Moroccan civil society calls for ending the tragedy of sequestrated Moroccans

The Moroccan civil society on Sunday called the international community to act to put an end to the tragedy befalling the Moroccans sequestrated in polisario Tindouf camps, located in South-West Algeria.

Several representatives of various Ngos and human rights organisations called for the release of Moroccans still detained by the Algeria-backed polisario, at a march held Sunday in Rabat at the initiative of the Watanouna association and attended by tens of thousands of Moroccans come from all the region of the country and from abroad.

Serge Berdugo, Secretary General of the "Conseil des Communautes israelites du Maroc," said it is heartening to see the "Moroccan people united to demand the cessation of this horror and ask international bodies to act to free our countrymen detained in the camps of Tindouf."

Watanouna member, Taoufiq Sebti said the march tells Moroccans are unanimous on the Sahara issue and on the need to put an end end to the sequestration of Moroccans by the polisario which claims the separation of the Moroccan Southern provinces retrieved in 1975 from Spain in line with the Madrid accords.

Watanouna, which was set up last January 20 in Casablanca, aims to draw the attention of the international public opinion to human rights violations committed in the camps and to denounce the exploitation of families by the Algeria-backed Polisario group.

The issue of the sequestrated "is humanitarian and non political. We call on the UNO to intervene to put and to the ordeal and unconditionally free the Moroccans sequestrated in Tindouf," Sebti said.

Khalid Soufiani, coordinator of the "groupe d'action et de soutien à l'Irak et à la Palestine," said the event is a message from the Moroccan people to the world to act to free "our brothers detained in Tindouf for the longest period" in the world.

Latifa Jbabdi, chairwoman of the "Union de l'action feminine," said in participating in the march "we reaffirm the constant position of our people regarding the country's territorial integrity and the needÉ to free the Moroccans detained in Tindouf."

Chairman of a Belgium-based cultural association, Charif Eddine said the event is a historic moment, recalling his association sent several messages to the UNO asking for the liberation of all the Moroccans detained in Tindouf.

The "Achchouala" association, based in Boujdour, Southern Morocco, denounced in a communiqué released on the occasion of the march, the inhuamane practices inflicted on the sequestrated people in Tindouf. "Al Amal" for legality and territorial unity, also based in Boujdour, wondered on how long the blockade and human rights violations inflicted to the sequestrated Moroccans would last in the indifference of the entire world.

The confederation of the Moroccan community in Italy said in a communique the continuation of the detention of the Moroccans in Tindouf camps is a blatant violation of International conventions and law.

The national and social association of the children of the martyrs and missing of the Moroccan Sahara asked in a communiqué for the immediate release of the sequestrated people.