should investigate the events which caused several deaths in a protest camp in Western Sahara
11 November 2010 AI Index: PRE01/371/2010
11 November 2010 AI Index: PRE01/371/2010
Moroccan authorities must launch an independent investigation on events that have made a number of dead and wounded Gadaym Izik, camp protesters near Laayoune, Western Sahara, Amnesty International said Thursday, November 11 2010.D according to the government, nine people were killed during operations Monday, November 8 and in the days that followed, dont huit membres des forces de sécurité. Des militants locaux des droits humains ont raconté à Amnesty International que des témoins ont vu 11 habitants du camp allongés sur le sol, blessés. Certains saignaient, tandis que d’autres souffraient de brûlures.Selon certaines informations, des milliers de Sahraouis ont été expulsés de force de ce camp de fortune par les forces de sécurité marocaines. « Il est clair que nous sommes face à un événement très grave, qui menace d’attiser de nouvelles tensions au Sahara occidental, a expliqué Malcolm Smart, directeur du programme Moyen-Orient et Afrique du Nord d’Amnesty International. « Les autorités marocaines should immediately initiate an independent investigation to shed light on what happened and consider requesting their assistance to the UN. "We need to know what triggered this operation and if the force used was reasonable and proportionate or excessive. In case of using excessive force, officials are accountable. "From the testimony previously given to Amnesty International, the people have learned the impending action of the security forces that around 6 am, Monday, November 8, when a helicopter began to fly over the camp and they were ordered to leave. A few minutes later, the security forces forcibly entered the camp, hitting people and making use of tear gas and water cannons to force them hot out of their tents, which were then burned or razed. Moroccan authorities say the operation was necessary in order to free detainees in the camp against their will. They add that the security forces met strong resistance. According to the official Moroccan news agency, five police officers or security forces were killed and three others succumbed to their wounds the next day, while Sahraoui was killed accidentally by a police car traveling at high speed in Laayoune. An investigation was opened into his death, according autorités.Cependant, little information has filtered from the people in the camp who were forced to leave. The site has actually been completed by the Moroccan security forces. In Laayoune, a few kilometers west of the camp, protesters reportedly attacked and damaged public buildings, banks, shops and other property in the aftermath of the operation conducted by forces sécurité.Gadaym Izik is a camp of tents and makeshift shelters where they have installed in mid-October, thousands of Sahrawi, to protest against the marginalization they feel victims of the Moroccan authorities . They require work and suitable housing. The Sahrawi believe that although native of Western Sahara, they do not receive a fair share of profits from natural resources and land in the region. In addition, local authorities do not lend an ear to their demands for improving their socioeconomic conditions. The violence Monday November 8 coincided with the opening of further informal discussions on the future of Western Sahara between the Moroccan authorities and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro (Polisario Front), which calls for the independence of Western Sahara and runs a self-proclaimed government in exile - the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). These talks were held in New York at the behest of the United Nations special envoy for Western Sahara, Christopher Ross. "These events demonstrate once again that it is essential to include a component of monitoring human rights in the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), a body charged with monitoring the cease-fire signed between Morocco and the Frente Polisario there are nearly 20 years in 1991, said Malcolm Smart. "The absence of such a flap has undermined the effectiveness of MINURSO and allowed the abuses to be perpetrated without being properly investigated. "
