Australia Western Sahara Association (Victoria)
Press Release: 24 January 2008
Ali The Camel to attend Bendigo Bank AGM
Bendigo Bank, a community bank and was set up to achieve a prosperous,
sustainable community, is holding its AGM on Tuesday 29 January in Bendigo
[Victoria, Australia]. Ali the Camel plans to attend.
Ali the Camel says that Western Sahara is part of the global community and
would like Bendigo bank to strive for the implementation of the bank's
ethical criteria. Ali would like to bring to the attention of Bendigo
Bank's
board the recent decision by an insurance company KPL in Norway and a
pension fund KPA in Sweden to exclude Wesfarmers from their investment
****tfolios on ethical grounds because of its continued im****tations of
phosphate from Western Sahara. Two other Australian companies, Incitec
Pivot
and Impact, are also guilty of this practice.
Morocco is illegally occupying Western Sahara and in 2002 the UN ruled
against Morocco's exploitation of the natural resources from Western
Sahara.
Ali urges Bendigo Bank to review its investments in managed funds on offer
to customers and to follow the KPL and KPA's concerns.
The Western Sahara people have been suffering human rights abuses in the
occupied zone or waiting for 32 years in refugee camps for the op****tunity
to have their vote of self determination as promised by the UN brokered
cease fire of 1991.
BACKGROUND
Wesfarmers blacklisted
The Australia Western Sahara Association (AWSA) is urging Bendigo Bank to
check the ethical status of the investments in its managed funds. Such
funds often include shares in Incitec Pivot and Wesfarmers, but the latter
has recently been blacklisted in Norway and Sweden on ethical grounds.
On 3 December 2007 Norwegian insurance company KLP ( Kommunal
Landspensjonskasse Mutual Insurance Company (KLP) excluded an Australian
company, Wesfarmers, from its investment ****tfolio on account of its
fertiliser subsidiary CSBP. The reason is that CSBP, based in Fremantle
WA,
im****ts phosphate from Morocco sourced in Western Sahara. The resource
belongs to the people of Western Sahara, and is sold by Morocco neither
with
their consent nor for their benefit.
"KLP ... excludes the fertiliser producer Wesfarmer as a result of illegal
im****t of phosphate from Western Sahara. The area is occupied by Morocco,
and in 2002 the UN declared all extraction of natural resources in West
Sahara as illegal."
The Swedish pension fund, KPA also excludes Wesfarmers from its ****tfolio
on
ethical grounds.
KLP went on to explain that Wesfarmers not only violates their ethical
guidelines but is excluded also "because they have not rectified
criticisable conditions or in other way signalled a way to solve their
problem".
AWSA agrees that it is time these companies indicate how they will solve
this problem. The Association has asked the three Australian fertiliser
companies to reconsider their illegal im****tation of phosphate rock from
Western Sahara two years ago, yet have seen no change in policy or
practice
on the im****tation of the "stolen" phosphate. The Australian Government
ought to encourage the companies to put the trade on hold until the
sovereignty of the country is determined.
The Australian government sought to justify the im****ts on the basis that
no
trade sanctions exist concerning Morocco. This is a misleading position
because the UN legal opinion of 2002 clearly states that the exploitation
of
the natural resources of Western Sahara is illegal. The lack of sanctions
does not make it legal (see: http://www.arso.org/UNlegaladv.htm).
The Australian Government and companies should not wait for sanctions to
be
imposed against Morocco in order to act in a legal, moral and ethical
manner. Our Government has moral obligations to do the right thing and is
indeed expected to lead in this instance as the Scandinavian Governments
have done. This is particularly the case when it is clear that im****ting
phosphates from Western Sahara through Morocco is illegal as Morocco has
absolutely no right to deal in the natural resources of this Territory.
Illegal occupation
No country in the world recognises Morocco's claim to the territory which
has been on the UN's list of countries waiting to be decolonized for 40
years.
Morocco commits gross violations of human rights in the occupied Western
Sahara. Murder and torture are being undertaken in the infamous "Black
Jail"
in El Ayoun, the town from which phosphate is being ****pped to Fremantle,
****tland, Geelong and Hobart in Australia. Monies received from the sale
of
phosphate to Australia are being used to enforce the military occupation
and
to equip the wall dividing Western Sahara.
Morocco is an absolute monarchy with no real democracy. The Moroccan King
and his family control and rule the country. The King still rules in a
medieval way with the powers to dissolve Parliament, appoint the main
Government Ministers and send those who question his divine rule to jail
for
indefinite periods.
--
For further information please contact Ron Guy: +61 0428 173 970
Australia Western Sahara Association (Victoria)
inc no: A0047692T
email: awsamel@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.awsa.org.au/
& http://www.vest-sahara.no/index.php?dl=en
__________________________________________________________________
Source: http://www.wsrw.org/index.php?parse_news=single&cat=105&art=651
See also:
* Weekly Times (AU): Incitec defends im****t policies, Dec 31, 2007
* Sydney Morning Herald: Incitec optimistic about outlook (but faces
shareholder criticism over WS phoshates), Dec 20, 2007
* Sydney Morning Herald: Making a meal of human rights (Australian im****ts
of WS phosphates), Dec 20, 2007
* Press release: Wesfarmers (AU) blacklisted for trade in stolen
phosphate,
Dec 4, 2007
* AWSA letter to UN Sec.Gen. Ban Ki Moon, Mar 26, 2007
*Green Left Weekly: Stop phosphate trade with Morocco!, Jan 14, 2007
* The Weekly Times (AU): Activists speak out over fertiliser, saying
Im****ts
'breach' UN law, Jun 27, 2006
__________________________________________________________________
Forwarded by:
Norwegian Sup****t Committee for Western Sahara
*** Referendum now! ***
www.vest-sahara.no
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sahara-update
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