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Robert F. Kennedy Center Condemns Moroccan Police Brutality against Sahrawi Demonstrators

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Washington , May 7, 2013 (SPS)- The Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights (RFK Center) has condemned Moroccan Police Brutality against Western Sahara Demonstrators, according to a press release published yesterday on the organization’s web site

 

 

 

“The Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights is extremely concerned with the human rights situation on the ground in Western Sahara, marked by recent attacks by Moroccan security forces on the physical integrity and dignity of the Sahrawi population. Since April 25, 2013, when the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) was renewed, Moroccan police have been violently suppressing Sahrawi protests” says the press release

 

 

The center confirmed that “In recent weeks, thousands of Sahrawi have engaged in demonstrations, marches, and sit-ins in the streets of Laayoune, Smara, and Boujdour in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara. Protesters waving Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic flags and carrying banners condemning the UN Security Council’s decision to not include a human rights mandate to MINURSO have been met with violence. Moroccan security forces have attacked protestors using knives, swords, sticks, cars, and stones, raided homes, and tampered with Sahrawi property”.

 

 

“Women and children have not been spared from the police brutality. Victims include a woman who miscarried a day after sustaining injuries from an attack by police, a 12-year-old child who was intentionally struck by a Moroccan policeman with a stone, and a teen who was beaten by another officer” adds The Robert F. Kennedy Center

 

 

The press release highlighted that “These actions confirm the need for a permanent monitoring and reporting human rights mechanism for the United Nations in Western Sahara. Unless there is a permanent United Nations human rights presence on the ground, these violations will continue,” said Santiago A. Canton, RFK Partners for Human Rights Director. “The Moroccan Government is bound by international human rights standards to respect the work of human rights defenders such as Aminatou Haidar and El Arbi Masshoud, and protect their physical integrity.”

 

 

“On Saturday, the largest demonstration in decades took place in the Western Sahara capital of Laayone. Moroccan security forces surrounded a house where members of the Collective of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders (CODESA) were meeting. Moroccan police officials threw rocks at the home of CODESA’s secretary general El Arbi Masshoud and for the second time in less than six months, destroyed the car of Sahrawi human rights defender and CODESA’s president, Aminatou Haidar.” reports the center

 

 

The RFK Center condemned “Moroccan authorities’ human rights violations against Sahrawi protesters and calls on Moroccan authorities to respect the Sahrawi people’s right to free expression”.(SPS)

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