"Stolen" - the truth on Western Sahara?

Below are two documents on the recent spat over the film "Stolen", claiming to report on slavery in Western Sahara. The first is a press release from Kamal Fadel, Western Sahara Representative and its Ambassador to East Timor. The second article - also by Fadel - is reprinted from Links - International Journal of Socialist Renewal. There is a long and involved debate taking place on the veracity of the film on the Links website which readers are encouraged to visit.

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**PRESS RELEASE**
**13 July 2009**
*Government is urged to remove its name from discredited film*
*Melbourne** Film Festival should withhold screening*

Government backing for the controversial Australian film “Stolen” must be withdrawn until a thorough investigation of its backing is conducted, say those working for the film's subjects.

The film has been backed by Screen Australia, using federal government money, to the tune of around $300,000. The imprimatur of Screen Australia and of the Australian Government are prominently displayed on the film's opening credits.

“We urge the Government to remove its name from this controversial film” said Kamal Fadel, Western Sahara Representative to Australia and its Ambassador to East Timor.

The film makes claims of widespread slavery in the refugee camps of the disputed territory of Western Sahara. The camps, which are self-run with the support of the Frente Polisario, have existed since the mid-1970's when many fled the illegal invasion of the area by Moroccan forces.

The claims have been attacked as being false by those in film who are said to be slaves and the film-makers have been accused of manufacturing fiction to appear as facts.

Fadel says the case against the film's veracity is mounting.

“Already we have seen a letter from the a high level official of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees who has said the film-makers completely misrepresent the situation and that important facts have been at best misunderstood and at worst completely manufactured to back the claims the film makes.”(1)

“Now, as the report in today's Sydney Morning Herald reveals, the film's official translator has sought to distance himself from the film. He says his corrections were ignored and that he did not approve the final cut of the film.”(2)

“This should be a very serious blow to the credibility of the film” says Mr. Fadel.

Yet, the film, which was controversially launched at the Sydney Film Festival in June, is scheduled to screen in the documentary section of the Melbourne International Film Festival in early August.

Polisario and a range of other bodies believe this has been in contravention of Screen Australia's own terms of engagement.

“We believe this should be the subject of an investigation and we call on the federal Arts Minister, the Hon, Peter Garrett to initiate such a process immediately,” adds Mr. Fadel.

“We have no problem with this film being seen by the Australian public,” notes Mr Fadel.

“But we object to it being seen as a depiction of reality when it clearly is not, and we believe, as a result, the film should be withdrawn as a government-backed project.” Mr. Fadel adds “we call on the Melbourne Film Festival to reconsider the screening of the film until its translation is independently verified by a native speaker of Hassania from Western Sahara. The film as its now does not also fit the category of a documentary”.
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*For further inquiries:*
Kamal Fadel, Western Sahara Representative and its Ambassador to East Timor

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Australia: Damage on many fronts in false charge of slavery in Western Sahara

Fetim Sallem.

A documentary on Western Sahara refugees marks a low point, Kamal Fadel writes.

July 1, 2009 -- Last month in Sydney, the notion of democracy took a pounding. The launch of the documentary Stolen at the Sydney Film Festival marked a low point in local film culture, and signified the tenuous grip on truth we now have in contemporary society. That such a film should be financed with about A$350,000 of public money –- through Screen Australia -– and accepted by the prestigious festival raises questions about the nature of reality and on how it is depicted in mainstream media, such as through the medium of the film documentary.

The film purports, in a sensationalistic way, to reveal widespread evidence of racially based slavery in the Saharawi refugee camps on the Western Sahara-Algeria border. Central to the apparent scoop is an interview with Fetim Sallem, a 36-year-old mother of four. She was in Australia to explain her story, which is significantly at odds with the film's take on it (so much so that Fetim requested unsuccessfully to have her interviews removed from the film).

Rather than verifying shaky claims of slavery and then seeking out the source of this possible ill (say in the repressive environment the Saharawi people have endured since the illegal invasion by Moroccan forces in 1975, an event that sent many into the camps that still exist today), the filmmakers of Stolen chose to conflate a few ill-gotten and misunderstood accusations into a tabloid expose. The approach of the film-makers challenges the very basis of the documentary genre and undermines its value as a means of serious scrutiny. In an age when reality TV is nothing of the sort and when celebrity gossip is considered hard news, this is perhaps not surprising. But it is disappointing and very distressing for those who, like Fetim, are vilified in the process.

There are fundamental flaws in the film-makers' storyboard. Fetim is not a slave and widespread slavery simply does not exist in the Saharawi refugee camps. This fact has been confirmed by numerous visits by independent journalists and human rights reporters over the years.

A member of a delegation sent by Human Rights Watch to investigate the film-makers' claims said the delegation ‘‘did not find evidence of forced labour, certainly not of slavery of the kind’’ in 19th century America.

The Saharawi live under great strain and considerable duress, brought about by decades of foreign occupation. A generation has grown up in a refugee environment. Our society is not perfect, our situation not Utopian. None is.

But, slavery is something Polisario abhors and is on the record as opposing. The practice is an unacceptable cultural anachronism and we have outlawed it completely since the inception of our independence movement in 1973.

Polisario has worked hard to address whatever human rights issues we find in our midst and we continue to undermine all forms of abuse and restrictions on liberty. This year, Polisario openly lobbied hard for the United Nations mandate to include a human rights monitoring process in its mission in Western Sahara. This was quashed by France, an erstwhile supporter of the Moroccan occupiers in Western Sahara, using its veto power in the Security Council.

The biggest threat to human rights in Western Sahara is the illegal Moroccan occupation and the failure of the international system –- epitomised by France's blocking actions. These weaknesses ensure the Saharawi remain trapped in a nightmare of Realpolitik, driven to some extent by Morocco's vast propaganda machine. The simple desire, backed by UN resolutions, to allow the Saharawi the right to decide their fate (independence or autonomy under Moroccan administration) in a free and fair referendum remains, inexplicably, unrealised.

Reality is clearly a fungible commodity in the eyes of the makers of this film, for its backers and for the festival organisers. They are reflective of a wider crisis in the ability to discern truth from fiction. They are not alone. There has been a negative impact on the life of Fetim Sallem by the actions of the film-makers and also on the cause of independence in Western Sahara. That’s a reality no one can challenge.

[Kamal Fadel is the Australian representative of Polisario, the Western Sahara independence movement. This arricle first appeared in the Canberra Times and has been post at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal with Kamal Fadel's permission.]