Washington, Oct 6, 2013 (SPS) - The U.S. Congress expressed strong concerns about the continuing violations of human rights by the Moroccan government, and not only in occupied Western Sahara but also in Morocco.
During a debate on the U.S. and international issues, held Friday in plenary session in the House of Representatives (lower house of Congress), Betty McCollum denounced the Moroccan authorities acts of repression and abuse they continue to practice citing various reports by several international organizations of human rights (Amnesty International, human Rights Watch, RF Kennedy Center ...) and the American press.
“The continuing violations of human rights by security forces and secret police of King Mohammed VI against those who call for self-determination of the Sahrawi people in the occupied territories of Western Sahara, and against those who claim political reforms in Morocco, is clearly reported by human rights organizations,” McCollum said.
Referring to the Western Sahara issue, she stated before U.S. lawmakers, citing recent reports from international NGOs, the Sahrawi people continue to be hunted down and imprisoned for their involvement in demonstrations demanding their right to self-determination, some of which were tortured or other suffered ill-treatment during questioning by the Moroccan police.
This Democrat MP to the State of Minnesota noted that given the magnitude of the violations of human rights of Sahrawis in Morocco, which have been widely reported by international NGOs as well as the State Department in its various reports, the administration of Barack Obama, then, supported the introduction of the mechanisms of human rights monitoring in Western Sahara within the MINURSO.
A draft resolution was prepared in April, by former US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, for submission to the Security Council, but it was rejected by France. (SPS)
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