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25 centuries ago, Herodotus spoke of a very
noble breed of camels living in the Western Sahara.
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00:01:58,919 --> 00:02:08,786
He wrote that, when they felt they were being tracked,
the camels instinctively cut their veins open.
With their teeth. As if to breathe more freely.
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00:02:29,521 --> 00:02:36,825
Herodotus also wrote that what was good
for camels was probably good for men.
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00:04:47,908 --> 00:04:52,929
We left our city
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00:04:55,370 --> 00:05:00,634
in November of 1975.
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00:05:02,407 --> 00:05:05,541
We were sandwiched between
the Mauritians to the south
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00:05:05,567 --> 00:05:08,244
and the Moroccans to the north.
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00:05:10,144 --> 00:05:12,683
The only way to escape
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00:05:13,029 --> 00:05:15,861
was to go east.
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00:05:16,822 --> 00:05:21,525
We only had a few vehicles
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00:05:22,211 --> 00:05:25,768
to transport me and
my Sahrewi companions.
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00:05:25,864 --> 00:05:29,109
We left with almost nothing.
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00:05:29,531 --> 00:05:32,183
Just a few clothes.
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00:05:38,572 --> 00:05:41,258
En route to Uum Dreiga,
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00:05:41,284 --> 00:05:43,978
we drove with our headlights off.
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00:05:44,034 --> 00:05:48,376
In the dark, the cars kept hitting
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00:05:48,402 --> 00:05:51,088
trees and boulders.
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00:05:51,151 --> 00:05:53,161
In Uum Dreiga,
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00:05:53,829 --> 00:05:56,913
we came to a wadi
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00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:01,876
where we met other
Sahrawi people in flight.
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00:06:02,908 --> 00:06:05,504
After two weeks at that wadi,
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00:06:05,530 --> 00:06:10,690
we spotted a Moroccan airplane.
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00:06:13,669 --> 00:06:18,722
Its headlights were on.
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00:06:18,786 --> 00:06:23,432
Some of us immediately knew
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00:06:23,530 --> 00:06:26,443
we were going to be attacked.
26
00:06:27,444 --> 00:06:31,936
But no one could imagine
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00:06:31,992 --> 00:06:36,378
what was about to happen.
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00:06:39,155 --> 00:06:40,890
I was...
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00:06:42,621 --> 00:06:47,503
distributing provisions
to some women
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00:06:48,073 --> 00:06:51,677
when I heard the motors
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00:06:51,776 --> 00:06:55,273
of four planes
coming from the north.
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00:06:55,299 --> 00:06:59,050
They immediately bombed
the first refugee camp.
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00:07:00,407 --> 00:07:02,572
People died instantly.
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00:07:02,823 --> 00:07:07,534
Women were running
in every direction.
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00:07:07,778 --> 00:07:13,954
The oldest ones
couldn't move anymore.
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00:07:18,108 --> 00:07:21,980
To keep us from getting away,
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00:07:22,006 --> 00:07:25,610
the Moroccan plane
bombed the camp again.
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00:07:26,954 --> 00:07:30,917
A bomb hit the infirmary
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00:07:31,567 --> 00:07:35,547
where a woman named
Chaiaa was giving birth.
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00:07:37,417 --> 00:07:41,542
Another bomb hit a group of tents
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00:07:42,323 --> 00:07:46,953
that belonged to
the Ahel Mechname family.
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00:07:48,116 --> 00:07:52,632
All 10 members of that family
were killed.
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00:07:52,957 --> 00:07:57,677
Pieces of their bodies went flying.
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00:07:59,248 --> 00:08:02,876
Then we sheltered the old people
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00:08:02,902 --> 00:08:05,302
under the acacia trees.
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00:08:06,024 --> 00:08:11,526
I remember facing my mother,
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who was paralyzed.
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00:08:15,497 --> 00:08:19,841
Other bombs
hit the tents to the south.
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00:08:19,867 --> 00:08:24,244
There was fire. Children's bodies
were sprawled on the ground.
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00:08:26,705 --> 00:08:31,026
I walked around the mass grave
and ran into two men.
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00:08:31,115 --> 00:08:35,574
We were the only men
left in the camp.
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00:08:36,364 --> 00:08:42,198
We gathered up
the scattered remains of the victims.
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00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:50,131
Then we put them in bags.
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00:08:50,490 --> 00:08:52,794
We identified one woman's arm
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00:08:52,820 --> 00:08:55,253
by the bracelet she was wearing.
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00:08:55,279 --> 00:08:57,883
Her name was Mabi Bent Mechnane.
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00:08:59,704 --> 00:09:02,632
As for her husband
and three daughters,
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00:09:02,658 --> 00:09:06,465
we only found pieces
of their mutilated bodies.
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00:09:06,491 --> 00:09:08,688
We buried the remains
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00:09:08,792 --> 00:09:14,667
of those bodies in a hole
that one of the bombs had made.
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00:09:15,490 --> 00:09:21,185
In all, we filled two bags
with chunks of flesh and bones.
