RABAT — Human rights group
Amnesty International Friday urged Moroccan authorities to investigate urgently
allegations that security forces last month assaulted five women activists who
support independence for disputed Western Sahara.
اضافة اعلان
Two of the women reported that they were
sexually assaulted, Amnesty said.
The rights group alleged that
Moroccan police and plainclothes agents beat the women with sticks and punched and
kicked them, leading to one of them suffering broken bones.
The five activists "were targeted after
their participation in peaceful protests for Sahrawi self-determination,"
Amnesty said in a statement.
The demonstrations took place on April 15-16
in Boujdour, Western Sahara, and the women were allegedly targeted in separate
incidents.
Conflict in Western Sahara -- a territory
that boasts rich Atlantic fishing waters and access to West African markets --
has for decades pitted Morocco against the Polisario Front, a Sahrawi
independence movement.
"Five weeks on from these appalling
attacks, the Moroccan authorities have yet to lift a finger to
investigate," said Amnesty's deputy director for the
Middle East and North Africa, Amna Guellai.
The women had publicly expressed support for
fellow independence activist Sultana Khaya, who has been under house arrest
along with her family since November 2020.
Amnesty also alleged that Khaya has suffered
numerous abuses at the hands of Moroccan security forces since then, including
rape.
"We are urging Moroccan authorities to
end the harassment and violence against Sahrawi activists, and to launch
immediate, impartial investigations into all allegations of torture" by
Moroccan security forces, Guellai said.
There was no immediate comment from
Moroccan authorities.
Western Sahara is 80 percent controlled by
Morocco but considered a "non-autonomous territory" by the UN.
Colonial power
Spain withdrew in 1975 but
the Polisario waged a long-armed struggle for independence from Morocco before
agreeing a ceasefire in 1991 on the promise of an independence referendum that
has never materialized.
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