Washington, Oct 17, 2014 (SPS) - The US-Western Sahara Foundation has sent an urgent call for the international community to monitor the human rights situation in Western Sahara, occupied by Morocco.
In a statement issued by the Foundation, Chairman Suzanne Scholte repeated her call on the international community to “urgently act” to end the unjustified violence against defenseless civilians in the occupied territories of Western Sahara.
The Foundation called upon the UN Security Council to empower MINURSO to monitor and report on the ongoing human rights abuses in the Western Sahara, so that Moroccan authorities cannot continue to commit acts of violence, including murder and torture.
“The United Nations and the international community must urgently act to end the unjustified violence against defenseless civilians and promote the respect for freedom of assembly, movement and speech in Moroccan Occupied Western Sahara,” stated Suzanne Scholte, chairman of the US-Western Sahara Foundation.
It also urged Morocco to stop blocking any access to the territory by independent observers and journalists.
Scholte mourned the tragic death of Saharawi political prisoner and human rights defender Hassena Elwali Aleya, adding that his death is one more chapter of the suffering endured by the Saharawi people under Moroccan occupation for the last forty years.
The ONG underlined that Moroccan authorities’ burying of hassena without his family’s consent is an attempt hide the real facts and circumstances surrounding this tragic death of a man who was detained solely because of his advocacy work on the conflict of Western Sahara.
US-Western Sahara Foundation join Hassena’s family in their demand for “a just and independent” investigation into the incidents that led to his death. (SPS)
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