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00:09:23,163 --> 00:09:28,484
Some people
were hiding behind trees.
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00:09:29,331 --> 00:09:32,008
There was
Hammadha Ould Ahmed Zein,
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00:09:32,034 --> 00:09:35,422
Ahmed Haten and an old Lady.
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00:09:35,448 --> 00:09:37,677
When the pilot saw them,
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00:09:37,945 --> 00:09:40,605
he hit them
with a burst of gunfire.
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00:09:40,914 --> 00:09:42,964
They were all killed.
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00:09:44,084 --> 00:09:47,002
Only a goat standing next to them
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survived the gunfire unscathed.
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00:09:51,405 --> 00:09:56,272
After that, it was total chaos.
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00:09:57,126 --> 00:09:59,552
Everyone fled into the desert
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00:09:59,991 --> 00:10:02,896
to move away from the campsite.
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00:10:12,493 --> 00:10:16,196
Mukhayyem. Literally, the camps.
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00:10:16,222 --> 00:10:21,288
Refers to the piece
of desert that Algeria
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00:10:21,314 --> 00:10:28,835
handed over to the Sahrawi
people in 1976, as a land of exile.
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00:12:18,491 --> 00:12:22,250
To escape the Moroccan troops
that had followed us,
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00:12:23,056 --> 00:12:28,378
we were forced to travel at night.
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00:12:28,404 --> 00:12:31,447
With the children in our arms,
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00:12:31,529 --> 00:12:37,160
the woman who had just given birth
and the old people.
80
00:12:38,785 --> 00:12:42,838
We kept moving
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00:12:43,130 --> 00:12:45,425
until we reached a place...
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00:12:53,983 --> 00:12:56,498
A place that was...
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00:13:00,696 --> 00:13:02,933
a wadi.
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00:13:03,819 --> 00:13:05,006
We stayed there.
85
00:13:05,032 --> 00:13:11,632
The planes turned up
and bombed Tifariti.
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00:13:12,038 --> 00:13:17,504
When the plane was hit
by our combatants,
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00:13:17,530 --> 00:13:21,599
we saw the smoke.
We saw it burning
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00:13:22,543 --> 00:13:26,351
from where we were hiding,
under the trees.
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00:13:26,651 --> 00:13:32,111
The women and children were crying.
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00:13:32,619 --> 00:13:36,785
There wasn't a single man with us.
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00:13:38,281 --> 00:13:42,847
All we had was our pain
to keep us company.
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00:13:42,943 --> 00:13:45,752
That went on until we got here,
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00:13:45,778 --> 00:13:47,632
to the Algerian camps.
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00:13:50,031 --> 00:13:54,482
And even here in the camps
it was hard.
95
00:13:55,288 --> 00:13:59,698
We were hungry, thirsty.
96
00:13:59,829 --> 00:14:02,667
Without our husbands or any means,
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00:14:02,693 --> 00:14:05,792
we had to take care
of our children, our elders.
98
00:14:05,818 --> 00:14:08,414
The Moroccans
had killed our children.
99
00:14:08,484 --> 00:14:12,700
They'd killed our brothers,
our husbands, our loved ones.
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00:14:12,751 --> 00:14:16,299
We were alone
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00:14:17,616 --> 00:14:20,293
and defenseless.
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00:14:25,285 --> 00:14:28,467
We had but one hope...
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returning to our land,
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00:14:33,109 --> 00:14:36,617
freed from the people
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who had attacked us.
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You're listening
to a program in Arabic
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on Sahrawi Arab
Democratic Republic Radio.
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00:16:07,944 --> 00:16:13,088
I'm signing off now
but please stay tuned for programs
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00:16:13,114 --> 00:16:16,929
hosted by Mohamed B�chir...
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00:16:31,131 --> 00:16:35,005
It's 8 a. m. in El-Aaiun,
in the occupied territory.
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00:16:35,031 --> 00:16:39,409
And it's 9 a. m.
here in the refugee camps.
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00:16:39,954 --> 00:16:41,573
The headlines...
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The President of
the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
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has asked the Human Rights
Commission to investigate
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00:16:51,909 --> 00:16:55,796
human rights violations
in the occupied territory.
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00:16:55,829 --> 00:16:58,792
Moroccan authorities
- our colonizers -
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have freed Brahim Briesch
for health reasons,
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00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:07,732
following his hunger strike...
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00:21:26,327 --> 00:21:29,800
My named is
Fatma Sidahmed Beidellah Elhaj,
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Sidahmed Beidellah Elhaj's daughter.
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00:21:32,989 --> 00:21:37,643
He disappeared in 1975.
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00:21:38,530 --> 00:21:42,417
At the time,
we were a nomadic family,
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00:21:42,443 --> 00:21:46,584
with no political ties.
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00:21:48,245 --> 00:21:49,875
I was little.
125
00:21:49,901 --> 00:21:53,627
I don't remember many details.
