Paris, January 18, 2012 (MAP)
France draws attention to the situation of human rights in the camps of Tindouf, in the Algerian territory, which must “be improved” and calls for conducting a headcount of the camps’ populations, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé said.
Answering questions by French deputies on the evolution of the Sahara issue, published on Tuesday, Juppé underlined that the latest resolution 1979, adopted in April 2011 by the UNSC, comprises “several crucial messages, including one specifically on human rights which all parties are urged to secure.”
France deems that “the human rights situation in the camps of Tindouf, in Algeria, must be improved,” he affirmed.
France, which is financially contributing to measures seeking to ameliorate the humanitarian situation of populations living in Tindouf, mainly through the Word Food Program, “seconds the call by the UNSC to make a census of these populations which will enable meeting their needs,” the minister added.
On Morocco’s respect for human rights in the Saharan provinces, Juppé underlined the strong decisions that the Kingdom took in 2011 in terms of “protecting and promoting human rights and taking account of the economic and social needs, including the Sahara’s.”
For France, the review of the Constitution, upon the initiative of King Mohammed VI, is “a breakthrough mainly in terms of the protection of human rights and public liberties.”
