The president of the Chamber of Advisors, Naama Mayara, called on Friday in Rabat for the opening of an international investigation into the situation of children kidnapped in the camps of Tindouf, in southern Algeria.
This appeal was launched during a national conference on “the situation of the rights of children sequestered in the Tindouf camps and the international mechanisms for the protection of the rights of the child”, initiated by the organization Alternatives pourfance et youth and held in the House of Councilors.
In a speech on his behalf, Naama Mayara called on the international community to take the necessary measures and prosecute those responsible for the serious human rights violations committed in the Tindouf camps, stressing the need to work to break the silence imposed by the “polisario” in these camps.
He also insisted on the imperative of urgent intervention to put an end to the atrocities and violations suffered by those held in the camps of shame.
For her part, the Minister of Solidarity, Social Integration and the Family, Aouatif Hayar, appealed to the international community for solidarity with the children sequestered in the Tindouf camps and their protection against “violations flagrant of their right to live with their families and their basic rights in terms of health, education, protection and a decent life ”.
In a speech read on her behalf, the Minister denounced the flagrant violation of the rights of these children, enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the related protocols, in particular the optional protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflicts.
For his part, the Director of Dialogue and Partnership at the Interministerial Delegation for Human Rights, Hamid Achak urged the various international and regional bodies concerned with human rights, in particular children’s rights, to ensure international protection for kidnapped children, while working to allow international observers access to this region.
He emphasized the role of national and international civil actors in exposing the difficult conditions endured by children in this region, facing the violations committed and defending the rights of these children before international fora.
For his part, the president of the Organization Alternatives for Children and Youth, Mohammed Ennahili considered imperative the intervention of the international community and all the UN mechanisms for the protection of human rights as well as national and international human rights organizations to draw the attention of the Committee on the Rights of the Child to this “worrying situation at a time when the doors are closed to international human rights observers”.
The inhuman and dramatic situation of children in the Tindouf camps on Algerian soil challenges the conscience and the international community, he stressed.
Organized on the occasion of the International Day of the Rights of the Child and the International Day of Human Rights, this meeting was marked by interventions on international conventions on the rights of the child and the optional protocol concerning the involvement of children in armed conflicts and the dramatic situation of children sequestered in the Tindouf camps on Algerian soil.
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