German socialist euro-parliamentarian, Vural Oger has addressed a query to the European Commission on the measures it plans to take in order to "get the Polisario and Algeria (...) cooperate with a view to shedding light on the committed breaches, indemnifying victims and identifying the perpetrators and sending them before justice."

The document affirms that "the testimonies of the Moroccan former detainees speak of exactions and ill-treatments," asserting that these testimonies "were largely corroborated by probes led by several international NGOs."

The paper is referring to the human rights breaches committed against the Moroccans sequestered in the Polisario-run Tindouf camps, southwestern Algeria. The Polisario, which enjoys full and unconditional support from Algeria, is laying claims, since 1976, to Morocco's Southern Provinces -The Sahara - a territory that Morocco retrieved in 1975 from the Spanish rule under the Madrid Accords. 

Touching on the restrictions imposed on the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the camps, the European MP asked the EC whether it intends to take measures to incite Algeria to “grant the UNHCR free access to the populations of the camps.”

Oger also wanders if “the presence of armed agents inside the Tindouf camps does not constitute a source of concern” for the commission, especially that the UNHCR headquarters is 40km away from the camps.

In a related issue, Morocco’s Royal Advisory Council for Sahara Issues (CORCAS) launched on Friday its four-language official website (www.corcas.com) to provides all required information on this institution. The site, launched in Arabic, French, Spanish and English is one of several sites of the www.sahara.online portal to be launched soon.