Tindouf – Algeria : Algerian authorities questioned about the destiny of detained Sahrawis

With the coming visit of the Human Rights Watch (HRW) visit to Tindouf camps, many Sahrawis detained by the Polisario have been transferred to other non identified places in Algeria. Worried, families of these detained have got in touch with some Sahrawi and international human rights organizations, calling them to intervene to shed light on the detention and life conditions of their relatives.

Just before the arrival of HRW members, authorized by Algiers to go to Tindouf, Polisario leaders relieved congestion at their prisons. Some common law prisoners have been released but most of the detained people opposing the Polisario separatist ideology and thesis have been transferred to unknown places. 

Local organizations defending human rights, based in Boujdour and Laayoune, have asked Algerian authorities to reveal the detention places and open doors of these prisons to international NGO so that they can visit sequestrated Sahrawis and have some information about their detention conditions.
The League for human rights defenders in the Sahara has called international organizations to intercede with Algiers to release immediately the prisoner of conscience, Mohamed M’barek Ahmed Hammou (47 years old), victim of inhuman treatments and torture in the Polisario prisons. The latter has been unfairly sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, following iniquitous legal proceedings based on indictments completely made up by Polisario militia in collusion with Algerian Military Intelligence Services. The Sahrawi NGO express also their anxiety about the destiny of Mohamed M’barek Ahmed Salem Chibani Hammou and Mohamed Salek Ould Keya.