The upheaval and protest movements that have been shaking the Tindouf camps lately are seriously worrying the Algerian authorities that pressed the Polisario leader, Mohamed Abdelaziz, to respond firmly to these movements, according to informed sources from the polisario HQ.
The Algerian generals’ anger finally prompted the head of the Polisario to react ruthlessly against the young Sahrawi dissidents who are multiplying, from the Tindouf camps, anti-Polisario statements on videos and social networks.
The brutal repression conducted by the Algeria backed Polisario Front, which is claiming the independence of Western Sahara, was ordered by Mohamed Abdelaziz after an increasing number of young opponents to the Polisario resorted to videos and TV channels to denounce their living conditions and the Polisario mismanagement.
These young people who sometimes appear with bare faces are exposed to the Polisario’s reprisals.
It goes without saying that the protest actions staged by the young dissidents are bold, but their consequences are unpredictable because of the Polisario’s repressive measures against any dissenting voice.
The front’s retaliation measures and the arrest of several Sahrawi youths led some Sahrawi human rights associations to sound the alarm. These NGOs hold the Polisario directly responsible for the consequences of this persecution of young people. The young Sahrawis in the Tindouf camps do not deserve such brutal treatment as they merely express their opinions without resorting to any form of violence, the NGOs argue.
The lack of freedom of expression and movement and the impossibility to freely access independent international media lead these young people to revolt, the sources said. The latest protest movements are directly targeting the Polisario leaders who control the Tindouf camps with an iron fist, under the watchful eye of the Algerian military intelligence services (DRS).
