NGO draws UN attention to children-soldiers enrolment by Polisario separatists

The Sahrawi Association for the Defense of Human Rights (ASADEDH) has sent a letter to the UN secretary general drawing his attention to an operation conducted since last May 10 by the separatist Polisario Front to enrol children to work as soldiers.

In its letter, the association condemns the enrolment of children in schools in the Polisario-controled camps in Algerian territories without their parents' knowledge.

The Algeria-backed Polisario has been claiming since 1975 the separation of the Moroccan southern provinces, the Sahara, from the rest of Morocco. The territory, a former Spanish colony, has been retrieved by Morocco under the Madrid accords with Spain.

The letter says the Polisario has decreed a state of general alert and curfew since last May 20 in a bid to pressure the families and gag any protest by them against the hiring of children as soldiers.

The association also draws the international community attention to the fact that Algeria, which is hosting the movement, is breaching the 1949 Geneva convention and the protocol to the convention on the protection of children rights in armed conflicts.

The association calls for setting up an international investigation commission to ward off such practices and halt the spiral of violence and hatred kindled by the Polisario and the Algerian leaders.