Washington, March 27 ,2014 (SPS) - The U.S. Congress has received Monday in Washington the Sahrawi human rights militant, Aminatou Haidar, on a visit to the US capital to defend occupied Western Sahara cause and denounce the constant violations of Sahrawi human rights by Morocco.
Haidar spoke before the Congress as part of the « Emir Abdelkader Lecture » organized by the Defense Forum Foundation, which is an American foundation registered with the Congress endeavoring for democracy and human rights as well as the questions of US National defense.
It is known for hosting forums in the benefit of US congress to promote freedom and human rights abroad.
The ''Emir Abdelkader Lecture'' annually designates a Muslim personality, working for freedom and human rights in the same spirit and with reference to the Algerian Emir Abdelkader Ben Mahieddine to deliver a speech to the U.S. Congress.
In her speech entitled'' Justice for Africa’s last colony: the struggle for human rights and self-determination in Western Sahara'' Haidar explained the origin occupied Western Sahara issue, while expressing serious problem of violations of human rights perpetrated by the Moroccan authorities against the Saharawi people.
Before the participants to the Forum, she describes the brutal and bloody repression policy by Morocco, through arbitrary arrests, beatings, torture, rape, extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances of Sahrawis.
In this regard, the Sahrawi activist told the Congress that these human rights violations continued to be committed even after the creation, in Morocco, of the National Council for Human Rights, which is supposed to protect the Moroccan and Saharawi society against violations of human rights, and despite calls for respect of the human rights in the reports of the U.S. State Department and international NGOs and despite the resolutions of the UN Security Council and Secretary General's reports calling for respect of Sahrawis’ human rights.
Moreover, Haidar seized the opportunity to thank the US government for having submitted in April 2013 a draft resolution to the UN Security Council on the introduction of Human Rights Monitoring Mechanism within the UN Mission for Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), but which has been blocked by some members of UN decision making body.
She has also called on the congress to care more about the Human rights situation in Western Sahara and the issue of the illegal exploitation of its mining and fishing resources by Morocco and foreign firms. (SPS)
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