We campaign on three major areas affecting Western Sahara: decolonisation, human rights, and natural resources. For more information about these issues go to our Issues and Background and our News and Analysis pages.

Please write to

Baroness Symons, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, King Charles St, London SW1A 2AH

Thank her for the British government's commitment to a "just and durable" solution to the Western Sahara conflict.

Ask her to ensure that the Saharawi people's right to self-determination is upheld by the UN Security Council in October.

Remind her that a referendum in which the majority of the voters are Moroccan colonisers cannot be called a genuine referendum of self-determination for the Saharawi.

And ask her to continue the UK government's watch on human rights abuses by the Moroccan authorities and to intervene to protect Saharawi human rights activists.

Making your voice heard in the "corridors of power" can seem hard, but it is surprising how effective a bit of direct attention can be! Below are a number of people you can usefully write to to support the Saharawis' struggle for self-determination, and the cause of human rights in Western Sahara. We have included suggestions for things to say. Please remember to keep your letters direct and to the point but polite - they stand more chance of being read!

Human Rights contacts

Write to

Ali Salem Tamek, Prison d'Ait Melloul, Agadir, Morocco

Ali Salem Tamek is a member of the banned human rights NGO "Forum for Truth and Justice - Sahara Section" and a member of the National Executive of the Moroccan Forum for Truth and Justice. He is recognised as a Prisoner of Conscience by Amnesty International and is serving a 2 year jail sentence on the basis of allegations made by other Saharawis apparently extracted under torture.

Please write to him to express support for his human rights work. This is a valuable morale booster for him and an indication to the Moroccan authorities that the world has not forgotten him.

You can find the names and addresses of more Saharawi Political Prisoners on the ARSO website.

M. Mohammed Bousoubaa, Moroccan Minister of Justice

Ministre de la Justice, Palais de la Mamounia, Rabat, Morocco

Fax : 212 37 73 07 72/ 212 37 73 89 40/ 212 37 73 27 10
(if the first number doesn't work... try some more!)

Ask him to unconditionally release all Saharawi political prisoners and the Moroccan journalist Ali Lmrabet

Ask him how the Moroccan government can justify imprisoning or persecuting people on the grounds that they do not support the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara.

Remind him that many international organisations, from Amnesty International to the US State Department, have criticised the repression of free speech and human rights activity in Western Sahara by Moroccan forces and appeal to him to end this repression now

Ms Hina Jilani, UN Human Rights Commission Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Defenders

Email: tb-petitions@ohchr.org

Appeal to her to visit Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara to meet with Saharawi human rights defenders

Remind her that the human rights group "Forum for Truth and Justice - Sahara Section" was banned earlier this year and that many of its members are serving jail sentences on flimsy pretexts. Their meetings with international human rights organisations were presented as evidence against them at the court hearing that led to the group's banning.

Natural Resources contacts

Please write to Kerr-McGee Corporation and TotalFinaElf expressing your disapproval of their collaboration with Morocco's occupation of Western Sahara.

Ask them why they persist in spreading misinformation by describing their operations in Western Sahara as in "Morocco" in their literature, when the International Court of Justice has ruled that Morocco has no claim of sovereignty over Western Sahara, and thus neither the UN nor any individual government has ever accepted Morocco's claim to Western Sahara

Kerr-McGee Corporation
123 Robert S. Kerr Avenue
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102
USA

tel. 00 1 405.270.1313

Christophe de Margerie
Directeur Général Exploration-Production
Total Exploration Production
2 place de la Coupole
La Défense 6
92400 Courbevoie
France

Tél. + 33 (0) 1 4744 4546