting the freedom award, Defense Forum Foundation president Suzanne Scholte pointed out that the Sahrawi cause had taken on a much greater significance because of the war on terror and that Haidar's bravery had helped raise the issue internationally.  "When many of us became involved in this issue, it was because of the absolute clear justness of the cause of the Sahrawis," she said.  "Now, today in this global war on terror, it has become an even greater cause because the Sahrawi represent everything we hope for in this struggle – a Muslim people who believe in the rule of law, religious freedom, nonviolence, democracy, equal rights for women, and global human rights.  Everything we are fighting for in Afghanistan and Iraq is what the Sahrawis have already achieved at the very foundation of their Sahrawi Republic."

 

In addition to meeting with leaders in the Senate and House of Representatives, Haidar was also able to meet with the State Department officials who monitor human rights abuses.  For over three years, she had been blindfolded with her hands tied behind her back in a Moroccan prison because she had demonstrated in support of the United Nation's supported referendum on Western Sahara.  She was among the hundreds of "Disappeared", Sahrawi citizens who were arrested and disappeared.  Despite her horrific treatment, she continued her activities for Sahrawi freedom after her release and was once again arrested by Morocco authorities last year for trying to meet with UN Officials visiting the Western Sahara.  During that time she was beaten and tortured by now infamous Moroccan police commissioner Ichi Abu Hassan.

 

Haidar was awarded the 2006 Juan Maria Bandres Spanish Human Rights Award and was nominated by the European Parliament in 2005 for the Andrei Sakharov Human Rights award.  She has also been nominated for Amnesty International USA's 2006 Ginetta Sagan Fund Award "because she has lived through years of enforced disappearance, violent physical repression, constant surveillance, daily intimidation, and questionable imprisonment and still presses her rights in a non-violent and civil manner," according to Amnesty International USA.

 

For further information, contact Suzanne Scholte at Defense Forum Foundation at 703-534-4313.

 

PHOTOS ATTACHED: Haidar with Congressman Donald Payne; DFF President Suzanne Scholte,  Lindsey Plumley and Noelle LuSane of the House International Relations Committee; Haidar with the Freedom Award

 

TEXT OF THE FREEDOM AWARD PRESENTED TO AMINATOU HAIDAR

 

FREEDOM AWARD
For working for the self-determination of the Sahrawi people,
for surviving and persevering in the prisons of one of the world's most repressive regimes,
for bravery in the face of torture and imprisonment,
and for tireless devotion to the cause of liberty and human rights
We are pleased to present this
2006 Freedom Award to
Aminatou Haidar
------
Defense Forum Foundation
Presented in the "Capital of the Free World"
on Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.
September 14, 2006

 

BIOGRAPHY OF AMINATOU HAIDAR

Aminatou Haidar (born June 24, 1966, El Ayoun, Western Sahara) is one of the most well known Sahrawi human rights activists having first become involved in the peaceful resistance to Morocco's occupation of her homeland of Western Sahara in the 1980s.  In November 1987, she was involved in a peaceful demonstration by Sahrawi men and women when the United Nations Technical Committee came to El Ayoun in preparation for the promised referendum on self-determination.   The demonstration, held in support of the referendum and to protest the human rights abuses being committed against the Sahrawi people, was violently put down and over 700 Sahrawis were arrested including Haidar.  She became one of the disappeared and was held from 1987 through 1991, without charge or trial, in the infamous secret detention centers where she was tortured along with 17 other Sahrawi women.

 

Following her release on June 22,1991, Haidar continued her activities raising awareness of the human rights abuses being committed against the Sahrawi including serving on the Coordinating Committees for the victims of forced disappeared and detention, the committee for the release of Sidi Mohamed Daddach, and the Committee for the Release of Ali Salem Tamek.

 

During another peaceful demonstration in El Ayoun on June 17, 2005, Haidar was assaulted by Moroccan police along with Fatma Ayach and Houssein Lidiri.  After receiving medical treatment including 12 stitches for injuries received in the beating, Haidar was sent to the Black Prison of El Ayoun.  From August 8 through September 29 , she and other imprisoned Sahrawi human rights activists went on a hunger strike to protest their inhumane treatment and the torture of Sahrawis.

 

She was awarded the 2006 Juan Maria Bandres Spanish Human Rights Award and in 2005 she was nominated by the European Parliament for the Andrei Sakharov Human Rights award.  She has also been nominated for Amnesty International USA's 2006 Ginetta Sagan Fund Award "because she has lived through years of enforced disappearance, violent physical repression, constant surveillance, daily intimidation, and questionable imprisonment and still presses her rights in a non-violent and civil manner," according to Amnesty International USA.

 

---------------------
The above biography prepared by the US-Western Sahara Foundation from sources including Amnesty International, Committee for the Liberation of Aminatou Haidar, and Jacob Mundy, Amnesty USA's assistant country specialist for Algeria.
Sahrawi Human Rights Activist, Aminatou Haidar, Praised and Lauded by U.S. Officials, NGOs

 

Sahrawi human right activist, Aminatou Haidar, was in Washington, D.C. this week where she was praised and lauded by U.S. officials and non-governmental organizations and honored at a Capitol Hill reception for her peaceful efforts in support of self-determination for the Sahrawi people.  Haidar met with Members of Congress, State Department officials and human rights organizations to expose her first-hand experiences of the violations by Morocco against the Sahrawi people in Western Sahara.  At a Capitol Hill reception, Haidar was presented the Freedom Award by Congressman Donald Payne and the Defense Forum Foundation for her tireless devotion to Sahrawi self-determination in the face of horrific torture and imprisonment in Morocco's infamous black prisons.

