Washington DC( U.S A)June04, 2011(SPS) “Morocco has been accused of using force and financial incentives to alter the composition of Western Sahara’s population,” said the human rights organization ,FREDOM HOUSE, in its annual survey of political rights and civil liberties in the world 2011.
“Morocco has been accused of using force and financial incentives to alter the composition of Western Sahara’s population,” indicated FH, adding that the “Sahrawi women face much of cultural and legal discrimination,”
“Conditions are generally worse for women living in rural areas, where poverty and illiteracy rates are higher,” said this international organization regretting that despite various natural resources of Western Sahara but the Saharawi in the occupied territories “ remain largely impoverished,”
Foredoom House confirmed that Sahrawi activists continued to face harassment and detention during the year2010 by the Moroccan Security forces
“Three Sahrawi activists who had been arrested in Morocco in October 2009 remained in detention throughout 2010, and their pending trial was postponed in November after disruptions in the courtroom, largely by pro-Moroccan spectators.”
“Sahrawis are technically subject to Moroccan labor laws” FH denounced explaining that they are also face a political exclusion.
“As the occupying force in Western Sahara, Morocco controls local elections and works to ensure that pro-independence leaders are excluded from both the local political process and the Moroccan Parliament,”
“Sahrawis are not permitted to form independent political or nongovernmental organizations, and their freedom of assembly is severely restricted,”
“As in previous years, activists supporting independence and their suspected foreign sympathizers were subject to harassment in 2010,”
The Freedom House finally condemned the siege of media imposed by Moroccan occupation on the occupied territories of Western Sahara,” according to the Moroccan constitution, the press is free, but this is not the case in practice,” it said
“Moroccan authorities are sensitive to any coverage that is not in line with the state’s official position on Western Sahara, and they continue to expel or detain Sahrawi, Moroccan, and foreign journalists who report critically on the issue,”
“Online media and independent satellite broadcasts are largely unavailable to the impoverished population.”(SPS)
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