The United Arab Emirates has become the first Arab state to open a consulate inside Western Sahara, which has been occupied by Morocco for 45 years in defiance of the United Nations and the international community. Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council is voting today to renew its mandate to keep a peacekeeping force in the occupied territory. Amnesty International has issued an appeal for the U.N. to include a human rights monitoring component for the peacekeepers. Most independent human rights organizations and journalists are not able to enter Western Sahara. The homes of Right Livelihood laureate Aminatou Haidar and human rights defenders Mina Baali and Elghalia Djimi remain under police siege since they and other activists launched a new organization known as ISACOM that demands self-determination and human rights for Sahrawis. Click here to watch our special, “Four Days in Western Sahara: Africa’s Last Colony.”