Washington (U.S.A), April 14, 2016 (SPS) - The use of torture and resort to arbitrary arrests by Moroccan authorities remain widespread in the occupied Sahrawi territories, denounced Wednesday the U.S. Department of State in its annual Report of Human Rights Practices in the World.
The document, devoted to Western Sahara, and which traces the violations of rights in the occupied territories in 2015, reports the proliferation of “inhuman and degrading treatment” on Sahrawi prisoners.
Citing a report of Amnesty International, the Department of State noted that “torture in official custody persisted, although it was not systematic, and that a climate of “impunity” allowed such practices to continue.”
“The August 2014 report of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention noted the working group received numerous complaints that authorities in Laayoune used torture and mistreatment to extract confessions over the period 2010-2014,” said the Department of State.
In 2015, Moroccan authorities rejected most of the complaints filed by victims of human rights violations and only relied on the facts presented by the Moroccan police, said the Department of State, which denounced in this regard the refusal of the Moroccan government’s representatives to provide information on the outcome of complaints.
The report noted that Western Sahara courts are not independent, corruption and extrajudicial influence further weakened their powers.SPS
125/090/TRA