Australian Film Crew Uncovers Slavery Practice in UN-Monitored Refugee Camps in Western Sahara; Tells Their Story to the US-Based Human Rights Groups, Media and Legislators
NEW YORK, Oct. 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The shocking practice of wide-scale modern day slavery uncovered by an Australian film crew in
UN-monitored refugee camps in Algeria was revealed to the US-based human rights groups, media and legislators.
"My name is Matala Magluf X. I am a slave, my mother is a slave, my
sisters are slaves, all my relatives are slaves. I am asking the
international community to help us. We don't care about the political
situation anymore. We have the right to be free." These are the words of a
black Saharawi, one of a handful of witnesses quoted in an upcoming
documentary shot on location in the Frente POLISARIO controlled and
UN-monitored "Tindouf Refugee camps" in Western Sahara.
"The Wall of Shame," which is the title of the documentary to be
released in 2008, unfolds in one of the longest running refugee camps in
the world, sustained by hundreds of aid organizations, accessible to the
world's press and monitored by the UN. The shocking testimonials, witnessed
and documented by two Australian journalists, Violeta Ayala and Daniel
Fallshaw, were made public during the crew's US visit sponsored by the New
York-based Together Foundation. Daniel Fallshaw and Violeta Ayala went to
the Saharawi refugee camps in the Algerian desert to make a film about the
human price of the long lasting political conflict in the Western Sahara.
They found more than they bargained for -- at least several thousands of
black Saharawi slaves who live in the refugee camps in Algeria. They live
trapped between their country's fight for independence and their own right
to freedom. According to the witnesses, the black slaves are passed from
one owner family to the other, black women are sexually abused by their
white Moor masters, they don't have the right to get married without the
masters' consent, black people work for their owners for free, are deprived
of education and any social rights.
Is it possible that a "socialist" liberation movement POLISARIO
condones this state of affairs? Ironically, says Violeta Ayala, slavery
remains an institution in this supposedly socialist society, hidden behind
the word culture and concealed by local and international authorities. Even
worse, adds Daniel Fallshaw, at the point that the filmmakers' findings
became obvious to the POLISARIO officials, our personal safety became
problematic. According to the crew, they were detained and interrogated for
almost a day in a room without light. Only UN intervention provided them
with a safe passage out of the country.
We felt obliged to the Saharawis to bring their case to the US, world
media and the human rights groups, explains Fallshaw. Therefore, we had
very productive presentations and briefings with the staff of Senator
Edward Kennedy, Jesse Jackson, Human Rights Watch DC Office. Human Rights
announced in substance that it will send an investigative mission to the
camps, most likely towards the end of 2007. The mission will also verify
other possible breaches in human rights.
In New York, the crew met with the UN-accredited media at the United
Nations headquarters and presented their case before the Committee to
Protect Journalists, the leading media freedoms watchdog.
The United Nations Decolonization Committee of the General Assembly is
again meeting in New York, with one of the key agenda items being the issue
of Western Sahara. These meetings take place annually, and lead to no
substantial conclusion. "Many think that those are just a formality to keep
the so-called dialogue afloat and maintaining the appearance of UN doing
something useful," says Gregory Tyomkin of Together Foundation. "The
reality is very different from what the participants pretend to know or not
to know. And they would probably once again fail to put forth a very
concrete and significant question: are there circumstances that could
mitigate for condoning human slavery?"
SOURCE Together Foundation
NEW YORK, Oct. 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The shocking practice of wide-scale modern day slavery uncovered by an Australian film crew in
UN-monitored refugee camps in Algeria was revealed to the US-based human rights groups, media and legislators.
"My name is Matala Magluf X. I am a slave, my mother is a slave, my
sisters are slaves, all my relatives are slaves. I am asking the
international community to help us. We don't care about the political
situation anymore. We have the right to be free." These are the words of a
black Saharawi, one of a handful of witnesses quoted in an upcoming
documentary shot on location in the Frente POLISARIO controlled and
UN-monitored "Tindouf Refugee camps" in Western Sahara.
"The Wall of Shame," which is the title of the documentary to be
released in 2008, unfolds in one of the longest running refugee camps in
the world, sustained by hundreds of aid organizations, accessible to the
world's press and monitored by the UN. The shocking testimonials, witnessed
and documented by two Australian journalists, Violeta Ayala and Daniel
Fallshaw, were made public during the crew's US visit sponsored by the New
York-based Together Foundation. Daniel Fallshaw and Violeta Ayala went to
the Saharawi refugee camps in the Algerian desert to make a film about the
human price of the long lasting political conflict in the Western Sahara.
They found more than they bargained for -- at least several thousands of
black Saharawi slaves who live in the refugee camps in Algeria. They live
trapped between their country's fight for independence and their own right
to freedom. According to the witnesses, the black slaves are passed from
one owner family to the other, black women are sexually abused by their
white Moor masters, they don't have the right to get married without the
masters' consent, black people work for their owners for free, are deprived
of education and any social rights.
Is it possible that a "socialist" liberation movement POLISARIO
condones this state of affairs? Ironically, says Violeta Ayala, slavery
remains an institution in this supposedly socialist society, hidden behind
the word culture and concealed by local and international authorities. Even
worse, adds Daniel Fallshaw, at the point that the filmmakers' findings
became obvious to the POLISARIO officials, our personal safety became
problematic. According to the crew, they were detained and interrogated for
almost a day in a room without light. Only UN intervention provided them
with a safe passage out of the country.
We felt obliged to the Saharawis to bring their case to the US, world
media and the human rights groups, explains Fallshaw. Therefore, we had
very productive presentations and briefings with the staff of Senator
Edward Kennedy, Jesse Jackson, Human Rights Watch DC Office. Human Rights
announced in substance that it will send an investigative mission to the
camps, most likely towards the end of 2007. The mission will also verify
other possible breaches in human rights.
In New York, the crew met with the UN-accredited media at the United
Nations headquarters and presented their case before the Committee to
Protect Journalists, the leading media freedoms watchdog.
The United Nations Decolonization Committee of the General Assembly is
again meeting in New York, with one of the key agenda items being the issue
of Western Sahara. These meetings take place annually, and lead to no
substantial conclusion. "Many think that those are just a formality to keep
the so-called dialogue afloat and maintaining the appearance of UN doing
something useful," says Gregory Tyomkin of Together Foundation. "The
reality is very different from what the participants pretend to know or not
to know. And they would probably once again fail to put forth a very
concrete and significant question: are there circumstances that could
mitigate for condoning human slavery?"
SOURCE Together Foundation
Commentaire