Algerian regime resorts to Polisario to inflate turnout in Tindouf

A look at the turnout of the Algerian Presidential elections shows the scale of the boycott in most Algerian regions except Tindouf, home to the Polisario militias and some 22,000 Sahraouis they hold hostage in inhumane conditions.

Turnout in Tindouf was 57% compared to Bejaia where many towns registered zero participation.

By the past, Algerian officials used the Sahraouis held against their will by the Polisario to vote for the regime’s candidate.

International rights watchdogs, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have on multiple reports drew attention to the plight of the population held against their will in Tindouf where the Algerian state has relegated the destiny of thousands of Sahraouis to the mercy of a separatist militia that trades in their suffering.

From humanitarian aid embezzlement by the Polisario officials to slavery and forced disappearances in the Tindouf camps, Algeria has abdicated its responsibilities and forsaken a civilian population to the mercy of a separatist militia.

UN Security Council resolution 2351 has once more reiterated the call on Algeria to uphold its responsibility to allow a census of the population held in the camps.