Moroccan forces of occupation kidnap a Saharawi old man one day before his flight to the refugee camps

The Saharawi Coordinator with the Minurso, Mhamed Khadad, indicated in a press release that the Moroccan forces of occupation kidnapped an old Saharawi one day before he could travel to the Saharawi refugee camps within the framework of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ families visit exchange. The Saharawi grand father, Othman Masoud Abdallahi (69), was kidnapped by Moroccan agents in his house in the occupied city of Smara, and he is still reported missing. POLISARIO Front called on the UNHCR to assume its responsibility, and demands from the Moroccan authorities to account for this new victim of abduction, and also to enable him to take profit of the visit exchange, especially that he is now holder of the UNHCR voyage number: 04/SMA/Tind/SMA. The same source indicated that this incident gives proof on the veracity of the findings of Human Rights Watch in its report of 2008, in which it condemned serious Moroccan violations of human rights in the occupied zones of Western Sahara. It also asked for the implementation of that reports’ recommendations, especially the expansion of the mandate of the Minurso to include monitoring and protecting human rights in Western Sahara. Eye witnesses also said that the Moroccan forces of occupation violently arrested the old man, beating his daughter, Sleilam and two of her children.

---