Human righst activist Aminatou Haidar on hunger strike after being deported

[the_future_modernes]

Western Sahara: Aminatou Haidar Deported

Photo of Aminatou Haidar by saharauiak

Aminatou Haidar is a leading activist for independence of the Western Sahara (from Morocco). Born in 1967, she was “disappeared” by Moroccan authorities for her activism at age twenty, only to reemerge three years later. In 2005, Haidar was arrested for her participation in a protest and sentenced to seven months in prison for “inciting violent protest activities.” Amnesty International deemed her a prisoner of conscience, questioning the fairness of her trial and those of 6 others. Since her release, she has been honored with the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, and most recently awarded the Civil Courage Prize in New York, all for her work defending human rights in the Western Sahara.
Regardless of the accolades given to her, Haidar lived - until recently - in Morocco with great fear of being arrested; that is until Friday, November 13 when, upon returning to Laayoune (a city in the Western Sahara region), she was arrested and subsequently deported. According to the Christian Science Monitor, authorities took issue with her writing “Western Sahara” on her customs forms. According to Moroccan officials, Haidar renounced and “willingly signed away” her Moroccan citizenship. She was then sent to Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, and later granted Spanish residency on humanitarian grounds, according to Spanish news organization ABC.MORE

Why Morocco welcomed human rights activist Aminatou Haidar home by arresting her:Human rights activist Aminatou Haidar, dubbed 'Gandhi' for her efforts to win Western Sahara's independence, launched a hunger strike after Morocco deported her this weekend.

Rabat, Morocco - Fresh off winning a prestigious international human rights award in New York, activist Aminatou Haidar received no warm welcome when she returned to Morocco last Friday.

Instead, she was arrested and deported by Moroccan officials.

Her crime? Leaving the citizenship line blank on her customs form, and writing Western Sahara – the disputed Moroccan territory where she lives – on the address line.

On Monday, Ms. Haidar declared a hunger strike and said she'll carry out her fast "to the death" if authorities continue to bar her return home. It's one of many risks she has taken in a 20-year campaign to win independence for the people of Western Sahara, a region Morocco annexed in 1975.

Haidar's perseverance was highlighted by the Train Foundation on Oct. 21, when it awarded her the Civil Courage Prize in New York. Among other trials, the foundation cited Haidar's 1987 arrest, disappearance, and subsequent four-year prison sentence, along with another seven-month detention in 2005.

After receiving the award, whose previous winners include the late Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, Haidar told reporters she still faced a constant risk of arrest in Morocco. When Haidar came home to the Western Saharan city of Laayoune, police proved her right. MORE

So Obama refuses to sign Ban Landmines Treaty. Rest of World goes WTF assholes!?!?! US goes....

[the_future_modernes]

/UPDATE*/U.S. State Department Backpedals on Landmine Treaty

WASHINGTON, Nov 26 (IPS) - One day after the State Department announced that the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama will not sign the 10-year-old treaty banning anti- personnel landmines, it insisted that Washington's policy on the issue was still being reviewed.

Human rights and disarmament activists had reacted with outrage Wednesday to Tuesday's announcement by State Department spokesman Ian Kelly that the review had concluded and that Washington "would not be able to meet our national defence needs, nor our security commitments to our friends and allies if we sign the [landmine] convention".

"The administration is committed to a comprehensive review of its landmine policy," Kelly said in a written statement issued by the State Department press office Wednesday afternoon. "That review is still ongoing."

The statement did not make clear whether Tuesday's announcement had been made in error or whether the anger provoked by it had persuaded the administration to reconsider. The fact that Kelly was reading from guidance prepared in advance and presumably cleared at higher levels, however, suggested that the latter explanation was more likely.

The U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines (USCBL), a coalition of scores of activist groups, had called the Tuesday's announcement "shocking", while Human Rights Watch (HRW) described it as "reprehensible".

"President Obama's decision to cling to anti-personnel mines keeps the U.S. on the wrong side of history and the wrong side of humanity," said Steve Goose, the director of HRW's Arms Division, who also noted that Washington stood alone among its NATO allies in refusing to sign the treaty. MORE

Somehow I didn't realize that this was the anniversary of the Mumbai terrorist attacks.

[the_future_modernes]

Inside Story - Mumbai attacks, one year on - 26 Nov 09

We assess the damage that still remains after the dust is settled and the way forward for India

101 East - A different India? - 26 Nov 09 - Pt 1

We ask if the governmenment's extra security measures can prevent an attck like that in Mumbai.


101 East - A different India? - 26 Nov 09 - Pt 2

Road to Hajj Panama

[the_future_modernes]

Road to Hajj Panama Part 1

Hey there! Is that a Jamaican flag I see there?!?!?!


Al Jazeera follows Muslims in Panama as they prepar to go to Hajj

Road to Hajj Part 2

Land grabs. Having stolen every thing else, now rich countries are taking poor countries' farm land.

[the_future_modernes]

Concern over nation' s foreign 'land-grabs' - 17 Nov 09

France has called for tougher rules over the growing practice of so-called land-grabbing. Millions of hectares of prime farmland in poorer countries are being sold off to richer ones, who then use it to grow their own crops. It means local farmers are losing access to land and water. The French farming minister warned these "predatory investments" prevented countries from feeding themselves. Al Jazeera's Nicole Johnston reports.



Tel me something kids. If I look into the process by which American companies got ahold of Latin American farm land, will it resemble this? And looking at how American multinational run Latin American farms...wanna bet that the Africans will be like that in a few years? I'm gonna need the voices of farmers on programs like this though.