The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, spoke at the 55th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday, March 4. His address may disappoint the Polisario Front. Türk's report on the «55 conflicts» around the world did not mention the conflict between the Polisario Front and Morocco, nor the «occupation of the Sahara» as the Polisario terms it. However, Türk did mention nearby areas of tension, including Mali, Chad, and Sudan. The UN High Commissioner also expressed concern about the arrests of opposition activists in Senegal, carried out in the wake of the postponed presidential election. Notably, Türk's speech avoided mentioning potential human rights violations by Morocco or Algeria. For the record, in his last report on the situation in the Sahara, the Secretary General of the United Nations distanced himself from the Polisario's claim of a «war» in the region. Antonio Guterres only noted the «persistence of a weak hostility between Morocco and the Polisario Front».
