Reacting to a speech made by Algerian Foreign Minister, Mourad Medelci before the Human Rights Council (HRC), the Moroccan diplomat said that Algeria, which speaks of the right to self-determination, has, for over three decades, deprived the population of the right to life, to movement and even the right to hope.

Citing extracts from the Human Rights Watch Report released last December, he said that the document emphasized the responsibility of the host country, Algeria, concerning the protection of the rights of all persons on its territory.

Hilal stressed on the fact that the report notes that the international community must hold the government of Algeria and the Polisario accountable for any violation of human rights perpetrated by the Polisario in Algeria. 

Morocco expected the Algerian Minister to react before the HRC to the recommendation made by HRW to his government to “permit on-the-ground monitoring of human rights conditions in the Tindouf camps” and “publicly acknowledge its own responsibility for ensuring the respect for the rights of all persons on the Algerian territory.”

He also reiterated that the North African kingdom attaches utmost importance to the defence and promotion of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.

Two international rights NGOs have seized the opportunity of the participation of the Algerian Foreign Minister in the general debate to question him about these breaches that continue to prevail in Tindouf camps.

The International Democratic Center (IDC) pointed out that “Algeria holds, under international law, the primary responsibility for this tragedy that is taking place on its own territory and, unfortunately, is bound to drag on.”

For its part, the Union of Feminine Action called on Algeria to shoulder its responsibilities concerning these breaches, and on the Algerian official to tell the truth about the disappearances and torture inflicted on thousands of Sahrawis in Tindouf since 1975.