France closely follows situation of Ould Sidi Mouloud, French Foreign Ministry September 30, 2010
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Paris – France closely follows the situation of Mustapha Salma Ould Sidi Mouloud, kidnapped by the polisario in Tindouf upon his return from Morocco, where he voiced support for the Kingdom’s autonomy initiative to settle the Sahara issue, Spokesperson for the French foreign Ministry Bernard Valero said on Wednesday.
“We pay close attention to the situation of Mustapha Salma Ould Sidi Mouloud”, Valero said in the first official reaction by the French government to this human rights breach which was vigorously denounced by Morocco.
The Kingdom had called on the UN and the EU to intercede with Algerian authorities in order to secure the release of Ould Mouloud.
Morocco also urged the UN Secretary General and the EU to put pressure on Algeria to shoulder its responsibility with regards to protecting Ould Sidi Mouloud and his family against reprisals by the polisario.
The abduction of the former chief inspector of the “polisario’s police” led to a wave of indignation and solidarity in France. In this respect, a group of French jurists and university professors set up in Paris a committee to support Ould Sidi Mouloud and put pressure on Algeria to release him.
French senators to support Morocco’s autonomy plan in international bodies September 29, 2010
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French senators, who recently visited the Kingdom’s southern provinces, decided to stand up in international bodies for Morocco’s autonomy proposal to settle the Sahara issue, head of the delegation Christian Cambon told MAP.
Cambon also called on Algeria and the Polisario to “facilitate the negotiations” on the autonomy project, which was hailed by the international community as “serious and credible”.
Upon their return to France following a visit to the Sahara, on September 15-18, the Senators representing different French political parties have agreed to hold, shortly in Paris, an international conference to highlight the relevance of the autonomy project.
“Several factors lead us to support this project and our visit to the southern provinces only confirmed our belief in this regard,” noted Cambon, the president of France-Morocco friendship group in the Senate.
“We think this is a positive initiative that should be encouraged, as all solutions proposed in the past, including the referendum on self-determination, led to nothing,” he said.
Cambon added that the Moroccan project is backed by “the significant investments” achieved by the Moroccan authorities to develop the southern provinces.
The French senator also stressed the need to “take into consideration the humanitarian aspect” of the situation in the Tindouf camps (south-western Algeria).
“Tens of thousands of Sahrawis are held against their will in these camps,” he said, citing, in this regard, the case of Mustapha Salma Ould Sidi Mouloud, Inspector General of the polisario’s police, who was kidnapped on his way to Tindouf after he publicly voiced support for Moroccan autonomy initiative.
Indonesia supports Morocco’s autonomy initiative as suitable solution to Sahara issue September 28, 2010
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Indonesia supports Morocco’s autonomy initiative as a suitable solution to the Sahara issue, within the framework of the UN.
The remark was made by visiting Vice President of the parliamentary cooperation commission of the Indonesian Parliament, Muhammed Najib, following a meeting with Second Deputy of the Moroccan Parliament, Nourredine Moudiane.
Najib said his country will back Morocco’s autonomy initiative at the UN and other international organizations.
He highlighted the privileged political ties between Morocco and Indonesia expressing his country’s willingness to promote economic relations.
For his part, Moudiane said the meeting was an opportunity to examine the means to promote cooperation between the two countries in the political, economic and religious fields.
In this respect, he called for promoting the exchange of visits between the members of the two countries’ legislative bodies and for stimulating the initiatives relating to the Moroccan-Indonesian parliamentary friendship group.
Morocco vehemently denounces arrest of Ould Mouloud on his way to Tindouf camps to join his family New York – Morocco vehemently denounced, on Wednesday, the arrest of Mustapha Salma Ould Mouloud on his way to the camps of Tindouf, in Algeria, to join his family. September 23, 2010
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In a statement to MAP, Morocco’s Foreign Minister Taib Fassi Fihri denounced “in the strongest terms, the arrest,” on Tuesday, “of Mustapha Salma Ould Sidi Mouloud, while he was preparing to join his family members in the camps of Tindouf in Algeria, following a stay in Morocco.”
