Elmuhajer TV \\ Washington, DC
leaders of the US congress Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, (R-FL) and Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton requesting US
action to secure the immediate release of Mustapha Salma Ould Sidi Mouloud, the outspoken Sahrawi police chief arrested by the Polisario Front last week as he tried to rejoin his wife and children in Algeria’s Tindouf refugee camps.
The letter joins many calls from international human rights advocacy groups criticizing the Polisario’s arrest of its own Chief Police Inspector for alleged “treason” and “espionage”—simply for showing his support of a Moroccan autonomy solution to reunite Sahrawi families and end more than three decades of the Sahara conflict.
“We are writing today to express our concern for the safety and well being of Mustapha Salma Ould Sidi Mouloud,” wrote Rep. Diaz-Balart, co-chair of the Bipartisan Congressional Refugee Caucus, and Rep. Moran, member of the House Democratic Caucus leadership, both ardent international human rights advocates. “We urge the State Department to work to secure the immediate release of Mr. Sidi Mouloud. He, and everyone in the refugee camps, should be allowed the right to movement, freedom of speech, and liberty.”
The letter notes that Sidi Mouloud was in Morocco on a recent UN-sponsored family visit. After seeing the progress in W. Sahara, which he had not seen in more than three decades, he announced his intention to return to the refugee camps to express his support for Morocco’s compromise autonomy plan to resolve the 35-year W. Sahara dispute. The letter cites concern from international human rights organizations—including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Leadership Council for Human Rights, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)—criticizing the arrest for violating Sidi Mouloud’s rights and voicing concern for his safety.
The letter joins many calls from international human rights advocacy groups criticizing the Polisario’s arrest of its own Chief Police Inspector for alleged “treason” and “espionage”—simply for showing his support of a Moroccan autonomy solution to reunite Sahrawi families and end more than three decades of the Sahara conflict.
“We are writing today to express our concern for the safety and well being of Mustapha Salma Ould Sidi Mouloud,” wrote Rep. Diaz-Balart, co-chair of the Bipartisan Congressional Refugee Caucus, and Rep. Moran, member of the House Democratic Caucus leadership, both ardent international human rights advocates. “We urge the State Department to work to secure the immediate release of Mr. Sidi Mouloud. He, and everyone in the refugee camps, should be allowed the right to movement, freedom of speech, and liberty.”
The letter notes that Sidi Mouloud was in Morocco on a recent UN-sponsored family visit. After seeing the progress in W. Sahara, which he had not seen in more than three decades, he announced his intention to return to the refugee camps to express his support for Morocco’s compromise autonomy plan to resolve the 35-year W. Sahara dispute. The letter cites concern from international human rights organizations—including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Leadership Council for Human Rights, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)—criticizing the arrest for violating Sidi Mouloud’s rights and voicing concern for his safety.
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