NGO: Polisario, destabilizing factor in North Africa

Chile’s Foundation for Human Rights Without Borders has strongly condemned the major human rights violations committed by the Algeria-backed Polisario militias in the Tindouf camps, saying the separatist group is threatening peace and stability in the whole North African region.

In its latest press release, the NGO said most of the Polisario members are wanted by international justice for serious human rights violations, and denounced the detention of Sahrawis in deplorable inhumane living conditions.

The Foundation for Human Rights Without Borders said it witnessed and documented grave human rights violations committed by the Polisario with the blessing of Algerian authorities, citing in this regard kidnappings of hundreds of Sahrawis, arbitrary detention without any trial of opponents, in addition to the recruitment and use of children in armed conflicts in blatant violation of the international laws and UN Conventions.

The NGO urged the international community to exert pressure on the Algerian regime for the release of all those detained by the Polisario group, and stressed the need to disclose the fate of hundreds of missing persons and to hold accountable those involved in the rape of Sahrawi women.

The Chilean Foundation deplored the deteriorating human rights situation in Algeria, a country controlled by a repressive military regime which continues its harassment, persecution, and arbitrary detention of journalists, social media activists, human rights defenders, and political opponents.