Sahrawi activists denounce violations, repression in Tindouf Camps
Several Sahrawi civil society activists have denounced human rights violations and the systematic repression of dissenting voices by the polisario in the Tindouf camps, southwest Algeria.
Taking the floor during the 58th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, under agenda item 3 of the general debate, the Sahrawi activists called on the international community to take action to protect the rights of people living in the Tindouf camps and to hold Algeria accountable for its role in these violations.
Saadani Maoulainine, from the Organization for Communication in Africa and the Promotion of International Economic Cooperation (OCAPROCE), expressed her organization’s concern over the ongoing problems faced by young Sahrawis in the Tindouf camps.
“For 50 years, they have been deprived of their most basic rights, forced to live in camps, suffering violence and social injustices,” lamented the former deportee to Cuba.
The Sahrawi activist also highlighted the lack of job opportunities in the camps and the absence of any hope or prospects for a dignified life.
“All these young people lack justice,” she said. This situation leads to a lack of motivation and widespread uncertainty about the future.
Maoulainine urged the HRC to work towards ending the impunity of polisario leaders and to support a fair, peaceful, and comprehensive resolution to the Sahara issue.
Echoing her, Hassan El Gramez from the NGO Promotion of Economic and Social Development (PDES) said that the polisario continues to impose repressive policies that stifle dissent and deprive camp populations of their most fundamental rights.
“In the Tindouf camps, any opposition to the polisario is systematically suppressed; political parties are banned,” he stated, adding that the separatist organization also enforces “severe restrictions on freedom of expression” and actively “harasses human rights defenders, journalists, activists, and bloggers.”
“The leadership of the polisario front employs oppressive methods against all forms of opposition and against human rights defenders whose views do not align with its own,” he asserted, deploring that “stigmatization as traitors remains common among polisario leaders and members under the pretext of maintaining unity.”
According to the NGO, the Algerian state, which hosts the polisario on its territory, bears full responsibility, under international law, for the violations committed within its borders.
The organization further noted that despite Algeria’s international rhetoric regarding “Sahrawi refugees,” the Algerian state refuses to recognize the camps populations as refugees, thereby denying them the rights granted under the Refugee Convention and Protocol.
The refusal to recognize the refugee status of those who have lived in the camps for over four decades categorically prevents them from enjoying their civil, political, economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights, the NGO said.
Other speakers who took the floor all pointed out that the absence of a defined legal framework makes the camps populations vulnerable to arbitrary detention, torture, and enforced disappearances. They reported that over 140 Sahrawis had been arrested and coldly executed by polisario leaders.
Regarding freedom of expression and association, the speakers noted that those held in the camps face severe restrictions, often leading to arrests and repression.
They cited the cases of numerous young Sahrawi journalists who have been arrested and detained simply for expressing disagreement with the polisario leadership.
The speakers also denounced the polisario’s misappropriation of humanitarian aid and its sale in local markets in Algeria and sub-Saharan countries.
In this context, they called on the HRC to ensure that the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is able to register and protect camp populations, contribute to the implementation of measures to prevent aid diversion, and guarantee freedoms of expression, association, and movement.