An international conference organized in Geneva by the NGO “Africa Culture International” condemned with “the greatest firmness” the forced recruitment of children into the ranks of the Polisario militias in the Tindouf camps, and called on “the Algerian State to assume its international responsibilities in order to put an end to the use of children in military actions and their recruitment on its own territory”.
The exploitation of children in armed conflicts and their obligation to bear arms are considered by the international community to be the worst violation of human rights, the NGO stressed during the international conference organized within the framework of the 49th session of the Human Rights Council, in association with several civil society actors from the Southern Provinces participating in the session and present in Geneva, around the enrollment of Sahrawi children in the Tindouf camps.
“The Polisario organization does not hesitate to recruit children aged 12 to 13 as soldiers, and parade them in military parades. Something that was reported to us, as NGOs working in the region, by a group of mothers who preferred to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals”, underlined the organization during this conference marked by the presence of Dianko Lamine, president of the NGO “Africa Culture”.
For Aïcha Duihi, president of the OSPDH, child soldiers in the Tindouf camps might easily be recruited by terrorist organizations in the Sahel and constitute a danger for the entire North African region.
For his part, Moulay Lahsen Naji, President of the IACHR, invited the Peace and Security Council of the African Union to assume its responsibilities regarding the enlistment by the Polisario of children, which constitutes a serious violation of all UN resolutions on the Rights of the Child.
Abdelaouahab Gain Brahim, president of “Africa Watch”, for his part affirmed that Algeria, host country of the Tindouf camps, is an undemocratic country managed by Generals who do not recognize the principles and the UN conventions relating to the protection of children’s rights.
The Algerian regime has, since 2012, never presented a report on the protection of children on its soil, he added, inviting civil society and the international community to strengthen the monitoring of the situation of children in the world. and particularly in the Tindouf camps.
For his part, Hammada Labaihi, president of the LSDDH, who lived for a long time in the Tindouf camps, assured that he was sent to Cuba at the age of 9 where he was indoctrinated and forced to wear and handle weapons. About 20% of Polisario fighters were under the age of 16, added Hammada Labbihi, stressing that if the international community does not recognize the Polisario, all responsibility for the indoctrination and practices suffered by children in the camps Tindouf remain a responsibility of Algeria.
The conference participants finally called for the immediate release of all enlisted children and for the accountability of any State or terrorist organization that provides the Polisario with weapons and incites the Polisario to carry them.
They also urged international organizations to protect the children forced to bear arms in the Tindouf camps and to diagnose their psychological state, calling on the international community and all UN mechanisms to publicly denounce the exploitation and enlistment of these children.
