Rabat – A video of a Sahrawi woman condemning the Polisario Front leader, Ibrahim Ghali, for raping her has been shared on Twitter.
A Twitter account called Western Sahara Scene, created two months ago, shared a video clip of a Sahrawi woman named Khadijatou Mahmoud saying that she was raped by the leader of the separatist group.
Mahmoud said Ghali raped her in the separatists’ secretariat in Rabouni, Algeria.
Mahmoud said: “I see [Ibrahim] in meetings in Rabouni and during visits by international organizations.”
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She continued, “There was nothing going wrong between us. When I arrived there, the embassy guard told me that my appointment was scheduled for 7 p.m.”
Mahmoud said she agreed to meet with Ghali at 7 because she needed some documents to be signed to get a visa.
“I sat and introduced myself. It is difficult to remember the memories from the beginning to the end. He raped me. And what happened happened.”
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She said that she left the embassy feeling dizzy.
She then visited a friend who was staying at a hotel, and she told her what happened.
Mahmoud’s friend then advised her to talk to her family. But when Mahmoud told her mother, her mother told her to keep it secret.
“But you know. We are ignorant,” she said, referring to her mother’s advice.
“My mother told me, ‘If you tell this, you will have no future. You may find someone who will accept to marry you.’ It is about tradition, virginity.”
HEINOUS watch victim of rape by #Polisario leader Ghali. #Khadijatou seeks #justice@ENF_EP @GreensEP @EFDgroup @ecrgroup @EPPGroup @GUENGL @TheProgressives @ALDEgroup @Europarl_EN @EU_Commission @FrontLineHRD @USUN @rightsofwomen @WomensRights @women_rights @UrgentAct @UAFAfrica pic.twitter.com/c5QXHb5ZKy
— Western Sahara Scene (@SaharaScene) February 5, 2019
In December 2007, the Spanish National court accepted a complaint against Polisario leaders and Algerian security and army officers for “genocide, torture, enforced disappearances, illegal detention and serious violations of human rights.”
The list of the suspects involved in committing the alleged illegal acts included Ibrahim Ghali, leader of the Polisario Front. Ghali was also featured in a 2017 documentary called “Embarrassing Witnesses: The Real Face of the Polisario” broadcast by Moroccan state-owned television channel 2M about the front’s violation of human rights and Ghali’s involvement.
