The tragedy of children turned into soldiers by the separatist militia of the “polisario” with the blessing and support of the host country, Algeria, in the camps of Tindouf was vigorously denounced, Thursday, before the 4th Committee of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Thus, the president of the Christian Democratic Women International, Anna Maria Stame, spoke out against the methods used by the separatist movement in southwest Algeria to recruit children and subject them to training “that even adults cannot stand”.
“After a simple search on the Internet, I personally discovered the horror suffered by these children who struggle to handle weapons larger and heavier than their size, facing ruthless instructors who find pleasure in making them suffer, as if they were real adult soldiers,” she said, noting that this scandal has dominated media headlines for weeks.
She noted that this case was brought before several international organizations, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, noting that “this appeal has not deterred the polisario militias who have revealed their cynical and despicable face”.
Disregarding appeals and protests from all sides, the separatists “have continued to abuse these child soldiers in their training camps. Worse, they do not hesitate to expose them in front of their foreign guests,” in defiance of international law and the rights of the child, Stame said.
“These children are supposed to be protected by a whole arsenal of laws and international law binding on States, including the UN Charter, the Charter of Human Rights, the Geneva Convention and the Convention on the Rights of the Child,” she noted, adding that “neither this arsenal of binding laws, nor a minimum of ethics that every human being is supposed to be endowed with, have been able to awaken the dead conscience of the criminals who rule in the Algerian camps of Tindouf”.
“In addition to a painful military training, these children are subjected to an ideological indoctrination based on radicalization, glorification of violence, hatred of the West and especially Morocco,” denounced the petitioner, stressing that the criminals of the polisario and their Algerian sponsors take advantage of the innocence of these children to engulf them in a world of evil and destructive ideas.
She added that “the Polisario leaders have chosen to recruit children for various reasons, it seems: they cost much less and are manageable enough to turn them into robots to kill and machines to spread violence and hatred”.
In this context she called for the international community’s support to these children and their return to Morocco, the Motherland.
“The voice of the international community is essential to reveal this ordeal to the world and bring its executioners before the International Criminal Court as war criminals,” she insisted, believing that only an international campaign is likely to end the crimes of the armed separatist movement in the Tindouf camps.
Another petitioner, Giulia Pace, member of the NGO “IL CENACOLO”, said Algeria, the host country of the Tindouf camps, continues to turn a deaf ear to the calls of the international community to put an end to the recruitment and indoctrination of children, which are carried out with impunity by the Polisario’s armed separatist militia.
“The indoctrination and recruitment of children by the armed militias of the polisario constitute a crime against humanity, and a denial of the fundamental rights of children recruited, as well as a flagrant violation of the resolutions adopted by the Security Council on the matter,” said Pace before the 4th Committee of the UN General Assembly.
For her, “the armed separatist group is stubbornly carrying out a premeditated process of recruitment of children, forcibly removing them from their families and communities, and depriving them of their childhood, education, health care, as well as the opportunity to grow up in a safe and supportive environment”.
She noted that the Tindouf camps in southwestern Algeria are “the epicenter” of child soldiers, constituting one of the largest concentrations of military recruitment of children in Africa, noting that the host country and the polisario are guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. She cited a report by the European Parliament, which stated that Tindouf camps are home to children between 12 and 13 years old.
The Tindouf camps’ Sahrawi children are not getting a good education that allows for critical thinking. They are instead being forced to follow the doctrine of polisario, which is against their best interests.
Algeria has allowed armed militias from the polisario to remain on its territory, while providing them with financial support and military support to continue illegally running militarized camps. She also explained that the host country is responsible for the crimes committed in violation of international obligations by these separatist militias.
Elizabeth Dail, New Life, lamented the decline in educational opportunities at Tindouf camp over the past few years. She said that children in Tindouf camp should be educated in an environment that is not controlled by the separatist group, and away from the unsafe living conditions they currently live in.
She stated that the Tindouf camps’ Sahrawi inhabitants must cultivate a spirit of compassion and solidarity with those they have been taught hatred.
It is time for the implementation of the Moroccan autonomy plan because it is the best option for the future children in camp, stressed Mrs. Elizabeth. She stated that this plan would unify the children with aunts, uncles, cousins in Sahara provinces.
Teach the Children International spoke out against the theft of humanitarian aid by polisario militias.
The report exposes the involvement by the Polisario leaders with embezzlement and sale of humanitarian aid meant for Tindouf residents but sold on the black market.
The theft of Polisario members has not been condemned by the United Nations.
The Delegate of Ecuador has reaffirmed his country’s support for a mutually acceptable political solution to the Sahara dispute in line with Security Council Resolution 2602.
For his part, the Representative of Guatemala has reaffirmed steadfast backing to Morocco’s efforts to achieve a political solution to the Sahara issue, based on the Moroccan autonomy initiative.
“Guatemala reiterates its support for the efforts of Morocco seeking a political solution to the regional dispute over the Sahara and views the autonomy initiative presented in 2007 is a realistic and credible approach and a serious basis for achieving a negotiated solution between the parties, within the framework of respect for the territorial integrity of Morocco”, said the delegate of this Central American country.
He also voiced his country’s support to UN Sahara envoy Staffan de Mistura to advance towards a political solution to this regional dispute for the sake of stability, security and integration of the Maghreb region.
The Representative of Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) said:”We will continue to strongly support the efforts of the UN SG and his personal envoy for the Sahara to achieve a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution”.
Source: north africa post
