Assahafa.com
Mahmoud Zaidan, a former detainee of the polisario, delivered a damning testimony Monday before the 61st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, denouncing serious human rights violations in the Tindouf camps.
Zaidan, a former blogger critical of the separatist front, said he was subjected to abduction and enforced disappearance for more than four months, as well as psychological and physical torture, before being forced to flee the camps of shame under death threats.
Speaking during the general debate under agenda item 2, he stated that his only offense was criticizing and denouncing polisario leaders and calling, through social media, for an end to the grave and systematic violations committed against Sahrawis by the separatist leadership and affiliated armed groups.
Zaidan also reported daily cases of repression, abductions, and extrajudicial executions, as well as practices amounting to slavery.
He further accused polisario leaders of diverting humanitarian aid, exploiting children through recruitment and involvement in criminal networks and drug trafficking, and silencing dissenting voices in order to instill a climate of fear among the populations.
In this regard, he called on the international community to take action and urged the HRC to intervene through its mechanisms to protect the camps’ populations and put an end to these serious violations.
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