Ibrahim Ghali, who faces accusations in Spain of torture and human rights abuses, was re-elected for a second term as the secretary-general of the Polisario Front on December 24.
Rabat – The former Polisario security officer Mustafa Salma Ould Sidi Mouloud has again issued a strong condemnatory statement against the breakaway group Polisario Front in the Tindouf camps, Algeria.
Mustafa Salma has long criticized the Polisario Front and Algeria for human rights violations against Sahrawis, saying they are held against their will in the camps.
On December 24, the former Polisario member asked rhetorically “For how long will Sahrawis remain hostage to the terrorist politics of the Polisario?” he asked.
The comment followed the reelection of Ibrahim Ghali as secretary-general of the Polisario Front for a second term on December 24.
Mustafa Salma believes that the structure of the Polisario Front will see no changes.
“The system of the Polisario Front, which claims democracy remained a totalitarian authoritarian [group],” he said before denouncing human rights violations in the camps.
“[Polisario’s] constitution governing Sahrawis contradicts all human rights laws and the rules of democratic systems,” he argued.
Some pro-Polisario media outlets have been voicing concerns about Sahrawis in the camps, who are facing human rights violations, lack of freedom of movement, arbitrary detentions, malnutrition, and illnesses.
Earlier this month, Sahrawi detainees at Al Rachid prison near Tindouf condemned human rights violations in a letter published by Futuro Sahara.
Read Also: Letter from Sahrawi Prisoners Exposes Polisario Human Rights Violations
The group of 126 Sahrawi detainees addressed the letter to the international community to draw attention to their plight.
“Following the horrific [violence] we have been subjected to, we address the Sahrawi, international and regional public and the readers to share our suffering [with you],” the letter reads.
The letter is not the first of its kind. However, only a few rights groups have condemned the human rights violations in the camps, including Human Rights Watch.
The United Nations has also been silent in response to the letters and calls from Sahrawis in the camps.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres briefly mentioned the situation of former detainee and activist Aba Bouzid and his colleagues in his annual report to the UN on Western Sahara in October.
Paragraph 71 of the report mentioned that the three activists, Fadel Braika, Mahmoud Zidane, and Bouzid, were detained over protests about the situation in the camps.
The report said that OHCHR informed UN of “the harassment, arrest, arbitrary detention and ill-treatment by Frente POLISARIO security forces of a human rights defender and a blogger engaged in documenting human rights violations in the region.”
Subsequently released, the three had been arrested in June for participating in protests.
Mustafa Salma condemned the “Constitution” of the self-proclaimed SADR for prohibiting any political parties and associations, according to Article 31.
“Will the honorable Sahrawi people continue to accept this situation indefinitely?” Mustafa Salma asked, criticizing Ghali for his total control over Sahrawis and the camps.
