Sahrawi activists are condemning Polisario kidnappings. The fate of some of the disappeared remains unknown.
Rabat – The Polisario Front arrested Sahrawi journalist and activist Moulay Aba Buzid during a solidarity demonstration on Monday, June 17. The demonstration took place next to the high commission of refugees in Rabouni near Tindouf, Algeria.
Pro-Polisario news outlet FuturoSahara reported that several activists have condemned the “kidnapping” of their colleague who was “taken to an unknown destination by some members of the ‘national gendarmerie” without an arrest order from the ‘republic’s’ prosecutor.”
Mustafa Salma Ould Sidi Mouloud, a former Polisario member, confirmed the arrest on his Facebook page.
Mustafa Salma said “Keep the journalist hidden if you can. I learned of the arrest of the journalist in Sahrawi refugee camps today.I did not condemn this back then, and I don’t need to condemn it.
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Every Moment Buzid spends in detention does not only condemn Polisario, but also the high commission for refugees as he was arrested immediately after he left their office,” Mustafa Salma.
The activist added that Buzid, along with other activists, “went to the commission to hand in a letter, calling for the protection of Sahrawis in Morocco. However, it would have been more appropriate for them to demand their own protection.”
Mustafa Salma, who was police officer in the Tindouf camps, said that the High Commission is “required to reveal the fate” of the journalist.
“The Polisario Front is required to keep [the journalist) hidden, if it can. A week ago they were widely sharing a report from the Reporters Without Borders on the arrest of Sahrawi journalists and the crackdown on their activities in Morocco’s southern regions. I challenge [Polisario] them to keep journalist Buzid hidden now,” concluded Mustafa Salma.
This is not the first time that Polisario faces accusations of kidnapping and violent arrest of Sahrawi activists in the Tindouf camps.
Throughout this year, Polisario has been facing pressure from Sahrawis who have repeatedly condemned the mysterious disappearance of Ahmed El Khalil, a Polisario member who went missing more than 10 years ago under unknown circumstances.
The front claimed that El Khalil is alive after pressure from his family and activists who have continually protested his disappearance.
In February, Sahrawis took to the desert in Rabouni, where the Secretariat of the Polisario Front is located, to condemn the disappearance.