126
00:21:53,653 --> 00:21:59,707
But my family
told me everything.
127
00:22:00,780 --> 00:22:04,491
I had three brothers.
128
00:22:05,205 --> 00:22:10,779
My father was arrested at the start
of the Moroccan Invasion.
129
00:22:12,538 --> 00:22:19,513
People had warned us
that the Moroccans were coming
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00:22:19,539 --> 00:22:21,718
and that we should flee.
131
00:22:21,744 --> 00:22:24,950
The men left and the women stayed.
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00:22:25,119 --> 00:22:29,367
I remember my mother and the women...
133
00:22:32,654 --> 00:22:35,917
who took care of the camels.
134
00:22:36,151 --> 00:22:39,594
The men left early
in the morning to hide.
135
00:22:39,651 --> 00:22:42,841
Each woman
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00:22:43,238 --> 00:22:48,332
took care of
one part of the trailer.
137
00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:54,126
One day my brother and I
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00:22:54,776 --> 00:22:59,130
were riding a camel,
followed by my father's trailer,
139
00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:03,629
when the Moroccan army popped up
and started shooting at us.
140
00:23:03,655 --> 00:23:06,608
So we turned around.
141
00:23:08,152 --> 00:23:12,515
They captured our animals,
142
00:23:12,995 --> 00:23:15,799
took our property,
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00:23:15,825 --> 00:23:19,542
our clothes, our food.
144
00:23:19,624 --> 00:23:23,391
That night, the men came back
without my father.
145
00:23:23,417 --> 00:23:27,223
My father had poor eyesight,
146
00:23:27,249 --> 00:23:30,903
so it was probably easier
147
00:23:31,373 --> 00:23:35,954
for the Moroccan troops
to catch him.
148
00:23:36,546 --> 00:23:42,468
So we got in our trailer
and went back on the road.
149
00:23:42,494 --> 00:23:48,686
My mother was 9-months pregnant.
150
00:23:49,427 --> 00:23:52,723
She had to deliver the baby
on the road.
151
00:23:53,289 --> 00:23:58,773
She died a week later.
152
00:23:59,571 --> 00:24:02,336
Then we go to Algeria.
153
00:24:02,363 --> 00:24:06,984
My baby brother
died 6 months later.
154
00:24:07,446 --> 00:24:12,931
And I left to study in Cuba.
155
00:24:12,957 --> 00:24:17,033
My other brothers
stayed with my grandparents.
156
00:24:17,155 --> 00:24:21,803
When I came back to visit in 1985,
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00:24:22,210 --> 00:24:26,490
I could see that
my brothers needed help.
158
00:24:26,651 --> 00:24:29,295
My grandmother had gotten too old.
159
00:24:29,328 --> 00:24:31,680
So I decided to stay with them.
160
00:24:33,209 --> 00:24:36,164
That put an end to my education.
161
00:24:37,651 --> 00:24:40,346
Now we're all married
162
00:24:40,372 --> 00:24:43,472
and we all have children.
163
00:24:43,993 --> 00:24:46,709
But we don't know what happened
to my father.
164
00:24:46,735 --> 00:24:49,356
We need to mourn for him.
165
00:24:49,902 --> 00:24:54,328
I was forced to be mother and father
to my brothers.
166
00:24:57,283 --> 00:25:02,140
All we ask
167
00:25:02,239 --> 00:25:07,055
is to be told
if my father's dead or alive.
168
00:25:10,285 --> 00:25:13,645
Just like the families
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00:25:13,671 --> 00:25:17,802
of more than
500 other people who disappeared.
170
00:25:17,828 --> 00:25:22,654
The Moroccans say
my father's in the refugee camps.
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00:25:23,457 --> 00:25:26,109
We need
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00:25:27,654 --> 00:25:30,342
to know the truth.
173
00:25:30,368 --> 00:25:35,181
Even the youngest children
ask about it.
174
00:25:35,207 --> 00:25:39,045
Every time I get back
from a political meeting,
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00:25:39,071 --> 00:25:42,847
they ask if I have any news
about their grandfather.
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00:27:50,951 --> 00:27:55,203
Trab es Sahil: Literally,
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00:27:55,229 --> 00:27:59,007
Land of the river
banks or Land of the west.
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00:27:59,033 --> 00:28:03,003
Refers to the Sahrawi territory.
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00:29:51,885 --> 00:30:01,792
9 km from El Hisam
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00:30:01,818 --> 00:30:04,406
El Hisam: Literally, the belt.
181
00:30:04,432 --> 00:30:09,584
Refers to the wall Moroccans
built in the Western Sahara.
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00:30:09,610 --> 00:30:12,674
2400 kilometers long.
Completed in 1989.
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00:30:12,700 --> 00:30:16,707
The wall cuts the Sahrawi
territory inti two parts -
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00:30:16,733 --> 00:30:20,488
One occupied by Morocco,
the other controlled by
185
00:30:20,514 --> 00:30:24,171
the Sahrawi People's Liberation
Army (Polisario Front).
