The Independence Intifada (intifada is Arabic for "uprising") is a Sahrawi name for the disturbances, demonstrations and riots that broke out in May 2005 in the Moroccan-held parts of Western Sahara. It has also been called "The El-Aaiun Intifada". The Moroccan government denies that the uprisings amount to an "intifada", and term them simply disturbances. It has accused the Front Polisario of instigating unrest. Jump to: navigation, search Arabic (Arabic: العربية; transliterated: al-carabiyyah, less formally, عربي transliterated: carabī) is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ... Sahrawi and Saharawi are terms most commonly used for the natives of the Morocco-occupied Western Sahara. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This list includes only disputes between widely-recognized countries, and does not cover regions which have proclaimed independence but have not been recognized, nor regions which are seeking independence. ... ...

Demonstrations began in El-Aaiun after relatives protesting the transfer of a Sahrawi prisoner to Morocco were dipersed by police, and escalated into major demonstrations within a matter of days. It quickly spread to other Sahrawi cities such as Dakhla and Smara, and also into Sahrawi-populated parts of southern Morocco, notably the towns of Assa and Tan-Tan. Sahrawi students rioted in the universities of Rabat and Marrakesh. Police and army units were brought in from Morocco to quell the uprising, and although demonstrations subsided, several protests a month are still held in October 2005. Laâyoune Laâyoune, also El Aaiún, is the unofficial capital of Western Sahara, a former Spanish country now mostly controlled and occupied by Morocco. ... ... Smara, also Semara, is a city (50,000 in 1999) in the disputed region of Western Sahara, Morocco. ... The Astronomical Society of Southern Africa (ASSA), formed in 1922, is a body consisting of both amateur and professional astronomers. ... Tan-Tan is a city in Morocco, in Province de Tan-Tan. ... For the Maltese city on Gozo Island which can also be called Rabat, see Victoria, Malta. ... Marrakech (مراكش marrākish), known as the Pearl of the South, is a city in southwestern Morocco in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains. ...

Hundreds of Sahrawi protestors have been arrested, and about thirty demonstrators and well-known Sahrawi human rights-activists have been imprisoned after summary trials. Among them are the former political prisoner Ali Salem Tamek (who did not parttake in any demonstrations, but was arrested when returning from abroad), human rights-activist Mohamed Elmoutaoikil, and Aminatou Haidar, a former disappeared. There is an international campaign for her release which has been signed by 178 members of the European Parliament, and she has been nominated as a candidate for the Sakharov Prize. Amnesty International has demanded an investigation into reports of torture of prisoners, and calls for fair trials, and the release of political prisoners. A 50-day hunger strike of all the arrested Sahrawis put the health of several at risk, and the action was aborted. It has since been resumed again. A Forced disappearance occurs when an organization (usually a ruling government and that is usually a police state or dictatorship) forces a person to disappear from public view. ... Jump to: navigation, search The European Parliament is the parliamentary body of the European Union (EU), directly elected by EU citizens once every five years. ... The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, named after Soviet scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, was established in December 1985 by the European Parliament as a means to honour individuals or organizations who had dedicated their lives to the defence of human rights and freedoms. ... Amnesty International (commonly known as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization with the stated purpose of promoting all the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international standards. ...

Investigative missions from European countries have been denied access to the territory, including parliamentary delegations. Several foreign journalists, mainly from European countries, but also al-Jazeera correspondents, have been expelled after interviewing protestors. World map showing Europe (geographically) When considered a continent, Europe is the worlds second-smallest continent in terms of area, with an area of 10,600,000 km² (4,140,625 square miles), making it larger than Australia only. ... Al Jazeera (Arabic: ), meaning The Island or The (Arabian) Peninsula is an Arabic-language television channel based in Qatar. ...

The European parliament "deplored" expulsions of journalists covering the uprising and and demanded the "immediate release" of political prisoners in an October 2005 resolution. Jump to: navigation, search The European Parliament is the parliamentary body of the European Union (EU), directly elected by EU citizens once every five years. ...

See also

• Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
• Front Polisario
• Years of lead
• Zemla Intifada

The Saharawi (or Sahrawi) Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is the long-form English translation of the government of Western Sahara (Arabic: الجمهورية العربية الصحراوية الدمقرطية, Spanish: República Arabe Saharaui Democrática). ... ...

External links

• [Amnesty International New arrests and allegations of torture of Sahrawi human rights defenders
• Spanish TV on Sahrawi student riots in Rabat (RealPlayer)
• Western Sahara Online Sahrawi support page on the Intifada
• Picture Gallery of the Intifada