Geneva, June 07, 2013 (SPS)- The NGO Movement Against Racism and for Friendship between Peoples (MRAP) has called the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to dispatch a fact-finding team to Western Sahara, in an oral intervention before the Human Rights Council 23rd session held these days in Geneva
“Madam High Commissioner, we urge you to dispatch a fact-finding team to Western Sahara in order to assess the human rights situation and the situation of non-governmental organisations and we urge you to include in the next annual report of the Office a section dedicated to the non self-governing territories” the NGO says
The organization confirmed that “The refusal by the Kingdom of Morocco, last month in the Security Council, to include a permanent human rights component in the mandate of the MINURSO poses a serious threat not only on the activities of the Sahrawi non-governmental organizations, but even on the human rights defenders lives”.
“In fact, the Kingdom of Morocco already rejected the recommendation, made by some UN Member States at its last Periodic Review, for the inclusion of a permanent human rights component in the mandate of the MINURSOarguing that it did not fall within the scope of the mandate of the Human Rights Council. This clearly shows thatthe Kingdom of Morocco has notintegrated the role of coordination and mainstreaming of human rights within the United Nations system given to this very Council by the General Assembly” highlighted the representative of the NGO to the council
He also stated that “Having in mind the terms and the spirit of GA Resolution 60/251, the Kingdom of Morocco has disqualified itself for the election to the Council” (SPS)
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