186
00:30:24,197 --> 00:30:27,842
A 1991 cease-fire has
kept the two camps
187
00:30:27,868 --> 00:30:31,428
in a war of waiting and
attrition ever since.
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00:35:51,868 --> 00:36:04,644
11km from El Hisam
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00:36:12,029 --> 00:36:15,683
I'm a man of the desert.
190
00:36:16,114 --> 00:36:19,157
I've always been a nomad.
191
00:36:20,166 --> 00:36:22,990
Today, I'm old.
192
00:36:24,249 --> 00:36:26,381
But I'm still a guide
193
00:36:26,527 --> 00:36:28,668
to my companions.
194
00:36:29,945 --> 00:36:32,695
If I know the desert,
195
00:36:33,531 --> 00:36:37,242
it's thanks to my grandfather.
196
00:36:37,996 --> 00:36:40,495
When I was a boy,
197
00:36:40,821 --> 00:36:43,849
he taught me the art of silence,
198
00:36:43,986 --> 00:36:46,598
to develop my hearing.
199
00:36:47,736 --> 00:36:50,298
He taught me to listen to people,
200
00:36:50,324 --> 00:36:55,099
but also to animals, stones,
201
00:36:55,125 --> 00:36:58,266
plants, the wind.
202
00:36:59,664 --> 00:37:02,419
Weeks after I'd met someone,
203
00:37:02,445 --> 00:37:06,539
wherever it may have taken place,
204
00:37:06,903 --> 00:37:09,947
he'd demand
205
00:37:10,503 --> 00:37:12,629
that I describe in detail
206
00:37:12,655 --> 00:37:15,838
what the people I'd met looked like.
207
00:37:16,569 --> 00:37:18,422
He asked me to repeat
208
00:37:18,448 --> 00:37:20,889
the words we'd exchanged
209
00:37:21,197 --> 00:37:23,988
and their tone of voice.
210
00:37:24,965 --> 00:37:26,982
Later,
211
00:37:27,411 --> 00:37:30,423
he sent me to a nomad camp.
212
00:37:31,114 --> 00:37:33,960
That's where I learned
213
00:37:33,986 --> 00:37:36,001
that the circle of words
214
00:37:36,034 --> 00:37:37,874
is very narrow.
215
00:37:37,986 --> 00:37:41,510
The words of business even more so.
216
00:37:42,608 --> 00:37:44,957
And that knowing the terrain
217
00:37:44,983 --> 00:37:46,836
and its secrets
218
00:37:46,863 --> 00:37:48,561
is the only subject
219
00:37:48,588 --> 00:37:50,639
worthy of a life.
220
00:37:51,573 --> 00:37:54,042
To understand and listen to space,
221
00:37:54,068 --> 00:37:58,428
to read the winds, experience them.
222
00:37:58,454 --> 00:38:01,708
Like the harmattan.
(A very dry and dusty wind)
223
00:38:02,359 --> 00:38:04,042
How it rises.
224
00:38:04,068 --> 00:38:05,878
Why it swirls.
225
00:38:05,904 --> 00:38:07,890
When it dies down.
226
00:38:10,111 --> 00:38:13,276
To know how plants taste,
227
00:38:13,829 --> 00:38:15,921
the nuances of thirst.
228
00:38:15,947 --> 00:38:19,202
To always live in the light
229
00:38:19,569 --> 00:38:21,920
and not to despair.
230
00:38:21,946 --> 00:38:24,542
Because everything is ephemeral.
231
00:38:26,454 --> 00:38:29,098
My grandfather also said,
232
00:38:29,124 --> 00:38:31,377
"Get to know your land.
233
00:38:31,403 --> 00:38:35,536
Make it your weapon and your ally.
234
00:38:35,861 --> 00:38:38,749
Because those who drive us away today
235
00:38:38,775 --> 00:38:41,900
will come back one day."
236
00:38:43,348 --> 00:38:45,944
It's that knowledge of the desert
237
00:38:46,213 --> 00:38:49,505
that now makes me certain
238
00:38:49,531 --> 00:38:52,241
that the Moroccan soldiers will fail.
239
00:38:52,500 --> 00:38:55,136
They know nothing
240
00:38:55,739 --> 00:38:57,971
about the space, its distances.
241
00:38:57,997 --> 00:38:59,908
They're like wildcats,
242
00:39:00,484 --> 00:39:02,738
who base their entire assault
243
00:39:02,764 --> 00:39:04,766
on a single attack.
244
00:39:05,709 --> 00:39:08,214
It would be useful
245
00:39:08,240 --> 00:39:11,600
if they had a target to attack.
246
00:39:11,747 --> 00:39:13,504
But they find themselves
247
00:39:13,530 --> 00:39:15,809
facing nothing but ghosts.
248
00:39:16,320 --> 00:39:20,600
Ghosts at one with the winds,
249
00:39:21,153 --> 00:39:22,917
the cold,
250
00:39:22,943 --> 00:39:25,711
the mortal burning of the sun,
251
00:39:25,738 --> 00:39:27,992
the thirst of the desert.
