Elkouria Amidane
Elkouria Amidane | |
|---|---|
| Amidane looking into the camera, wearing a red, white, and black headscarf | |
| Born | 29 September 1985 |
| Citizenship | Swedish |
| Alma mater | Cadi Ayyad University |
| Occupation | Human rights defender |
| Years active | 2005–2011 |
| Awards | Student Peace Prize Ordfront Democracy Prize |
Elkouria Amidane (b. 29 September 1985) is a Sahrawi student and human rights activist. Elkouria Amidane has over the years conducted non-violent struggle for Western Sahara self-determination and demonstrated for Saharawi student's rights.
Early life
Amidane went to primary school in her hometown of El Aaiun, where all the proffessors were Moroccan. She claims there was discrimination against Sahrawi students. Elkouria travelled to Morocco for University education, since there are no universities in the Western Sahara.[1]
Involvement in human rights defense
In 2005, the outburst of the Independence Intifada, her younger brother El Wali Amidane was arrested by the Moroccan police together with dozens of Human Rights activists. The sentences were up to one year imprisonment. In 2006, her brother El Wali Amidane was arrested again and was sentenced to 5 years of prison.
Amidane aims to tell the world about Moroccan mistreatment of the Saharawi people.[1] With help from the human rights organization CODESA, she spread videos or photos documenting Moroccan human rights violations on the Sahrawi population, that had been used by NGOs like Amnesty International. Both Amidane and her family has been imprisoned and tortured due to their political activism.[2]
On 4 February 2009, Elkouria Amidane was awarded the Student Peace Prize for her work for human rights and the Saharawi people.[3] She currently resides in Sweden, because of the danger of returning to Western Sahara.[1]
On 21 October 2012, Elkouria Amidane was awarded the Ordfront Democracy Prize at the Swedish Parliament.
References
- ^ a b c The Student Peace Price: Elkouria "Rabab" Amidane Cite error: The named reference "Student Peace Prize" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Under Dusken: Africa's last colony
- ^ Universitas: Peace prize goes to student activist
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