DR ‹ › The representative of the «Unity Network for the Development of Mauritania» took the floor at the United Nations Human Rights Council to voice concerns about certain practices, particularly the way the Polisario Front utilizes UN mechanisms. He accused the Front of exploiting the Human Rights Council's procedures not to advance human rights, but rather to legitimize political agendas and obscure grave violations committed by its armed militias in the Tindouf camps. He argued that the Polisario's disregard for these mechanisms «undermines the Council's credibility and hampers the international community's ability to address the suffering of those affected.» In the Tindouf camps, he noted, people endure restrictions on freedom of movement, have limited access to social protection, and suffer violations of their fundamental rights. The Mauritanian NGO representative stressed that United Nations mechanisms must remain impartial tools dedicated to protecting human rights, and should not «become platforms for propaganda campaigns.» He urged the Council to ensure it remains an institution founded on «truth, universality, transparency, and fairness,» in line with its mandate. It is worth recalling that dozens of Mauritanian nationals have disappeared in Polisario prisons. «We estimate them to be around 240 people,» Mohamed Val El Ghadi Ekkah, president of the Memory and Justice Association, founded in 2008 in Nouakchott, told Yabiladi in October 2022.