252
00:39:28,656 --> 00:39:31,918
And with the passing of time,
253
00:39:31,944 --> 00:39:35,182
which wears them down and destroys.
254
00:39:36,069 --> 00:39:38,672
How can they believe in a victory
255
00:39:38,698 --> 00:39:41,975
that nature obviously refuses them?
256
00:39:42,001 --> 00:39:43,897
That's what amazes me.
257
00:39:44,781 --> 00:39:46,432
And what shows me
258
00:39:46,458 --> 00:39:48,843
that the world has changed.
259
00:39:49,199 --> 00:39:52,007
I can't believe that arms
260
00:39:52,033 --> 00:39:54,491
are the only key to victory.
261
00:39:54,944 --> 00:39:59,173
A war waged outside of time and space
262
00:39:59,199 --> 00:40:02,625
is a madman's folly.
263
00:43:42,402 --> 00:43:51,947
97 km from El Hisam
264
00:43:57,782 --> 00:44:02,099
Abba Aloua Ah med-Mahmoud,
265
00:44:02,125 --> 00:44:08,171
abducted in 1979 in Smara.
266
00:44:10,359 --> 00:44:15,649
Abdellahi M'barek Sidi-Ahmed,
267
00:44:16,739 --> 00:44:22,174
disappeared on November 20, 1987
268
00:44:22,319 --> 00:44:25,451
in El-Aaiun.
269
00:44:27,623 --> 00:44:31,780
Abdella Ramadan Mohamed-Lamine,
270
00:44:32,829 --> 00:44:37,979
disappeared in February 1976
271
00:44:38,005 --> 00:44:41,252
in Amgala.
272
00:44:43,294 --> 00:44:47,208
Abdati Mohamed-Salem Brahim,
273
00:44:48,028 --> 00:44:53,651
abducted on July 10, 1976
274
00:44:53,944 --> 00:44:56,986
in Smara.
275
00:44:59,525 --> 00:45:03,546
Abida Mohamed Suhaili,
276
00:45:03,863 --> 00:45:08,851
abducted in December 1975
277
00:45:09,205 --> 00:45:12,436
in Goulimine.
278
00:45:16,486 --> 00:45:19,964
Abdellahi Abdelmajid Abdelouadoud,
279
00:45:19,990 --> 00:45:25,708
abducted in 1981
280
00:45:25,830 --> 00:45:27,719
in Tan.Tan.
281
00:45:29,285 --> 00:45:32,345
Abidin Bouzeid Allal,
282
00:45:32,371 --> 00:45:38,506
disappeared in January 1976
283
00:45:39,157 --> 00:45:41,256
in Uum Dreiga.
284
00:45:43,858 --> 00:45:46,136
Ahmed Brahim Ahmed,
285
00:45:46,163 --> 00:45:49,564
abducted in El-Aaiun.
286
00:45:51,073 --> 00:45:53,832
Bachir Lehbib Lebouihi,
287
00:45:53,858 --> 00:45:59,019
disappeared in March 1976
288
00:45:59,045 --> 00:46:01,194
in Smara.
289
00:46:03,332 --> 00:46:07,001
Bachir Elmami El Hairach,
290
00:46:07,027 --> 00:46:13,586
abducted on May 20, 1977
291
00:46:13,613 --> 00:46:15,492
in El-Aaiun.
292
00:46:18,510 --> 00:46:21,903
Bachir Selma Daf,
293
00:46:22,324 --> 00:46:26,881
abducted in 1976
294
00:46:26,907 --> 00:46:28,797
in Amgala.
295
00:46:30,693 --> 00:46:33,546
Ballal Lehbib Ballal,
296
00:46:33,572 --> 00:46:37,799
disappeared in 1976
297
00:46:37,825 --> 00:46:39,794
in Tan.Tan.
298
00:46:43,129 --> 00:46:45,833
Balal Daid Ahmed,
299
00:46:45,859 --> 00:46:51,222
abducted on July 3, 1976
300
00:46:51,486 --> 00:46:53,326
in El-Aaiun.
301
00:46:55,779 --> 00:46:58,973
Ahel L Hala: Literally,
people of the void.
302
00:46:58,999 --> 00:47:03,159
Refers to the invisible
presence in some dwelling places
303
00:47:03,185 --> 00:47:06,955
of the deceased or ancestors
in the Western Sahara.
304
00:47:06,981 --> 00:47:10,195
By extension,
it evokes the people arrested
305
00:47:10,221 --> 00:47:13,652
by Moroccan authorities
who have disappeared.
306
00:50:19,174 --> 00:50:32,113
78 km from El Hisam
307
00:53:13,949 --> 00:53:16,633
On the other side of the wall,
308
00:53:16,659 --> 00:53:20,142
there's the sea and other cities.
309
00:53:21,046 --> 00:53:24,007
Dakhla, El-Aaiun,
310
00:53:24,033 --> 00:53:28,167
Tarfaya, Bojador, Smara.
