GENEVA – APS.dz – The Geneva Support Group for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights in Western Sahara denounced the inaction and silence of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the face of serious and systematic violations of human rights in the Saharawi territories occupied by the Moroccan occupying forces.
In a statement issued on the occasion of the meeting of the Human Rights Council, the coordinator of the Group, Gianfranco Fattorini, stated that “the silence of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights regarding the human rights violations by the Moroccan occupier in Western Sahara is inexplicable and, unfortunately, only encourages the occupier to continue his flight and accentuate his repressive policy”.
In this regard, Mr. Fattorini said in the statement, broadcasted by the Saharawi press agency (SPS), that “the 300 organizations that make up the Geneva Group express their deep concern at the systematic and serious violations of human rights and the norms of international humanitarian law by the Moroccan occupation in the occupied Saharawi territories, as well as the illegal exploitation by the occupant of the natural resources of these territories”, deploring “the support of the EU Member States to Morocco, in flagrant violation of the decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union.”
In the same vein, the statement points out that “in addition to the brutal repression of the Saharawi demonstrations, the Moroccan occupier is subjecting Saharawi human rights defenders, journalists and political prisoners to all kinds of abuses.
In the same vein, the Swedish organization Right Livelihood urged the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to urgently send a Human Rights Observation Mission to Western Sahara to “observe first-hand the human rights situation”, stressing that “the time has arrived time for the UN to adopt a firm and clear position in the face of serious human rights violations in Western Sahara”.
Right Livelihood also denounced “the persecution by the Moroccan occupier of non-governmental organizations that intend to visit the occupied Saharawi territories, preventing them from accessing them”, denouncing “the seriousness of the situation of Saharawi activists, who suffer, in addition to physical violence, restrictions on their movements”.
