1. Aminatou Haidar is often called the "Sahrawi Gandhi" or "Sahrawi Pasionaria" for her nonviolent protests.
27 Facts About Aminatou Haidar
1. 2.
Aminatou Haidar is the president of the Collective of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders.
3.
Aminatou Haidar was imprisoned from 1987 to 1991 and from 2005 to 2006 on charges related to her independence advocacy.
4.
Aminatou Haidar is not a member of the Polisario Front, although she considers the movement as the only representative of the Sahrawi people.
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Aminatou Haidar is divorced with two children, Hayat and Mohammed.
6.
In 1987, Aminatou Haidar participated in a nonviolent demonstration against Moroccan administration of Western Sahara.
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On 17 June 2005, Aminatou Haidar was attacked by the Moroccan police on her way to a demonstration in El Aaiun for the Western Sahara Independence Intifada.
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Aminatou Haidar was then held in El Aaiun's Black Prison.
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On 17 January 2006, Aminatou Haidar was released at the end of her sentence.
10.
Aminatou Haidar stated that "the joy is incomplete without the release of all Saharawi political prisoners, and without the liberation of all the territories of the homeland still under the occupation of the oppressor".
11.
On 13 November 2009, Aminatou Haidar was detained by Moroccan authorities at the airport in El-Aaiun when she attempted to return from a trip to Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, Spain, to collect a prize.
12.
Aminatou Haidar accused Spanish officials of holding her against her will by not allowing her to return to Western Sahara without a passport.
13.
Aminatou Haidar was required to attend court in Arrecife and fined 180 euros.
14.
Human Rights Watch stated that Morocco "must reverse its expulsion of Sahrawi rights activist Aminatou Haidar and allow her to enter her country of nationality".
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Late that night, Moroccan authorities relented, and Aminatou Haidar was allowed on a plane back to El-Aaiun.
16.
On 19 January 2010, Aminatou Haidar returned to Spain to have medical exams in La Paz hospital in Madrid.
17.
Aminatou Haidar has a Spanish residence card since her 2006 release.
18.
Aminatou Haidar was in poor health, as she suffered anaemia and stomach ulcer, consequence of her imprisonment and the 2009 hunger strike.
19.
Aminatou Haidar stated that the summit "denied the suffering of the Sahrawis" and that the EU was appeasing the "totalitarian regime" of Morocco, sacrificing human rights in favor of economic interests.
20.
Aminatou Haidar said that Moroccan government accusations had no foundation and denounced them as violations of the freedom of expression and of travel of the detained.
21.
Aminatou Haidar criticized the Spanish government, which she accused of being guilty in the Sahrawi people's situation: "The Spanish government violate international law by denying the Saharawi people their legitimate right to self-determination".
22.
On 8 July 2012, Sahrawi human rights sources stated that Aminatou Haidar's children had been physically injured by some Moroccan passengers when they were travelling by bus from Agadir to El Aaiun.
23.
On 1 November 2012, the same day she met UN Special Commissioner for the Western Sahara Christopher Ross at El Aaiun MINURSO HQ, Aminatou Haidar stated that she had been later attacked by Moroccan police during a non-violent protest.
24.
Aminatou Haidar has won several international awards in recognition of her human rights work.
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Aminatou Haidar has been named an honorary citizen or otherwise decorated by numerous Spanish and Italian institutions.
26.
On 27 July 2011, Aminatou Haidar was made an honorary citizen of the Italian commune of Montespertoli as a "concrete gesture of condemnation of the violence being perpetrated by the Moroccan authorities".
27.
In May 2013, Aminatou Haidar travelled to Addis Ababa, as she was invited as a guest of honour to the African Union Golden Jubilee.