311
00:53:28,954 --> 00:53:31,085
There's the Saguia el-Hamra.
312
00:53:31,111 --> 00:53:33,297
The "Red Canal."
313
00:53:33,323 --> 00:53:35,299
It's called that because
314
00:53:35,325 --> 00:53:37,375
the water is colored
315
00:53:37,401 --> 00:53:39,394
by the earth in autumn.
316
00:53:41,534 --> 00:53:44,430
That's where I was born.
317
00:53:44,698 --> 00:53:46,964
So were my parents
318
00:53:46,990 --> 00:53:49,723
and my great-grandparents.
319
00:53:50,073 --> 00:53:52,254
My most distant ancestor
320
00:53:52,280 --> 00:53:54,494
also comes from there.
321
00:53:55,575 --> 00:53:57,961
They say, when he died,
322
00:53:57,988 --> 00:54:00,922
his disciples built a tomb for him.
323
00:54:01,529 --> 00:54:04,239
The tomb caved in during the night.
324
00:54:05,239 --> 00:54:07,806
They built him a new one.
325
00:54:07,832 --> 00:54:10,990
It caved in the following day.
326
00:54:12,989 --> 00:54:17,006
That's how he passed the nomadic life
327
00:54:17,032 --> 00:54:19,628
on to his descendants.
328
00:54:21,721 --> 00:54:24,129
Every year, before fall,
329
00:54:24,155 --> 00:54:26,006
we all go
330
00:54:26,032 --> 00:54:28,367
to the Red Canal.
331
00:54:28,392 --> 00:54:31,092
In memory of our loss.
332
00:54:31,118 --> 00:54:34,194
For the blessing of our ancestors.
333
00:54:35,999 --> 00:54:38,723
Today the wall keeps us
334
00:54:38,749 --> 00:54:41,385
from returning to our childhood.
335
00:59:16,081 --> 00:59:27,107
7 km from El Hisam
336
01:00:05,290 --> 01:00:11,746
Intifada: Literally, resistance.
Refers to the civil resistance exerted
337
01:00:11,772 --> 01:00:15,714
by the Sahrawi population
in the principle
338
01:00:15,740 --> 01:00:19,955
cities in the Moroccan
territory since 2005.
339
01:00:24,282 --> 01:00:33,413
4 km from El Hisam
340
01:00:58,735 --> 01:01:04,386
I became an activist
during the 2005 Intifada,
341
01:01:04,413 --> 01:01:10,272
when nonviolent sit-ins
were still authorized.
342
01:01:18,070 --> 01:01:22,421
One day I was taking a stroll
with a friend
343
01:01:22,447 --> 01:01:26,673
and we were stopped
in the middle of the street
344
01:01:26,699 --> 01:01:28,471
by the Moroccan police.
345
01:01:28,497 --> 01:01:32,046
They said they'd been
ordered to arrest us.
346
01:01:32,072 --> 01:01:35,583
They asked to see
our identity cards.
347
01:01:35,609 --> 01:01:38,875
I said that we never
carried them with us.
348
01:01:38,901 --> 01:01:44,427
They said, "We've come
to arrest you anyway."
349
01:01:44,817 --> 01:01:48,631
That was on June 8, 2007.
350
01:01:48,657 --> 01:01:53,384
In prison, there was a
man named Aziz Toshima.
351
01:01:53,410 --> 01:01:58,802
He was waiting there to torture us.
352
01:01:58,828 --> 01:02:03,460
There were minors there.
The oldest wasn't even 12 years old.
353
01:02:03,486 --> 01:02:07,327
They were in a dreadful state.
354
01:02:08,531 --> 01:02:12,388
They'd been beaten and had
spent the night on the ground.
355
01:02:12,414 --> 01:02:17,045
Seeing the condition they were in,
we screwed up our courage.
356
01:02:17,071 --> 01:02:20,265
Those kids told us not to be afraid.
357
01:02:20,306 --> 01:02:22,501
They said we'd be beaten,
358
01:02:22,527 --> 01:02:26,172
but not to change our story
when we were tortured.
359
01:02:26,198 --> 01:02:29,105
My girlfriend and I were separated.
360
01:02:29,131 --> 01:02:32,017
The interrogations focused
361
01:02:32,043 --> 01:02:35,042
on the Sahrawi demonstrations.
362
01:02:35,068 --> 01:02:40,341
Then we were tortured
363
01:02:40,367 --> 01:02:44,098
and were held in prison
until midnight.
364
01:02:44,124 --> 01:02:47,043
They photographed us,
wrote up our reports.
365
01:02:47,069 --> 01:02:51,342
They said, �Maybe you'll get independence,
366
01:02:51,368 --> 01:02:56,138
but no Sahrawi will have
the pleasure of seeing that day.
367
01:02:56,164 --> 01:02:59,801
We'll kill you
like we killed your parents in 1976
368
01:02:59,827 --> 01:03:01,755
in Guelta,
Djeiria, Al Mahbes.