“The Kingdom of Morocco expresses its deep concern and dismay at the infringement of the physical integrity of Ould Sidi Mouloud and condemns the coercive and punitive measures taken against his family and against him,” said Fassi Fihri, who is taking part in New York in the Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
This serious act “by Algeria and the polisario confirms the peculiar nature prevailing in the camps of Tindouf, on the Algerian territory, where free movement is hindered, free speech is confiscated and free opinion is censored,” he added.
The minister pointed out that Ould Sidi Mouloud “only expressed, freely and publicly, an opinion widely supported at international level and shared by a vast majority of people of Sahrawi descent, not only in the southern provinces, but also in the camps of Tindouf.”
“After he declared that the Moroccan autonomy initiative is the best perspective to settle the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara, Ould Sidi Mouloud announced that he intended to join his family in the camps of Tindouf in the Algerian territory,” he said.
“The Kingdom of Morocco rejects, vigorously and categorically, the excuses and arguments advanced to justify this extremely serious act,” he said.
The travesty of a “judiciary police”, a “court” or “liberated territories” can trick no one, considering that the international community is fully aware of the exact status of the eastern part of the berm,” the minister said.
“This travesty will not exempt Algeria from its full and entire responsibility for this reprehensible act,” Fassi Fihri affirmed.
“In fact, Algeria bears full responsibility, in conformity with the international law, vis-à-vis the populations in the camps of Tindouf,” he said.
The minister recalled that “Algeria, a state party to the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the status of Refugees, cannot shirk from its clear and specific legal duties which fall to it with regard to the Tindouf camps populations.”
He added that “the Kingdom of Morocco calls on the Secretary-General of the UN to take urgent action with the Algerian authorities to ensure the protection of Mustapha Salma Ould Sidi Mouloud and the members of his family.”
The Kingdom has also asked the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay, to take the steps needed to protect Ould Sidi Mouloud from retaliation and preserve his physical integrity and dignity in accordance with universal principles of Human Rights, the minister said.
Ould Sidi Mouloud arrested by polisario upon arrival in border post leading to Tindouf September 22, 2010
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Rabat – Mustapha Salma Ould Sidi Mouloud was arrested on Tuesday evening by the militia of polisario upon his arrival in the border post leading to the Tindouf camps, coming from the Mauritanian territory, international media reported on Tuesday.
The militiamen of polisario, who were on board of two vehicles, arrested Mustapha Salma Ould Sidi Mouloud, official of “polisario”, in the region of Mhiriz, before taking him to unknown destination, the same sources said.
Ould Sidi Mouloud had, earlier in the day, made a call to Sahrawi and international public opinion, in which he expressed determination to defend his convictions despite the state of terror the polisario leadership seeks to impose in the camps to muzzle consciences and prevent them from proclaiming the truth.
He also the UN and all international human rights organisations to support him to preserve his right to free speech and his physical integrity.
Mustapha Salma Ould Sidi Mouloud had announced, early August in the southern city of Smara, his intention to return to the camps of Lahmada to defend Morocco’s autonomy proposal.
Sahrawi NGO stresses Algeria’s responsibility for tragic rights situation in Tindouf camps September 21, 2010
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Geneva – The Laayoune based NGO for promoting human rights and coexistence (ACAD) stressed, on Monday, Algeria’s responsibility for the tragic human rights situation in the polisario-administered camps in Tindouf.
The populations held captive in the camps live under extremely harsh conditions, the NGO’s chairman Hamadi Cherifi told the 15th session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC).
They are deprived of basic living conditions and fundamental rights, Cherifi deplored, saying he is alarmed by the reports about the systematic rights violations in the camps.
The population held against their will in the camps are denied fundamental rights and freedoms including the freedom of movement, right to employment, right to a decent life and the freedom of expression, he decried.
