-2-The Amazighs Of The World Meet In Ouarzazate, Morocco – Analysis
10th Amazigh World Assembly (photo supplied)
Amazigh present demands
In relation to the pace of political changes that affect the interests of the Amazigh people and Amazigh-speaking communities, within the states of Tamazgha (24) and within the framework of the degrading human rights situation, the Amazigh World Assembly, declares and demands the following:
Logo of the Amazigh World Assembly -AWA-
Concerning Morocco:
The Amazigh World Assembly welcomes the political will of the new Moroccan government, which emerged from the last legislative elections of September 8, 2021/2971, to take the Amazigh file seriously and to have dedicated an annual budget to it.
The Amazigh World Assembly calls for the implementation of the laws relating to the recognition of the official character of Amazigh culture and as a matter of urgency, to generalize the teaching of the Amazigh language in preschool and primary education, and to appoint a specialist who masters the themes of normalization and standardization of the Amazigh language at the head of the National Council of Languages and Moroccan Culture.
The Amazigh World Assembly insists on the recognition of the Amazigh calendar and new year and recalls its demand to change the discriminatory name of the “Arab Maghreb” into “Greater Maghreb”, while reiterating its demand for the release of all detainees of the “Hirak of the Rif” protest who remain in prison and end of the despoiling of the collective lands of the marginalized Amazigh tribes. (25)
Regarding Algeria:
The Amazigh World Assembly demands to the Algerian authorities, and more concretely to the military generals, who hold the real power, the immediate and unconditional release of all political detainees and to put an end to all forms of intimidation, judicial harassment, criminalization and arbitrary arrest or detention against journalists, bloggers, human rights defenders, lawyers, demonstrators and all activists, especially those from Kabylia, wrongly accused of belonging to a terrorist movement, namely the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylia (MAK). (26)
The Amazigh World Assembly also demands that the Algerian authorities respond immediately to all legitimate and democratic demands of the “Hirak of Algeria”.
The Amazigh World Assembly demands that the highest Algerian military authorities guarantee accountability and democratic control and the effective subordination of the latter to a legally constituted civilian authority, and to ensure that the role of the army, which should be redefined in a new People’s Constitution, is explicitly limited to matters of national defense. And to organize, therefore, immediate and transparent presidential and legislative elections, resume diplomatic and economic relations with the Kingdom of Morocco, proceed to the opening of the borders with it, and to stop immediately the state terrorism that it sows against the Algerian people and the peoples of the Sahel.
Regarding Libya:
The Amazigh World Assembly calls on the United Nations and the European Union to put more pressure on the “foreign mercenaries” to leave the Libyan territory and to actively involve the Amazighs in the talks they are sponsoring to find a consensual and participatory solution to peace in post-revolutionary Libya.
The Amazigh World Assembly calls, also, for the promulgation of a new democratic and inclusive constitutional charter, following the failure of the December 24 elections; which ought to decree a federal state allowing the Libyan people to govern themselves and to preserve their cultural specificities within the framework of a participatory democracy.
The Amazigh World Assembly affirms its support to the Amazighs of Libya, and to the High Council of Amazighs of Libya, for their firm position to boycott any electoral consultation, be it presidential or legislative, as long as the reform of the constitutional text does not officially recognize the Amazigh language and identity within the new Libya.
Concerning the Tuareg people of Azawad and Niger:
The Amazigh World Assembly condemns with all its might the abject crimes committed by terrorist groups against civilian populations in the Sahel tri-border region, and more particularly in Azawad, and calls on the international community to intervene urgently to stop this ethnic cleansing. (27)
The Amazigh World Assembly affirms that the key to stability in the Sahel and Great Sahara region should go beyond the Algiers Agreements and seriously consider granting political autonomy to the Azawad region, which would allow the local population to govern itself, within the framework of a civil, federal and plural Malian state.
The Amazigh World Assembly vigorously condemns the words of the new President of Niger, Mr. Bazoum Mohamed, who claims to want to “fight Tuareg irredentism”, as his predecessor had done, a way of stigmatizing the Imazighen of Niger once again. Such remarks are from the colonial era, and one know the consequences of such remarks on social peace.
The Amazigh World Assembly urges Amazigh and human rights NGOs to stand in solidarity with the “Imouhar” communities and to call the attention of international organizations and institutions to the need to ensure the defense and security of the civilian population.
Regarding the Amazighs of the Diaspora in European countries:
The Amazigh World Assembly calls on Amazigh citizens in the European Union and North America to take more action to raise awareness of their identity and linguistic characteristics and to actively protest being treated as “Arabs” from the Arabian Gulf and not as Amazighs from North Africa.
