Western Sahara: human rights defender Aminatou Haidar wins Silver Rose Award 2007

Aminatou Haidar the Saharawi woman human rights defender and member of the Collective of Saharawi Human Rights Defenders (CODESA), has won the Silver Rose Award 2007. The Silver Rose is awarded annually by the international organisation Solidar, to celebrate the outstanding achievements of individuals and organizations who are active in the fight for social justice.

Further information

Aminatou Haidar is a defender of the human rights of the Saharawi people and is also a political activist. Born in Western Sahara in 1967, she has played a leading role in a number of campaigns organized for the release of Saharawi prisoners of conscience and political prisoners since becoming involved in the political struggle in the 1980s.

Amintou Haidar has been arrested, imprisoned and tortured and ill-treated a number of times, most recently in 2006 for protesting non-violently for the right of self-determination for the people of the Western Sahara. She was arrested in 1987 and was held without charge or trial in a number of secret detention centers until being released in 1991. She has never received a formal explanation for her ‘’disappearance.’’

She continues to work towards her goal of achieving self-determination for the Saharawi using non-violent means, despite the danger in which this places her and her two children, and to raise awareness of their plight internationally whenever possible. Aminatou Haidar also collects and disseminates information on human rights violations committed by the Moroccan authorities.

“You can kill me but you can never kill my convictions!’’ (Aminatou Haidar)