The Sahrawis, who managed to escape the camps and join their homeland Morocco, recounted testimonies about the persistence of slavery, torture and forced disappearances in the camps, he said, adding that the polisario leadership continues to profit from the international humanitarian aid embezzlement at the expense of the suffering population.
By virtue of the international law, Algeria is responsible for these grave violations of human rights which take place within its territory under its protection, he made it clear.
The ACAD calls for the international community to put pressure in order to enable a census of the camps’ population and ensure them the right of movement, he said, recalling that thousands managed to flee Algeria and returned to their homeland Morocco where they can lead a decent life.
UNHCR disappointed at prevention of 20 beneficiaries of family-visit flights from entering Tindouf September 21, 2010
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Geneva – The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expressed, on Monday, “disappointment” following the prevention by the polisario of 20 Moroccan beneficiaries of the family-visit flights programme from disembarking at the Tindouf airport.
The UNHCR resumed, on Friday, a stalled programme of family-visit flights with a flight from Smara to Tindouf after “well-coordinated efforts with all parties involved,” said a statement of the UN body.
“To our disappointment, the 20 passengers on the flight were prevented from disembarking by the polisario representatives in Tindouf,” the statement says, adding that “the UNHCR had no choice but to fly the passengers back to Smara”.
UNHCR said it is seeking to clarify with the Polisario the reasons for the refusal of disembarkation, noting that “Friday’s flight was aimed at restarting the programme and was the result of intensive but constructive negotiations with Morocco and the polisario.”
“Family-visit flights are an important element in a Confidence Building Measures programme that has been in place since 2004,” the UNHCR said.
“It is our hope that the Confidence Building Measures programme will be able to resume at the earliest opportunity,” the UNHCR underlined.
Spain calls for just, final and lasting settlement of Sahara conflict September 7, 2010
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Madrid – Spain is calling for a “just, final and lasting” solution for the Sahara conflict, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said on Friday in Madrid.
The Spanish government believes it is necessary to reach, through negotiations under the United Nations auspices, a just, final and lasting solution for the Sahara issue, Moratinos said following a meeting with his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner.
In this regard, the Spanish official said that Spain and France share the same vision regarding the Sahara conflict, adding that the resolution of this conflict will enable the settlement of the Sahel issue.
Resolving the dispute over the Sahara conflict will guarantee the stability of the Sahel region and put an end to the various threats facing this region, Moratinos underlined.
During the meeting, both Ministers noted the similarity of their viewpoints on many subjects notably the Sahara issue, he said.
Regarding the Moroccan-Spanish relations, Moratinos underscored that all outstanding issues were “favourably resolved”.
Father of Chief Inspector of polisario’s police urges rights watchdogs to ensure safety of his son September 6, 2010
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Laayoune – Father of Mustapha Salma Ould Sidi Mouloud, chief inspector of the polisario’s police, called upon human rights NGOs to ensure the safety of his son who is on his way to the camps of Tindouf.
In a statement to Laayoune regional channel, Salma Ould Sidi Mouloud called on these NGOs to hold Algeria and the polisario fully responsible for the safety of his son.
The chief inspector of the polisario’s police said, at a press conference on August 9, that he intended to defend the autonomy proposal in the Sahara to resolve this artificial conflict and put an end to the sufferings of the Sahrawis held captive in the camps of Tindouf.
The polisario’s leader left Smara (southern Morocco) few days ago heading for the Tindouf camps to join his family. He is currently in Zouerate (Mauritania) and has to complete paperwork before leaving the territory.
The Moroccan rights watchdog (CCDH) has urged national and international human rights organizations to do their best so that the senior polisario official could return to Tindouf (south-western Algeria) safe and sound and defend his opinions freely.
PAM party condemns ‘irresponsible and provocative’ actions of some Spaniards in Laayoune September 3, 2010
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The Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) vehemently denounced “irresponsible and provocative actions” by a group of Spaniards in the southern city of Laayun.
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