369
01:03:01,781 --> 01:03:06,363
Once you're in the M'gouna prison
or the Black Prison
370
01:03:07,420 --> 01:03:12,626
you won't be lucky enough
371
01:03:12,652 --> 01:03:15,966
to see independence."
372
01:03:15,992 --> 01:03:19,963
Our families came
and asked if we were there.
373
01:03:19,989 --> 01:03:23,601
The police denied
that we were in prison.
374
01:03:24,529 --> 01:03:28,801
After we were freed,
they continued to intimidate us
375
01:03:28,827 --> 01:03:31,305
on the street and at school.
376
01:03:31,331 --> 01:03:37,254
They claimed
we were Sahrawi combatants.
377
01:03:37,280 --> 01:03:41,089
When the police arrested us,
they said,
378
01:03:41,115 --> 01:03:45,006
"If you collaborate,
we'll give you money
379
01:03:45,032 --> 01:03:47,668
and the latest cell phones.
380
01:03:47,694 --> 01:03:51,761
If you refuse,
we'll follow you everywhere.
381
01:03:51,788 --> 01:03:54,733
We'll keep your families
from getting jobs."
382
01:03:57,206 --> 01:04:02,046
The police know that
Sahrawi women
383
01:04:02,072 --> 01:04:04,969
are terrified of being raped.
384
01:04:04,995 --> 01:04:09,446
So once they're imprisoned,
they threaten to rape them.
385
01:04:11,030 --> 01:04:14,546
They start to undress them.
386
01:04:14,572 --> 01:04:19,316
They say,
"Either collaborate or get raped."
387
01:04:19,342 --> 01:04:24,036
If they refuse, they tear off
the rest of their clothes.
388
01:04:24,783 --> 01:04:29,427
They beat them,
389
01:04:29,453 --> 01:04:34,271
pull their hair, insult them.
390
01:04:34,495 --> 01:04:37,715
And then
391
01:04:37,741 --> 01:04:41,605
it's sexual harassment.
392
01:04:41,774 --> 01:04:47,251
That's the first thing they do
to every woman who's incarcerated.
393
01:04:50,286 --> 01:04:55,131
They do so many things
I don't dare to tell you.
394
01:04:55,157 --> 01:04:59,476
Such horrific things
that no one can repeat them.
395
01:05:11,388 --> 01:05:19,501
600 m from El Hisam
396
01:05:26,663 --> 01:05:31,488
I was with other young people
at a sit-in on Skeikima Avenue.
397
01:05:32,277 --> 01:05:34,965
We were arrested,
398
01:05:34,991 --> 01:05:39,116
along with a European
who had taken some photos.
399
01:05:39,693 --> 01:05:42,465
The police tore out the film,
which contained
400
01:05:42,491 --> 01:05:46,460
pictures of young people
brandishing the Sahrawi flag.
401
01:05:46,486 --> 01:05:50,034
Then they dragged us
to a police car,
402
01:05:50,165 --> 01:05:56,374
punching us
and hitting us with clubs.
403
01:05:57,032 --> 01:06:00,880
The policemen spoke...
404
01:06:02,491 --> 01:06:05,152
in a crude way.
405
01:06:09,366 --> 01:06:13,433
When I left the police station,
406
01:06:13,459 --> 01:06:17,374
my face was all swollen.
407
01:06:18,527 --> 01:06:25,346
After that, they arrested me
again several times.
408
01:06:27,072 --> 01:06:29,260
The last time
409
01:06:29,365 --> 01:06:33,881
was at the Daddach Avenue demonstrations.
410
01:06:33,907 --> 01:06:36,708
That day, they fractured my hand.
411
01:06:36,734 --> 01:06:39,549
You have no life anymore.
412
01:06:42,696 --> 01:06:46,479
If you go out,
you're under surveillance.
413
01:06:50,155 --> 01:06:53,628
If you stay home,
they knock at the door
414
01:06:53,654 --> 01:06:56,364
and summon you
to the police station.
415
01:06:56,695 --> 01:07:00,830
We had to stop going to class.
416
01:07:01,822 --> 01:07:04,784
That's no life.
417
01:07:04,922 --> 01:07:09,218
And they talk about human rights!
418
01:07:09,244 --> 01:07:14,461
That only exists in propaganda
spread by the press.
419
01:07:14,488 --> 01:07:17,089
Even children have no rights.
420
01:07:17,115 --> 01:07:20,108
Women even less so.
421
01:07:23,819 --> 01:07:27,376
The last time I was arrested,
they threatened me.
422
01:07:27,402 --> 01:07:30,590
"We're gonna tear your clothes off
and rape you."
423
01:07:30,616 --> 01:07:36,743
To intimidate me,
one of them unzipped his pants.
424
01:07:36,905 --> 01:07:40,502
Then he undressed me.
425
01:07:45,817 --> 01:07:47,923
Then two plain-clothes cops
426
01:07:47,949 --> 01:07:54,929
held my hands and my feet.
