Spanish Newspaper “Canarias 7” (www.canarias7.es) has just released an important legal document that proves massive slavery practices in the Polisario-administered camps of Tindouf, South West of Algeria. This document, entitled “release of a slave”, is signed by a Tindouf Court, and stamped by the Ministry of Justice and Religious issues of the Polisario Frente. It’s the first time that the suspicions of slavery practices, unveiled by Australian journalists Violetta Ayala and Daniel Fallshaw, are confirmed by an official document issued from the Guerilla movement, which contests Moroccan ruling over Western Sahara. While Mauritania has recently adopted a memorandum abolishing slavery, the camps of Tindouf remains the sole place where slavery is legal. Although many NGO’s have expressed, recently, their concern over those practices inside the hermetically-sealed camps administered by the Polisario Front on Algerian Soil, the fact that an administrative document is presented constitutes a real breakthrough, considering the fact that the Polisario Front has always denied that such practices were real. Now, there isn’t much left to deny, and the Polisario Frente will have to address this matter and give explanations to the International community about what’s really going on inside the camps.
This information comes at a crucial time where representatives of the Kingdom of Morocco and delegates from the Polisario Front are meeting in Manhasset, and are engaged in direct negotiations under the authority of the UN.
