Moroccan NGOs present series of publications on human rights violation in Tindouf camps
Morocco-Algeria, Politics, 2/28/2002

A group of Moroccan non-governmental organizations presented in Rabat on Wednesday a series of publications revealing human rights violations and inhumane practices inflicted on Moroccans sequestered by the Algeria-backed Polisario separatists in the Tindouf camps (south-western Algeria).

The reports, published in Arabic, French and English, were compiled on the basis of testimonies by persons who were forcibly held in the camps and managed to flee. Supported by pictures of sequels of savage torture, physical disabilities and incurable deformations, the publications include a list of persons tortured to death or driven to madness by harassment and psychological tormenting.

The publications were compiled by several NGOs, including Alternatives, the association of parents of victims of Tindouf Camps Repression, the committee for the reunion of Sahrawi families and Al-Massira association for the defense of the rights of Moroccans sequestered and imprisoned in the Tindouf Camps.

One of the booklets dealing with the imprisonment conditions presents a series of testimonies from people who succeeded in fleeing these prisons and depicts various forms of torture such as forced enrollment, degrading treatments of aged persons, isolation of detainees, torture, executions and indoctrination of children sent to Cuba. The book is also illustrated by several pictures of sequels of torture inflicted on the prisoners, including some who were left with physical handicaps.

The second publication, addressing the issue of persons maintained in forced confinement and embezzlement of foreign aid, unveils the misuse of international humanitarian aid sent to the camps populations by the Polisario members, who misappropriate this aid or sell it via fraudulent webs. Hundreds of tons of food, medicine and equipment are sold in southern Algeria and northern Mauritania, while funds donated by humanitarian organizations are embezzled to feed private bank accounts of the Polisario leaders.

Of the plight of Moroccan prisoners of war held in southern Algeria, another 12-page book shows the ill-treatments inflicted on them and speaks about the case of some who have been held in captivity for over 20 years. The booklet sheds light on how these prisoners are interrogated hand-cuffed, blind-folded, subjected to moral and physical violence. Some prisoners have lost their life, others lost their sanity and most of them still suffer from traumas, mutilations and handicaps as a result of the inhumane, unbearable and unimaginable brutalities.

Ms Gajmoula Bent Abbi, chairwoman of the committee for the reunion of Sahrawi families said the three publications are the fruit of a collective effort by Sahrawi associations to mobilize national and international opinion by shedding light on the reality in the Tindouf camps and on human rights violations.

The associations also denounced the Algerian proposal for partitioning the Sahara territory as an option that cannot be accepted by any Sahrawi and as a conspiracy that unveils Algeria's expansionist covetousness.

Previous Stories:
  Security Council expresses concern over humanitarian situation of Moroccan prisoners in Algeria   (2/27/2002)
  Morocco ready for dialogue with Algeria over Sahara issue   (2/25/2002)
  Sahara partitioning proposal inapplicable, former official   (2/22/2002)
  Swedish Official Lauds Morocco's Pledge to Consolidate Democracy   (2/11/2002)
  Members of human rights association acquitted   (11/21/2001)
  Justice minister renews Morocco's resolve to turn page and repair harm   (11/1/2001)

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