"ENERGY COMPANY DRILLS THROUGH HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE WESTERN SAHARA", 22 Jan 2015

On the evening of December 13, 2014, a 240 meter-long drillship drifted through the night and into Western Saharan waters...Known as Africa’s last colony, the territory of Western Sahara is claimed by Morocco while the indigenous Sahrawi population and the United Nations recognize the area as independent. The vessel—the Atwood Achiever—is a $600 million drillship operated by Kosmos Energy...When news that the Atwood Achiever was heading to Western Saharan waters first came to light, several leading Sahrawi activists penned a letter to the CEO of Kosmos, Andrew Inglis. In it, they asked Kosmos to withdraw its plans for drilling. These activists believed these efforts would only benefit “the people that are undermining our rights; the king of Morocco, the Moroccan government in Rabat and the Moroccan settlers in our homeland.” These concerns echo the official position of the government of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), the Sahrawi authority currently in control of approximately one quarter of the territory of Western Sahara. Activists and others have claimed that protests against Kosmos’s actions in Western Saharan waters have been met with violence from Moroccan authorities...