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Western Sahara: RFK Centre urges for independent monitoring of human rights

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WASHINGTON (United States)- Robert F. Kennedy Centre for Justice and Human Rights (RFK Center) on Wednesday in Washington called for the creation of an independent mechanism to monitor human rights in occupied Western Sahara.
Moroccan authorities continue to commit serious acts of violence against Saharawi people in the non-autonomous Western Sahara territory, RFK Centre said in its biannual report on human rights violations in occupied Western Sahara, published Wednesday in Washington.
The report, including a list of violations perpetrated against the Saharawi people between July and December 2015, disclosed the gruesome discovery of three common graves in which 70 Saharawi people are buried.
In the face of such ongoing abuse, there is an urgent need to create an independent system to monitor human rights in Western Sahara, as recommended in the findings of the NGO based in Washington D.C.
Robert F. Kennedy Centre underlined that the mission of MINURSO (United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara) is still without human rights observers.
It also noted that the activity reports issued by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) about the situation in Western Sahara have not been published yet.
RFK Center stressed that this UN agency, meant to human rights protection, has not fulfilled his monitoring role during this period, adding that the trip UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was to make to the occupied Saharawis territories, and which was initially due before the end of 2015, has not taken place so far.
The US NGO said it is determined to take action against Morocco's violations, adding that the report it has published is based on credible and available reports.