SAIH til FN: Menneskerettighetssituasjonen i Vest-Sahara må overvåkes

22. april skal FNs Sikkerhetsråd igjen diskutere mandatet til FNs fredsbevarende styrke i Vest-Sahara, MINURSO. I et brev til presidenten for sikkerhetsrådet, Jordans FN-ambassadør Dina Kawar, oppfordrer SAIH til at medlemmene av FNs sikkerhetsråd sørger for uavhengig, upartisk og permanent overvåkning av menneskerettigheter i Vest-Sahara og flyktningleirene. Dette skal gjøres ved å inkludere en slik mekanisme i MINURSO-mandataet.

I brevet redegjør SAIH også for funnene i den nye rapporten Acting With Impunity, som ble lansert 13. april, og oppfordrer FN til å igjen jobbe mer for å på plass folkeavstemningen for det saharawiske folk, i lys av deres rett til selvbestemmelse. Folkeavstemningen har blitt lovet siden 1991, og var opprinnelig hoveformålet med MINURSOs tilstedeværelse i Vest-Sahara.

Les hele brevet:

To Her Excellency Mrs Dina KawarAmbassador and Permanent Representative of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to the United Nations

Dear Amassador,

Last year the UN Security Council failed to provide an independent, impartial, comprehensive, and sustained monitoring of human rights, both in Western Sahara and in the refugee camps in the MINURSO-mandate, despite the calls for human rights monitoring by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

The Norwegian Students' and Academics' International Assistance Fund (SAIH) have produced a report systematizing and recording alleged human rights violations in the Moroccan occupied territories between 1st of April 2014 to 1st of March 2015. This is approximately the period since the UN Security Council last time failed to include a permanent human rights monitoring mandate to the MINURSO mission.

The report highlights major and critical human rights violations towards the people of Western Sahara in the occupied territories.

55 Saharawis have complained of torture since April 2014, including seven children. Torture is used systematically to extract confessions, and judges not only fail to investigate allegations that statements have been extracted under torture, but also habitually accept said statements in court.Several political prisoners reportedly remain behind bars living in degrading and inhumane conditions, whilst the fates of hundreds of disappeared Saharawis remain unaccounted for.3 Saharawis have died in detention under suspicious circumstances. A fourth Saharawi died six days after he was released from detention.Landmines continue to endanger the lives of shepherds, with 2 Saharawi deaths since April 2014.The Saharawi population is experiencing repression of their culture as well as discrimination in the education and employment fields. In July 2014, the main mosque used by Saharawis was closed down by Moroccan authorities.There have been 51 reports of Moroccan authorities using violence against Saharawis since April 2014.

The report writers have systematically crosschecked information and interviewed the offended when possible to ensure the veracity of the alleged human rights violations. However only the United Nations can be an impartial authority to report these human rights violations. The findings highlights not only the need for an independent, impartial, comprehensive, and sustained monitoring of human rights, both in Western Sahara and in the refugee camps in the MINURSO-mandate. It also highlights the need for an immediate implementation of the referendum to determine the future status of the territory as negotiated and agreed between the parties to the conflict in 1991.

The Norwegian Students' and Academics' International Assistant Fund calls the members of the UN Security Council to:

Provide independent, impartial, comprehensive, and sustained monitoring of human rights, both in Western Sahara and in the refugee camps through an inclusion of such mechanism in the MINURWO mandate.Return to stressing the need for a referendum for the Saharawi people, in the light of the people's fundamental and clear right to self-determination.

Sincerly Yours,

Jørn Wichne PedersenPresident, The Norwegian Students' and Academics' International Assistance Fund

Les mer om SAIHs kampanje "The Last Colony: 40 Years Is Enough"