The Geneva-based Association "Promotion du Développement Économique et Social" (PDES) on Thursday decried the situation of women who are victims of various violations such as forced procreation and violence by the "polisario" in the Tindouf camps, under the complicit watch of Algeria.
The "polisario" has confiscated the right to family planning, a natural choice available to every woman, by imposing a policy of forced procreation in the camps, said the NGO accredited to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), in an intervention at the 55th session of the Human Rights Council.
The "polisario" has also forced women to hand over their children to its leaders, to be mass deported to former Eastern camp countries, on the pretense of pursuing studies, PDES reported. These children are forced to stay for many years in these countries far from their families, with the women not having the opportunity to protest against such a practice.
The women in the camps have been detained and subjected to all kinds of torture and ill-treatment as part of illegal detention, with no intervention from the host country to provide them with legal conditions, including access to medical treatment and a lawyer.
Despite all attempts to bring these heinous crimes to an end, ''polisario'' leaders continue to exploit and abuse their power when dealing with women and girls in total impunity, with the host country, Algeria, totally turning its attention away from the situation, the NGO deplored.
''In the absence of controls and measures to ensure the protection of women and girls and prevent repeated attacks, the Algerian state perpetuates an inhumane policy that places women in an unacceptable situation, with health and psychological risks.
This reality, according to the NGO, is affecting women in the Tindouf camps in south-west Algeria, and is exacerbating pre-existing inequalities and discrimination between the sexes''.
Despite the fragility of the laws, Algeria, as the host country, denies them to women in the Tindouf camps, thus excluding them from the rules of international law, concludes PDES.
