The Independence Intifada or the Second Sahrawi Intifada (intifada is Arabic for "uprising") and also May Intifada is a Sahrawi activist term for a series of disturbances, demonstrations and riots that broke out in May 2005 in the Moroccan-controlled parts of Western Sahara and south of Morocco. This event has also been called The El-Aaiun Intifada by the same sources. Background Western Sahara, formerly Spanish Sahara, was annexed by Morocco in 1975, as Spain pulled out. A war with the Polisario Front, which according to the UN represent the indigenous Sahrawi population, and was backed by neighboring Algeria, ensued. In 1991 a cease-fire was agreed upon, on the condition of a referendum on self-determination (including the options of independence or integration into Morocco). Since 1991 the terms of a referendum have been subject to years of dispute between the parties, although the cease-fire continues to hold despite remaining tensions. Morocco controls the majority of the territory, with Polisario forces controlling a rump. A UN mission MINURSO mission patrols the demarcation line. Sahrawi political activity in the Moroccan-controlled parts of Western Sahara remains severely restricted, and police crackdowns and forced disappearances were a frequent response to civil protest. The political climate gradually relaxed in the 1990s, after the cease-fire, and following considerable liberalization in Morocco proper. Since political liberalisation, intermittent protests have broken out and pro-Polisario groups have declaring minor "intifadas" in 1999 and 2000, often resulting in dozens of demonstrators being arrested. Demonstrations and arrests Demonstrations began on 21 May 2005 in El Aaiún, after relatives protesting the transfer of a Sahrawi prisoner accused of drug dealing and insulting the Moroccan monarchy to a prison in Agadir were violently dispersed by police, provoking further demonstrations over the next several days. Protests spread by the end of May to other towns in the Western Sahara, such as Smara and Dakhla, and were accompanied by demonstrations by Sahrawi students living in Moroccan cities such as Agadir, Casablanca, Fes, Marrakech and Rabat. Moroccan public security units quelled the disturbances, although some subsequent pro-independence demonstrations have subsequently flared up, most recently reported in November 2005. On 30 October 2005, a first fatality was recorded when 31-year-old Hamdi Lembarki died after what human rights organizations assured was police brutality during his arrest, although at first Moroccan authorities attributed his death to an accident. Over a hundred pro-Polisario Sahrawi protesters were reported arrested by Moroccan authorities