Aminatou Haider on 29th day of Hunger Strike

No War, But Peace
From: Africa Blog via Aljazeera.net

It takes a rare form of courage to conduct a hunger strike in full public view.

Aminatou Haidar's self-imposed ordeal in protest at her treatment by the Moroccan authorities is taking place at the bus station on the edge of Lanzarote's main airport.

She's been surviving over the last 30 days on sips of sugared water and the media spotlight around her is growing ever brighter. Satellite trucks, cameras and correspondents record her every movement. Aminatou is weakening rapidly and now has to be taken in a wheelchair to use the public lavatories on the site.

Shielding her eyes from the glare of the Spanish sun and the pursuing pack of press, she is prepared to endure the daily humiliation because each day now it is becoming harder for political leaders to ignore what is happening in the disputed territory of the Western Sahara, just one hundred kilometres away from the shores of the Canary Islands, and that bastion of human rights, the European Union.

(read more)

part 2 here.

(video via directed by Carlos Gonzales, photo via)