Human Rights in Western Sahara and in the Tindouf Refugee Camps Morocco/Western Sahara/Algeria Copyright © 2008 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 1-56432-420-6 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA Tel: +1 212 290 4700, Fax: +1 212 736 1300 [email protected] Poststraße 4-5 10178 Berlin, Germany Tel: +49 30 2593 06-10, Fax: +49 30 2593 0629 [email protected] Avenue des Gaulois, 7 1040 Brussels, Belgium Tel: + 32 (2) 732 2009, Fax: + 32 (2) 732 0471 [email protected] 64-66 Rue de Lausanne 1202 Geneva, Switzerland Tel: +41 22 738 0481, Fax: +41 22 738 1791 [email protected] 2-12 Pentonville Road, 2nd Floor London N1 9HF, UK Tel: +44 20 7713 1995, Fax: +44 20 7713 1800 [email protected] 27 Rue de Lisbonne 75008 Paris, France Tel: +33 (1)43 59 55 35, Fax: +33 (1) 43 59 55 22 [email protected] 1630 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 500 Washington, DC 20009 USA Tel: +1 202 612 4321, Fax: +1 202 612 4333 [email protected] Web Site Address: http://www.hrw.org December 2008 1-56432-420-6 Human Rights in Western Sahara and in the Tindouf Refugee Camps Map Of North Africa ....................................................................................................... 1 Summary...................................................................................................................... 2 Western Sahara ....................................................................................................... 3 Refugee Camps near Tindouf, Algeria ...................................................................... 8 Recommendations ...................................................................................................... 12 To the UN Security Council ..................................................................................... 12 Recommendations to the Government of Morocco .................................................. 12 Recommendations Regarding Human Rights in the Tindouf Camps ......................... 14 To the Polisario Front ........................................................................................ 14 To the Government of Algeria ............................................................................ 15 To Third-Party Governments and Regional Bodies ................................................... 16 Recommendations to the US and France ................................................................ 17 Methodology ............................................................................................................... 18 Legal Framework Applied in this Report ...................................................................... 20 Background to the Western Sahara Conflict ................................................................. 23 Key Third Parties: The United States, France, and the European Union......................... 32 The United States .................................................................................................. 32 France ................................................................................................................... 34 The European Union ............................................................................................... 35 Human Rights in Western Sahara ............................................................................... 38 The Right to a Fair Trial ........................................................................................... 39 2007-2008 Trial of Naf’i as-Sah and Abdallah al-Boussati for “Throwing Molotov Cocktails at a Police Car” .................................................................................. 43 2007 Trial of Mohamed Tahlil for “Arson” ......................................................... 47 2007 Trial of Eight Sahrawi Students at the University of Rabat for an “Armed Demonstration” ............................................................................................... 49 2008: Trial of Activist Naâma Asfari for “Drunk Driving and Assault” ................. 52 2005 Trial of Seven Human Rights Activists in El-Ayoun ..................................... 58 Complaints of Torture, Beatings, and Arbitrary Arrests of Sahrawi Activists ............. 61 Case Studies .................................................................................................... 65 Freedom of Assembly ............................................................................................. 87 Occasional Protester Violence Cannot Justify Broad Bans on the Right of Assembly ......................................................................................................... 93 Freedom of Association for Human Rights Organizations ........................................ 97 Forum for Truth and Justice – Sahara Section ................................................... 99 The Sahrawi Association of Victims of Grave Human Rights Violations ............ 102 CODESA ......................................................................................................... 104 Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) El-Ayoun Branch .................. 107 Treatment of Foreign Observers ............................................................................ 108 Morocco Expels French NGO Human Rights Delegation in April 2008 ............... 109 Morocco Blocks a Fact-Finding Mission by the European Parliament................ 110 Morocco Briefly Detains Delegation from Trade Union Consortium.................... 111 Press Freedom ...................................................................................................... 111 Human Rights in the Tindouf Camps ........................................................................... 114 Past Polisario Abuses and Accountability ..............................................................114 The Question of Political Detention in the Camps Today ........................................ 118 Freedom of Movement ......................................................................................... 122 Travel to Mauritania, Morocco, and Moroccan-Controlled Western Sahara ....... 124 Travel to Destinations other than Mauritania and Moroccan-controlled areas .. 130 Travel inside Algeria ....................................................................................... 130 Polisario Reportedly Prevents Sahrawi Dissident from Re-Entering Camps ........ 131 Freedom of Information, Expression, Association and Assembly ........................... 132 Places of Detention .............................................................................................. 137 Allegations of Slavery ........................................................................................... 142 Allegations of Slavery as it Affects Marriage .................................................... 143 Manumission Papers ...................................................................................... 146 The Case of “Saltana” .................................................................................... 148 Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................... 152 Appendices ............................................................................................................... 154 Appendix 1: Letter from Human Rights Watch to Moroccan Authorities Requesting Information on Human Rights and Western Sahara ............................................... 154 Appendix 2: Response from the Government of Morocco, dated May 30, 2008, to Letter from Human Rights Watch .......................................................................... 159 Appendix 3: Letter from Human Rights Watch to SADR Authorities ........................ 174 Appendix 4: SADR’s Response to Human Rights Watch Letter of February 8, 2008 . 179 Appendix 5: Letter from Human Rights Watch to SADR Authorities ........................ 186 Appendix 6: Response from SADR Authorities to the Letter of Human Rights Watch of April 1, 2008 ........................................................................................................ 194 Appendix 7: Letter from Human Rights Watch to Algerian authorities .................... 205 Appendix 8: Purported Manumission Document from the Tindouf Camps ............. 210 Map Of North Africa Morocco claims sovereignty over Western Sahara. It administers the approximately 85 percent of that territory over which it exercises de facto control -- the portion west of the “Berm” -- as if it were part of Morocco. The UN does not recognize Moroccan sovereignty and considers Western Sahara a “non-self-governing territory.” 1 Human Rights Watch December 2008 Summary This report is in two parts. Part one examines present-day human rights conditions in Western Sahara. Part two examines present-day human rights conditions in the Sahrawi refugee camps administered by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro (Polisario), the Sahrawi independence organization, near Tindouf, Algeria. For Western Sahara, the focus of Human Rights Watch’s investigation is the right of persons to speak, assemble, and associate on behalf of self-determination for the Sahrawi people and on behalf of their human rights. We found that Moroccan authorities repress this right through laws penalizing affronts to Morocco’s “territorial integrity,” through arbitrary arrests, unfair trials, restrictions on associations and assemblies, and through police