UNHRC confronted with reports of torture in Algerian camps
Morocco is throwing a spotlight on alleged human rights abuses towards children in refugee camps run by Algerian group.
At the 61st session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), concerns were raised regarding the alleged human rights violations occurring in the Polisario-run Tindouf camps in southwestern Algeria, reports the Moroccan government friendly The North Africa Post on March 12th. Two NGOs, the Agence Internationale pour le Développement and the Mauritania Development Unity Network, brought the case of a 13-year-old boy reportedly subject to torture, and a separate case of violence against women and girls, to the Council’s attention.
According to the representative of the Mauritania Development Unity Network, Abdelouahab El-Kaïn, the boy, Moulod El-Mahjoub, was abducted and detained on February 25, 2026. He was then subsequently subjected to severe beating and burning after being accused of sexual assault. This case is just one of the many cases of children who have been reported to be victims of abuse in camps where they are made to stay apart from their families and then sent to military training camps in Algeria and Cuba. Furthermore, the organisation highlighted that the absence of judicial action or protection measures “raises serious concerns about entrenched impunity” within the camps, calling for urgent protection for the child and his family.
Separately, the Agence Internationale pour le Développement highlighted the recurring gender-based violence perpetrated in the camps. Manuel Navarro Benialosa, a representative of the organisation, spoke of the case of Khadijto Mohamed Mohamed, a survivor of sexual violence reportedly involving Polisario secretary-general Ibrahim Ghali. He argued that the testimonies they received evidenced an established environment characterised by physical, sexual, and psychological violence, and compounded by restricted freedoms, limited access to justice, and intense social pressure preventing victims from reporting their abuses. The organisation denounced what it characterised as a system of political and social control that complicates disclosure procedures, leaving victims defenceless.
The NGOs urged the Council to issue a formal acknowledgement of the situation and deploy a UN fact‑finding mission to assess the human rights situation in the camps.
The North Africa Post, Maghrebi.org.
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