Hunger strikes, police assaults and the "Oxford Six": Morocco meets the Polisario Front

“What happens when students from opposing sides of a conflict zone come together to look for a better future?” asks the website of Talk Together, an organisation specialising in conflict resolution training. When the conflict zone in question is the disputed territory of Western Sahara, it seems that what happens is the students are marched off an aeroplane, stage a hunger strike and are then beaten and arrested by Moroccan police.

On the evening of 5th August six Saharawi students en route to an EU- sponsored peace workshop in Oxford were prevented from boarding their plane by Moroccan police. The students, aged between 17 and 24, staged an impromptu hunger strike protest in the airport terminal but this was short-lived. On Thursday evening a large group of police arrived, beat the students with batons and drove them away in a convoy of vehicles.

The incident led to not only to fears for the student’s safety but also to fears that the arrests could scupper the past week’s long-awaited talks aimed at resurrecting the negotiations between Morocco and Polisario, the Western Saharan independence movement. Thanks to pressure from human rights groups and attention from the media, the students, dubbed the Oxford Six, were released after a few days. The talks began in the Austrian town of Duernstein last Monday. Although the detail of what was agreed in these two day closed-door negotiations was not made public, a statement by UN Special Envoy Christopher Ross at the end of the meetings gives reason for cautious optimism. "The discussions took place in an atmosphere of serious engagement, frankness, and mutual respect," he said. "The parties reiterated their commitment to continue their negotiations as soon as possible, and (I) will fix the date and place of the next meeting in consultation with the parties."

It is unlikely that the subject of the Oxford Six came up around the negotiating table. All six of the students had already emerged from police custody. All had  injuries and severe bruising. Hundreds of others of Saharawis who have dared to challenge Moroccan authority have not been so lucky.

Find out more about the situation in Western Sahara by joining the network at www.freesahara.ning.com