Geneva Sept 20, 2018 (SPS) - UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres criticized in a report the human rights situation in the occupied Sahrawi territories, stressing that Morocco has violated the International Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Treatment or Punishment.
Antonio Guterres' services released the report on the occasion of the 39th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva from 10 to 28 September, media reports said.
The UN Secretary-General's report focused on the UN's cooperation programme with human rights representatives and mechanisms, the sources said.
Concerning Morocco, the document mentioned in particular three cases of Sahrawi victims of cruel treatment and deprivation of their rights, illustrating the deplorable situation of human rights in the Sahrawi territories illegally occupied by the Kingdom.
"Several Sahrawi human rights groups continued to experience difficulties in carrying out their activities. Indeed, they were not recognized legally, as the Moroccan Government had not answered their applications for registration," denounced the report
On the basis of the work of the UN Committee Against Torture, composed of 10 independent experts, Antonio Guterres particularly referred to the poor conditions of imprisonment of Naâma Asfari, sentenced to 30 years in prison after the Gdim Izik trial. Placed in solitary confinement from 13 February to 13 March 2018, the detainee is still deprived of visits of his wife, Claude Mangin. SPS
125/090/TRA