BILL FLETCHER, billfletcherjr@gmail.com
Fletcher, Jr. is co-coordinator of the Campaign to End the Moroccan Occupation of the Western Sahara. He is also a longtime writer, trade unionist and a past president of TransAfrica Forum.
He said today: “While it is correct to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the response of the U.S. government to the invasion is filled with hypocrisy. As with the case of Israel taking Palestinian land, the U.S. has supported the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara for decades. Trump recognized Morocco’s illegal annexation of the country and the Biden administration has done nothing to change that. Is the public and media ignoring the invasion and ongoing war in Western Sahara because it is in Africa? The courageous and dramatic actions by U.S. human rights activists highlight the brutal repression of the independence activist Sultana Khaya specifically and the indigenous Sahrawi people generally.”
RUTH MCDONOUGH, Zeyn22@protonmail.com
ADRIENNE KINNE, amoolah23@protonmail.com
Both can be reached by phone through press contact: press@humanrightsactioncenter.org
The Human Rights Action Center reports: “At the invitation of the Khaya family in Boujdour, Western Sahara, U.S.-based volunteers have arrived at their home to protect them from human rights abuses and broke the 482-day siege of the house imposed by Moroccan occupation forces.”
Adrienne Kinne said Thursday: “We were in tears as we celebrated breaking the siege together and heard strong appreciation for us as U.S. citizens standing together with Saharawi women in solidarity for human rights stopping violence against women.”
HRAC states: “Since November 2020, the Khaya sisters have been forcibly confined to their home and the family has endured ongoing abuse, including home invasions, sexual violence and injections of unknown substances. The Khaya sisters have been raped by Moroccan security forces in front of their 84-year-old mother. Furthermore, their water has been poisoned, furniture and property destroyed, and electricity cut off.” See more information.
