ALGIERS, May 16, 2014 (SPS) - The preview of an investigation on the identification of Sahrawi missing people whose bones were discovered in February 2013 in a mass grave in the region Amgala, Saharawi liberated territories, was broadcasted on Wednesday at the headquarters of Algerian television.
The 52 mn investigation entitled " Throne built on skulls... Western Sahara people auctioned," is conducted by journalist Ammar Bendjedda on the identification of the Sahrawi missing people whose bones have been discovered, late in February 2013, by a local shepherd named Abderrahmane Abid Bey.
In early 2013, a mass grave has been discovered, in which were crammed bones of at least 60 persons including children. The identification of nine among them allowed indentifying that they are Sahrawi civilians killed by the Moroccan forces during the invasion and the occupation of Western Sahara in 1976.
Based on the testimonies of members of the families of missing people and the only survivor of the extermination, Ab Ali Saïd Daf, then aged 14, the investigation reviews the stages of the operation of bones identification, starting from the discovery, the expertise of proofs provided by the witnesses and the documents found on the places until the anthropological and genetic expertise.
The reporter Ammar Bendjedda who centered his work on human rights and the importance of the protection of Sahrawis from the "inhuman" practices they are victim of, said that to determine the identity of bones, an international specialized team was requested.
He added that Amgala grave comes to unveil once again the Moroccan practices against the Sahrawis, recalling the multiple calls launched by several countries and international organizations to examine human rights issue in Western Sahara including the file of the missing people, whose fate remains unknown, according to the Sahrawi officials.
He said that the completion of the investigation "was extremely difficult given the international media blackout surrounding the Saharawi issue and Moroccan powerful lobby that tries by all means to silence the Saharawis".(SPS)
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