New York (United Nations), 15 April 2022 (SPS) - The Algerian delegation denounced before the UN Security Council the massive and repeated violations perpetrated by the Moroccan occupation forces against Sahrawi human rights defenders.
During an open debate held Wednesday by the Security Council, under the theme "Women, Peace and Security", at the initiative of the British presidency on "sexual violence related to conflicts", the Algerian delegation exposed "the terrible and repeated violations perpetrated by the Moroccan occupation against women human rights defenders in Western Sahara.
In that connection, the delegation referred to the facts revealed by a broad coalition of non-governmental organizations that had denounced the massive and repeated violations by the Moroccan occupying forces, which used sexual violence as a means of intimidating Saharawi women human rights defenders, such as Sultana Khaya and Aminatou Haidar, to name a few.
These violations, the delegation recalled, were also reported and recorded by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, stressing that they are "systematic" and require greater attention from the international community and relevant bodies, including the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, as part of its mandate.
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