'Passport for Freedom' Coordinator to negotiate with Algeria Moroccan POWs liberation
Morocco-Algeria, Politics, 9/21/2004

Coordinator of the European initiative "Passport for Freedom," Dominique Rambaud, said, in Rabat Saturday, she will negotiate during her upcoming visit to Algeria the liberation of Moroccan prisoners of war (POWs) who are held in the Polisario-controlled Tindouf camps (southwestern Algeria).

The visit to Algeria is an "important and difficult" step in the liberation process of Moroccan detainees, Rambaud told a press conference organized by the National Association of families of martyrs and missing in the Moroccan Sahara.

The European coordinator said she will hold meetings with Algerian officials and representatives of associations backing the "Passport for Freedom" initiative.

Some of the Moroccan detainees have been held in Tindouf prisons for nearly 30 years by the Algeria-backed Polisario separatists who lay claim to the Moroccan Sahara.

The "Passport for Freedom" initiative had launched a campaign to raise international public opinion awareness on the fate of the hundreds of Moroccan prisoners of war (POWs) still detained in the Tindouf Camps.

Instituted by French Euro-deputy Alain Madelin, the "Passport for Freedom" is a means to help members of the European parliament voice their solidarity with people fighting for the respect of human rights.

Europe, part of its new neighborhood policy, will have a "strong reaction" concerning human rights, said Rambaud, adding the European Union will not conclude partnerships with countries having problems at this level.

Algiers is urged to settle the issue of Moroccan POWs held in its territory if it wants to benefit of European aid, she said.

Secretary General of the National Association of families of martyrs and missing in the Moroccan Sahara, Brahim El Hajjam, estimated the number of the missing at 600. He said his association collects the necessary information to sue all parties involved in the perpetuation of the Moroccan detainees tragedy.

Created in 1999, the Association works for the liberation of the Moroccan POWs and shed light on their situation.

On Monday, a Sweden-based Association for the Defense of the Detainees in Tindouf (ADESETI) addressed a message to JosŽ Manuel Durao Barroso, the European Commission's president-designate, to draw his attention on the "dire situation" of the Moroccans sequestered in Tindouf.

Previous Stories:
  Moroccan prisoners detention conditions in Tindouf brought to ICRC official attention   (9/18/2004)
  Most of polled PBS viewers support Morocco's rights over Sahara   (8/30/2004)
  Passport for Freedom to drum up support for release of Moroccan POWs in Algeria   (5/25/2004)
  L'Opinion: Belgian ambassador calls for release of Moroccans sequestered in tindouf   (12/25/2003)
  Daniel Ducarme launches petition for release of Moroccan army officer detained by polisario   (5/22/2003)

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