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Arrival in Agadir of Moroccan prisoners after decades in
Tindouf prisons in
South-East Algeria
ICTP
The International Committee for the Prisoners of Tindouf (ICTP) was delighted when the remaining 404 Moroccan
Prisoners of War were released from detention in Tindouf
on 18 August 2006 and welcomes their liberation after so many years of
imprisonment.
ICTP is an association grouping a number of people from different countries
whose prime objective is to secure compensation for the longest serving
prisoners in the world held for over two decades in Tindouf,
South-West Algeria.
The ICTP hopes not only that the remains of those Moroccan
Prisoners of War who died while in detention will be returned speedily to
their families for burial in Morocco, but that an investigation into those
Moroccan Prisoners of War, as yet unaccounted for, will be launched, so that
their families can be informed as to what happened to them.
The ICTP's actions will be conducted in conformity
with the principles of International NGO's and the United Nations call for
reparations for the prisoners who should have been released when the
cease-fire came into force between the conflicting parties in Western Sahara
in 1991 and were not freed until August 2006.
The ICTP is particularly concerned about the human rights violations
committed against these prisoners in Tindouf and
the lack of access and investigations into their fate. The shocking and
horrifying accounts reported by the French NGO "France-Libertés" in August 2003 are but few examples of the
terrible treatments endured by these prisoners.
The ICTP's course of action will be focused on
highlighting the harsh punishment inflicted on the prisoners in breach of
International Humanitarian law and the Geneva Convention and the call for
their compensation and the whereabouts of their colleagues whose fate is
unknown.
The ICTP will attempt to throw some light on the hundreds of people who have
disappeared while detained by Polisario in the Tindouf Camps and would welcome any assistance in this
humanitarian endeavour. It will also join forces
with other international NGO's anxious to secure compensation from the
Algerian government responsible for the detention of these prisoners on Algerian
territory in clear violation of the Geneva Convention and International Law.
The ICTP will also demand the repatriation of bodies of prisoners killed as a
result of torture and buried in Rabbouni, near the Tindouf Camps, so that the victims’ families can
give them a proper burial.
The International Committee for the Tindouf
Prisoners is a NGO comprising members from several European countries
including the UK, Switzerland, France,
Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands,
Norway and Italy. It was
set up in 2004 to draw attention to the human rights abuses suffered by
Moroccan Prisoners of War imprisoned in Tindouf, Algeria,
and works with governments, NGOs, and the United Nations to seek redress and
justice on behalf of former Moroccan Prisoners of War and their families.
American Senator Richard Lugar welcoming prisoners at Agadir airport
Welcoming committee comprising from left minister of
interior,
Mustapha Sahel, Senator Richard G. Lugar chairman
of the US Senate Foreign affairs Committee, Mohammed Benaissa,
minister of foreign affairs and
cooperation and Thomas Riley US Ambassador in Morocco
Press Communiqués:
Communiqué
18 August 2005
Following the release on Thursday 18 August 2005 of the
longest serving prisoners of war in the world, the International Committee
for the Tindouf Prisoners (ICTP) welcomes this move
which will put an end to the sufferings of the detainees and their families.
The ICTP expresses satisfaction at the
release of these prisoners after their illegal detention for 15 years
following the conclusion of UN-brokered cease-fire on 6 September 1991. This
unacceptable delay constitutes a flagrant violation of international Human
Rights laws. This is made worse by the implication of Algeria, a state signatory to the Geneva conventions, who
arms and supports a group directly responsible for the suffering of the
prisoners.
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Important Independent
Testimonies
- " In recent years, the International Committee of
the Red Cross have had access to the detention centres
in the refugee camps of Tindouf, in South-Western
Algeria, where the Polisario Front is based. They
have conducted some two visits per year, monitoring the situation of the
Moroccan prisoners and providing a range of services, including medical
assistance and enabling prisoners to communicate with their families. Article
118 of the Third Geneva Convention states that "Prisoners of war shall
be released and repatriated without delay after the cessation of active
hostilities." (Amnesty International Report published on 5 September
2003-News Service No: 208).
- It is to be recalled that in 1975 the Polisario
Front signed the Declaration of acceptance of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 which allows
liberation movements to fully commit themselves to this legislation. Another
way of twisting the meaning of international law to suit their purpose, Polisario said that the 1991 UN Peace Plan takes
precedence over the Geneva
Conventions. This is a flagrant violation of International Law.
- The French "Fondation
France-Libertes" stated in a report on
"The conditions of Moroccan POW Detained in Tindouf"
and published in July 2003 that, "The International Committee of the Red
Cross considers the Polisario Front as the power
responsible for the detention of Moroccan POW, however, before our visit, Polisario delegates told us that they did not have any
contact with the Algerian authorities as far as the issue of detainees is
concerned, yet, at the end of our visit, there was no doubt the question of
prisoners was as relevant to the Polisario
Front as it was to Algeria."
- "The UN Security Council Reaffirms its call upon
the Polisario Front to release without further
delay all remaining prisoners of war in compliance with international
humanitarian law, and its call upon Morocco and the Polisario
Front to continue to cooperate with the International Committee of the Red
Cross to resolve the fate of persons who are unaccounted for since the
beginning of the conflict". (UN Security Council Resolution 1495 adopted
31 July 2003).
-"Thanks to the
International Committee of the Red Cross, the conditions have improved, but
humanitarian organisations such as Amnesty
International have completely forgotten all about us. Amnesty representatives
came once in 1994 and we never saw them again. It's a shame. We cannot tell
you all the things that happen here because if we talk to anyone, we would
get beaten", a testimony of a Tindouf prisoner
to the French journalist Laurence Mazure.
"When they were wounded at the time of their
capture, they were transferred to Algeria for medical treatment,
and spent some time in Algerian jails about which they say they are
infinitely better than their present conditions of detention. They hate the
Spanish "tourists" who receive Saharawi
children for holidays and come to visit the camps. These people look at the
prisoners as though they were mere curiosities", said Laurence Mazure who made a television documentary on the Western Sahara issue and recalls that "Many of
them have been forced into hard labour for up to 20
years."
-"All members of the crew and I witnessed the existence of
forced labour in the context of a humanitarian
project sponsored by the British charity OXFAM" Mazure
explains and adds that "Personally, I think that when people demand that
one should keep silent about the torture inflicted by Polisario
members in the name of the right to self-determination of the Saharawi people, this simply implies the implicit
consolidation of impunity enjoyed by the individuals responsible for such
torture".
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