The Amazigh World Assembly asks the governments of the European Union (EU) states and their diplomatic institutions to get involved in the International Decade of Indigenous Languages 2022-2032 and to collaborate with UNESCO in order to urgently revalorize the Amazigh language, culture and identity, by teaching it to the children of the diaspora who constitute the absolute majority of the emigrants in the European countries and to integrate it within their cultural and educational institutions accredited in the countries of Tamazgha.
The Amazigh World Assembly insists that the Amazigh identity and language be taken into consideration by European governments in their integration policies and educational programs related to the children of the emigrant communities, as well as in their foreign policy and relations with the North African states; and this in order to curb the Salafist radicalization of the young people from the said North African emigration.
Agraw Amadlan Amazigh, election of a new Confederal Bureau
Poster of the 10th congress
Tuareg Desert Morocco Bedouin Residents Africa Marroc
Finally, the General Assembly of the Amazighs of the world in Ouarzazate, Morocco allowed the renewal of the structures of AGRAW AMADLAN AMAZIGH, by electing a new Confederal Bureau and a new Confederal Council, for the next mandate 2022-2026/2972-2976.
In accordance with its statutes, the General Assembly was chaired by Mrs. Souad Benkachouh, and the work gave rise to the presentation of the moral report and the financial report for the period of 2018-2021/2968-2971. After discussion and validation of the aforementioned reports, the General Assembly led to the election of the president, reappointing Mr. Rachid Raha unanimously in his position as president of the NGO and trusting him to form the members of the new Confederal Bureau. The General Assembly then elected the members of the Confederal Board.
Thus, the new Confederal Board is now composed as follows:
– Mr. Rachid Raha, President of the Amazigh World Assembly (AWA);
– Dr. Mimoun Charqi, Honorary President and head of legal affairs;
– Mr. Hassan Douhou, Delegate President for France;
– Mrs. Salwa Gharbi, Delegate President for Spain and Catalonia;
– Mr. Sekouti Khoudir, Delegate President for Algeria;
– Mrs. Amina Ibnou-Cheikh, Delegate President for Morocco;
– Mrs. Belkiss Al Ansari, Delegate President for the Tuaregs of Azawad
– Mr. Seydou-Kaocen Maiga, Delegate President for the Tuaregs of Niger
– Mr. Hamma Ag Mahmoud, Delegate President for Mauritania
– Mrs. Touria Abarkani, Secretary General and representative in Germany
– Mr. Montacer Ahouli, Deputy Secretary General;
– Mr. Mhamed Bihmedn, Treasurer General
– Mr. Aissa Akaoui, Assistant Treasurer General;
– Mr. Alhousseini Ag Chekhou, Itinerant Ambassador of the Tuareg Culture.
Conclusion: Some of Amazigh World Assembly’s Actions on Behalf of the Amazighs of the World
– In May 2020, the AWA sent a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron calling for urgent measures to end the Libyan civil war by taking into account the active participation and rights of the Amazigh.
– In July 2020, the AWA sent a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron on the occasion of the 99th anniversary of the Battle of Anoual on July 21, in which the AWA President drew his attention once again to “the great unresolved prejudice involving the responsibility of the French Republic in the use of chemical weapons against the civilian population of the Great Moroccan Rif during the Rif War of 1921-1927.’’ Jean Le Roch, from the Private Staff of the Presidency of the Republic, replies to the Amazigh World Assembly “The President of the Republic has received the correspondence in which you request, in favor of the heirs of the victims of the Rif war (1921-1926), the reparation of the prejudices undergone in the context of the use of chemical weapons against the civilian population. The Head of State has entrusted me with the task of assuring you of the best attention with which he has been acquainted with your letter and the concerns that motivate your approach.’’ Stressing that this is a delicate subject, he said that it falls within the remit of the Minister Delegate to the Minister of the Armed Forces in charge of Memory and Veterans. Mr. Le Roch assured that Mr. Raha’s request will be carefully examined, adding, “His services will not fail to let you know directly what action may be taken.’’
– In September 2020, the AWA appealed to the United Nations Human Rights Council on the rights of Amazighs in Morocco by sending a letter whose subject is Request for the Moroccan authorities to respect the rights of the Amazighs and to release the political detainees of the “Hirak of Rif”.
You can follow Professor Mohamed Chtatou on Twitter: @Ayurinu
Endnotes:
Who are the Amazigh of North Africa?
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https://www.eurasiareview.com/04042022-the-amazighs-of-the-world-meet-in-ouarzazate-morocco-analysis/?fbclid=IwAR11exzXMtq2vZnYpx6YP6BWrjVkJlWLfi1fKSMqTT4Wa7cymuSJInEgfvw