Laila Fakhouri has been campaigning for her people’s right to self-determination since her early youth. The 25-year-old Sahraui has now been awarded the Human Rights Prize of the city of Weimar for this commitment. The prize is awarded every year on the occasion of International Human Rights Day on December 10. terre des hommes schweiz nominated Laila Fakhouri for the award. On December 4, Laila Fakhouri will be a guest at the “Feierabendgespräch” in Bern.
Laila Fakhouri belongs to a young generation of Saharawis who are using legal and other peaceful means to fight for the rights of their people, who have been forgotten by the world community. Western Sahara has been occupied by Morocco since 1975. Since the ceasefire of 1991, the Saharawis have been waiting for a promised referendum. No state in the world recognizes Morocco’s territorial claims to Western Sahara, yet the situation has remained unchanged for 44 years. In the Sahrawi refugee camps, where terre des hommes schweiz has been supporting projects for young people for many years, 173,000 people live in the middle of the desert. They are completely dependent on international aid supplies. In the occupied territory, human rights activists such as Laila Fakhouri risk being arrested and tortured and disappearing into prison for long periods of time.
“As long as I can still speak”
Despite the threats and repression to which Laila Fakhouri and her family are subjected, despite the physical violence she experiences time and again and despite the constant risk of being arrested, she stands up for her people and imprisoned Sahrawi activists as a trial observer, translator, mediator, activist and ambassador. At her place of study, she supports other Sahrawi students against discrimination. On the constant threat of being arrested, Laila Fakhouri says: “I know that it will soon be my turn. But until then, I will make sure that my voice is heard by as many people in the world as possible.
Giving other young women courage
When asked what the Weimar Human Rights Prize means to her, she says: “Receiving such a prize is important to give other women the courage to speak out in society. Giving the prize to a young Saharawis shows that we young Saharawis have a say in our future and it gives us new hope for a peaceful solution”. Only in second place does she mention what it means to her personally: “A prize like this can protect me. It makes it more difficult for the occupying power to arrest me or harm me in any other way. The prize will also give me courage and hope to continue my struggle, not to stop trying to make my voice and that of my people heard.
Laila Fakhouri as a guest at the “Feierabendgespräch”
Date, time: Wednesday, 04.12.2019, 18h15
Location: Alliance Sud InfoDoc, Monbijoustrasse 29, 3011 Bern
Please register at dokumentation@alliancesud.ch or 031 390 93 37