 

Congressman Donald Payne, ranking Democrat on the Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations Subcommittee, lauded Haidar's work promising that he "would continue to press the United States government and the United Nations for a referendum where the Sahrawis can decide their future."  He pointed out that as long as people are oppressed anywhere, then people are oppressed everywhere, and he cautioned against the trickery that Morocco has used in the past to try to thwart the free and fair referendum.  Through his representative, Lindsey Plumley, Congressman Chris Smith, chairman of the Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations Subcommittee, expressed his solidarity with Haidar pledging to continue to "stand with you as you have stood for human rights in Western Sahara."

 

In presenting the freedom award, Defense Forum Foundation president Suzanne Scholte pointed out that the Sahrawi cause had taken on a much greater significance because of the war on terror and that Haidar's bravery had helped raise the issue internationally.  "When many of us became involved in this issue, it was because of the absolute clear justness of the cause of the Sahrawis," she said.  "Now, today in this global war on terror, it has become an even greater cause because the Sahrawi represent everything we hope for in this struggle – a Muslim people who believe in the rule of law, religious freedom, nonviolence, democracy, equal rights for women, and global human rights.  Everything we are fighting for in Afghanistan and Iraq is what the Sahrawis have achieved at the very foundation of their Sahrawi Republic."

 

In addition to meeting with leaders in the Senate and House of Representatives, Haidar was also able to meet with the State Department officials who monitor human rights abuses.  For over three years, she had been blindfolded with her hands tied behind her back in a Moroccan prison because she had demonstrated in support of the United Nation's supported referendum on Western Sahara.  She was among the hundreds of "Disappeared", Sahrawi citizens who were arrested and disappeared.  Despite her horrific treatment, she continued her activities for Sahrawi freedom after her release and was once again arrested by Morocco authorities last year for trying to meet with UN Officials visiting the Western Sahara.

 

Haidar was awarded the 2006 Juan Maria Bandres Spanish Human Rights Award and was nominated by the European Parliament in 2005 for the Andrei Sakharov Human Rights award.  She has also been nominated for Amnesty International USA's 2006 Ginetta Sagan Fund Award "because she has lived through years of enforced disappearance, violent physical repression, constant surveillance, daily intimidation, and questionable imprisonment and still presses her rights in a non-violent and civil manner," according to Amnesty International USA.

 

TEXT OF THE FREEDOM AWARD PRESENTED TO AMINATOU HAIDAR

 

FREEDOM AWARD
For working for the self-determination of the Sahrawi people,
for surviving and persevering in the prisons of one of the world's most repressive regimes,
for bravery in the face of torture and imprisonment,
and for tireless devotion to the cause of liberty and human rights
We are pleased to present this
2006 Freedom Award to
Aminatou Haidar
------
Defense Forum Foundation
Presented in the "Capital of the Free World"
on Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.
September 14, 2006

 

BIOGRAPHY OF AMINATOU HAIDAR

 

Aminatou Haidar (born June 24, 1966, El Ayoun, Western Sahara) is one of the most well known Sahrawi human rights activists having first become involved in the peaceful resistance to Morocco's occupation of her homeland of Western Sahara in the 1980s.  In November 1987, she was involved in a peaceful demonstration by Sahrawi men and women when the United Nations Technical Committee came to El Ayoun in preparation for the promised referendum on self-determination.   The demonstration, held in support of the referendum and to protest the human rights abuses being committed against the Sahrawi people, was violently put down and over 700 Sahrawis were arrested including Haidar.  She became one of the disappeared and was held from 1987 through 1991, without charge or trial, in the infamous secret detention centers where she was tortured along with 17 other Sahrawi women.

 

Following her release on June 22,1991, Haidar continued her activities raising awareness of the human rights abuses being committed against the Sahrawi including serving on the Coordinating Committees for the victims of forced disappeared and detention, the committee for the release of Sidi Mohamed Daddach, and the Committee for the Release of Ali Salem Tamek.

 

During another peaceful demonstration in El Ayoun on June 17, 2005, Haidar was assaulted by Moroccan police along with Fatma Ayach and Houssein Lidiri.  After receiving medical treatment including 12 stitches for injuries received in the beating, Haidar was sent to the Black Prison of El Ayoun.  From August 8 through September 29 , she and other imprisoned Sahrawi human rights activists went on a hunger strike to protest their inhumane treatment and the torture of Sahrawis.

 

She was awarded the 2006 Juan Maria Bandres Spanish Human Rights Award and in 2005 she was nominated by the European Parliament for the Andrei Sakharov Human Rights award.  She has also been nominated for Amnesty International USA's 2006 Ginetta Sagan Fund Award "because she has lived through years of enforced disappearance, violent physical repression, constant surveillance, daily intimidation, and questionable imprisonment and still presses her rights in a non-violent and civil manner," according to Amnesty International USA.

 

---------------------
The above biography prepared by the US-Western Sahara Foundation from sources including Amnesty International, Committee for the Liberation of Aminatou Haidar, and Jacob Mundy, Amnesty USA's assistant country specialist for Algeria.