Skip to main content

Moroccan repression in occupied Western Sahara: Polisario calls on UN to intervene

Submitted on

New York (UN), 22 July 2019 (SPS)- Representative of the Polisario Front at the United Nations (UN) Mohamed Sidi Omar called on UN Security Council to assume its responsibilities in protecting the Sahrawi population, victim of atrocities perpetrated by the forces of the Moroccan occupation, denouncing the horrible assassination of a young Sahrawi woman on the sidelines of the peaceful celebration of the victory of the Algerian team in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN 2019).
“The continuation and escalation of human rights violations perpetrated by Morocco against the Sahrawi civilians exacerbate the situation on the ground and increase tensions in occupied Western Sahara,” wrote Saturday Sidi Omar in a letter sent to the ambassador Gustavo Meza-Cuadra, Peru’s permanent representative at the United Nations, who ensures the rotating presidency of the Security Council.
The Sahrawi diplomat deplored the fact that repressive actions committed by Morocco against the Sahrawi civilians and the atrocities perpetrated by the forces of the Moroccan security forces against the Sahrawi population are occurring in the presence of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), which remains under the full responsibility of the United Nations.
Friday evening, said Sidi Omar, “hundreds of Sahrawi civilians spontaneously took to the streets of al-Aaiun, capital of occupied Western Sahara, to celebrated peacefully the victory of the Algerian national team against Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations 2019. Several cities of occupied Western Sahara, notably Smara, Boujdour and Dakhal saw similar commemorative events.”
“As part of its systematic repression policy in Western Sahara, the Moroccan security forces attacked violently Sahrawi civilians with batons, teargas, water cannons, rubber bullets and stones. Hundreds of members of the Moroccan security forces, notably policemen, gendarmes, paramilitary forces participated in the violent attack on several Sahrawi civilians, leaving several victims, some of them are still in serious condition,” denounced the Sahrawi diplomat. (SPS)
062/SPS/APS