New York, Jan 22, 2014 (SPS) - Human Rights Watch (HRW) has denounced the continuous violation of human rights by Morocco in Western Sahara, citing the unfair trials and police violence against Sahrawi peaceful demonstrators claiming their right to self-determination.
In its World Report 2014 on human rights released Tuesday, HRW noted that Moroccan courts sent Sahrawis to jail after "unfair trials'', adding that Moroccan police used ''excessive force'' to break up peaceful demonstrations in Western Sahara, while the authorities ''repressed supporters of self-determination."
“When it comes to human rights, Morocco is like a vast construction site where authorities announce major projects with much fanfare but then stall on finishing the foundations,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director.
For this NGO, even Moroccans and their civil society do not enjoy freedom of critisize and protest Moroccan government policies, when it comes to certain issues such as that of the question of Western Sahara.
HRW also indicated tha Moroccan authorities rejected a United States proposal to enlarge the mandate of the UN peacekeeping operation in Western Sahara, known as the MINURSO, to include observation of human rights.
It, therefore, recalled that Moroccan courts convicted Saharawi defendants in politically sensitive cases solely on the basis of their confessions, without investigating claims that the police extracted the confessions through torture and ill-treatment.
In February 2013, the report stated, Rabat Military Court sentenced 25 Sahrawi defendants to terms mostly ranging from 20 years to life in prison for their alleged participation in violent clashes in the Gdeim Izik potest camp in Western Sahara two years earlier.
The ONG, in this respect, argued that King Mohammed VI "should keep the pledges he made in 2013 to support ending military trials of civilians." (SPS)
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