2019 Right Livelihood Laureate Aminatou Haidar Acceptance Speech

Aminatou Haidar received the Right Livelihood Award in 2019. Haidar is an outstanding nonviolent activist and human rights defender from Western Sahara. Spain, the former colonial power, abandoned the disputed territory in 1975, and Morocco immediately annexed it. Over 30 years of peaceful campaigning for the independence of her homeland have earned Haidar the byname “Sahrawi Gandhi”. Her dignity and resolve make her one of the most respected leaders among the Sahrawis. The indigenous people of Western Sahara, the Sahrawis, have repeatedly been promised the right to self-determination by the UN, Spain and Morocco. But more than 40 years have passed without a referendum being held, with the international community indifferent or even complicit in the occupation. Read more about her: https://www.rightlivelihoodaward.org/...