UNHRC: Mauritanian NGO decries human rights violations in Tindouf camps

Mauritanian NGO, the Network for Unity & Development, has denounced in Geneva the alarming human rights violations committed in the Polisario-controlled Tindouf camps (southern Algeria), calling on the international community to hold Polisario militia and Algeria accountable for the crimes committed on its territory.

Addressing the 60th session of the UN Human Rights Council, the representative of the Mauritanian NGO, Cheïba Meribeh Rabeh, said the Sahrawi women & girls, held in these camps, are suffering inhumane treatment, forced marriages, and sexual abuse, while children are inculcated radical ideology, denied education, and used as soldiers in armed conflict.

The Mauritanian NGO also condemned the Polisario brutal repression of political opponents, citing in this regard several cases of arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture, and extrajudicial executions.

Furthermore, the Polisario militiamen embezzlement of international humanitarian aid exacerbates food shortage and famine of the inhabitants sequestered in Tindouf camps.

The NGO called on the Algerian military regime to shoulder its responsibilities and honor its international commitment as these heinous crimes and serious human rights violations are committed on its territory. Otherwise, it is guilty by association or connivance.