Paris, 26/12/2005 (SPS) The President of the Committee for the respect of freedoms and human rights in Western Sahara (CORELSO), Mrs. Aline Pailler, called France to intervene vis-à-vis the Moroccan authorities "to stop the repression and release Saharawi political prisoners", this new French association indicated according to Algerian Press Service, APS.

"On behalf of CORELSO, which was recently created, I would like to ask you to intervene vis-à-vis the Moroccan Government to stop the repression and release Saharawi political prisoners as well as to respect the international legality by enforcing the UN’s peace plan until the holding of a self-determination referendum", the President of the Committee wrote in a letter she addressed to the French Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Philipe Douste-Blazy.

"Since the end of May, the Saharawi population in the occupied zones expressed their right to self-determination via peaceful demonstrations. The Moroccan forces of occupation answered by a violent repression: arrests, imprisonments, ill-treatment, torture in prison, arbitrary trials with heavy sentences, and houses were ransacked", Mrs. Pailler.

She added that "to Saharawi demonstrators were killed by the Moroccan forces. After the condemnation last December the 14th of Saharawi human rights defenders to heavy sentences of imprisonment, the Moroccan forces of intervention aggressed, last Friday the 16th of December, the Saharawi inhabitants by ransacking their houses and by causing them serious wounds, including to women and children... without any  intervention from the representative of the UN on the ground (MINURSO)".

The President of CORELSO indicated that her Committee "contributes with other associations, for the presence of European lawyers to the trials of the imprisoned Saharawi activists. According to many international human rights organisations, including "Amnesty International” and " Human Rights Watch ", these trials did not respect the norms of fairness".

CORELSO, which is based in Ivry, near Paris, also has got as an objective to "act for the release of Saharawi political prisoners", and to "defend Saharawi people’s right to self-determination and to the exploitation of the natural resources of their territory conforming to the international law". (SPS)

020/090/700/TRD 261045 Dec 05 SPS 

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