El MSP denuncia nuevas acciones represivas de la Policía del Polisario contra refugiados saharauis

For the second day in succession, the Polisario police intervened to disperse groups of young people demonstrating in Rabuni, the administrative headquarters of the organisation situated thirty kilometres south-east of the Algerian town of Tindouf.  

The youths had been gathering in Rabuni since last Wednesday in protest against what they call corruption in high places. On that day, they had immobilised several fuel tankers, alleging that they were part of a network run by some of the movement's leaders.  

To free the tankers, the Polisario police intervened on Friday, brutally attacking one of the youths, Ehnini Uld Burki uld Sidi Labeid, who suffered serious injuries. This morning the riots continued in protest against the police intervention, which gave rise to another onslaught that culminated in the arrest of a dozen demonstrators who were transferred to the prison of "Dheibiya" amid gunshots in the air. 

The relatives of the young man attacked feel they are victims of an unjustified outrage and demand accountability from the Polisario leadership.  

The Saharawi Movement for Peace (MSP) expresses once again its rejection and repudiation of the disproportionate use of police force against the Saharawi refugees.  

For several weeks the refugee camps have been the scene of riots and violent clashes with the police. In Dakhla camp, groups of young people set fire to a barracks and several vehicles in protest against the lack of job opportunities, abuses and restrictions imposed by the Polisario authorities. The events were denounced by the first secretary of the MSP in a letter to the UN Special Representative for Western Sahara, warning that a wave of repression was coming to silence critical voices and protests in the Tindouf camps.