Awareness campaign in canada on Moroccan POWs in Algerian camps

The Association of the sons of Moroccan Sahara Martyrs and Disappeared persons announced Monday the launching in Montreal (Canada) of a campaign to foster awareness as the situation of Moroccan POWs in Algerian camps and those of the Polisario separatists.

The campaign, sponsored by "Espoir Maroc" and Amnesty International, will stage information stands in Montreal universities, send petitions to the UN secretary general and support letters to the detainees' families, launch a website dealing with the issue and conferences where former detainees will be invited.

In the same drive, efforts are being exerted to create a body gathering Moroccan, Canadian and international NGOs fighting for the release of Moroccan POWs.

A Moroccan serviceman, imprisoned since 1976 in Polisario's detention camps of Tindouf (south-western Algeria), will be awarded the European Parliament's "Passport for freedom."

The document is awarded to persons fighting for human rights and whose security and freedom are threatened.

The initiative was launched in 2000 by member of the Parliament Alain Madelin, who was joined by other representatives of diverse political trends.