427
01:07:54,955 --> 01:08:00,258
A tortured came in.
428
01:08:00,300 --> 01:08:02,781
He took a club
429
01:08:03,238 --> 01:08:07,957
and beat the soles of my feet.
430
01:08:08,656 --> 01:08:10,834
They were all black and blue.
431
01:08:10,860 --> 01:08:17,224
Another policeman
from a section called El Azoua
432
01:08:17,703 --> 01:08:20,681
pounded my head against the wall.
433
01:08:20,715 --> 01:08:25,963
My whole face was swollen.
434
01:08:25,989 --> 01:08:29,543
My mouth was bleeding.
435
01:08:29,569 --> 01:08:33,190
My vision was blurry.
436
01:08:35,239 --> 01:08:38,503
All the while,
they kept questioning me,
437
01:08:38,529 --> 01:08:42,718
"Who are the people
who pushed you inti uprising?
438
01:08:42,744 --> 01:08:45,543
Who gave you
the Sahrawi flags?
439
01:08:45,569 --> 01:08:49,531
Who organized the demonstration?"
440
01:08:52,361 --> 01:08:58,335
Legally, you can't be held in
custody for more than 24 hours.
441
01:08:58,361 --> 01:09:03,169
We spent over 48 hours
at the police station.
442
01:09:03,195 --> 01:09:08,868
My brother was held for six days.
443
01:09:09,420 --> 01:09:14,709
The police pulled him in
without informing anyone.
444
01:09:14,735 --> 01:09:20,210
And when my parents were worried
about his disappearance,
445
01:09:20,236 --> 01:09:24,550
the police denied arresting him.
446
01:09:24,576 --> 01:09:29,223
All Sahrawi are victims
of that treatment.
447
01:09:29,249 --> 01:09:33,383
What happened to those 15 boys
who disappeared recently?
448
01:09:33,748 --> 01:09:38,253
During my interrogation, they said,
449
01:09:38,279 --> 01:09:42,304
"Confess or you'll meet the same
fate as the 15 who disappeared."
450
01:09:42,330 --> 01:09:46,969
So they acknowledged
arresting those young people.
451
01:09:49,568 --> 01:09:55,451
All those practices
have become commonplace.
452
01:09:55,865 --> 01:09:58,786
That's what
our daily lives are like.
453
01:10:15,536 --> 01:10:23,414
400 m from El Hisam
454
01:11:01,972 --> 01:11:04,879
Once they reached the Algerian camps,
455
01:11:04,905 --> 01:11:09,576
some men went in the other direction.
456
01:11:10,657 --> 01:11:15,157
They had no bags and a little water.
457
01:11:15,734 --> 01:11:17,479
They moved
458
01:11:17,505 --> 01:11:20,231
in relation to enemy lines.
459
01:11:21,451 --> 01:11:24,942
Often they were arrested or killed.
460
01:11:25,517 --> 01:11:28,844
Sometimes they vanished into the sand
461
01:11:28,870 --> 01:11:30,733
or the mountains.
462
01:11:31,030 --> 01:11:34,177
But they never reached
463
01:11:34,203 --> 01:11:36,050
the other side.
464
01:11:37,156 --> 01:11:39,172
They got lost
465
01:11:39,198 --> 01:11:42,039
and wound up back where they started.
466
01:11:42,629 --> 01:11:45,427
They thought it was the lost land
467
01:11:45,453 --> 01:11:47,682
of their childhood.
468
01:11:47,991 --> 01:11:51,050
In fact, they had just
469
01:11:51,076 --> 01:11:55,836
gotten back on the path of the exile.
470
01:11:57,072 --> 01:11:59,700
But they didn't want to hear that.
471
01:12:00,408 --> 01:12:03,899
Getting lost made them melancholy.
472
01:12:04,500 --> 01:12:06,798
You'd think
473
01:12:06,831 --> 01:12:08,795
they'd have wanted to cry.
474
01:12:08,821 --> 01:12:10,834
But in their hearts,
475
01:12:10,860 --> 01:12:12,765
they laughed.
476
01:12:14,620 --> 01:12:17,842
Convinced they'd reached their land,
477
01:12:18,672 --> 01:12:22,211
they acted like free men.
478
01:12:23,821 --> 01:12:26,302
It was only later that they realized
479
01:12:26,328 --> 01:12:29,738
they'd already gone mad.
480
01:16:26,948 --> 01:16:28,884
Special thanks to:
Those who in Western Sahara helped
481
01:16:28,910 --> 01:16:30,573
with the making of this
movie by their support,
482
01:16:30,599 --> 01:16:31,707
contribution or testimony.
483
01:16:31,733 --> 01:16:33,967
To Marie-C�cile Jamart for
her support and advice.
484
01:16:33,993 --> 01:16:40,411
Also thanks go to:
485
01:16:40,760 --> 01:16:44,789
Transcription English subtitles: pacoss
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