The Canarian Sahrawi Forum Submits an Official Letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Documenting “Grave and Systematic” Violations in the Tindouf Camps
ALDAR /
During the 59th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, held from June 16 to July 11, 2025, the Canarian Sahrawi Forum submitted an official letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, documenting what it described as “grave and systematic” human rights violations taking place in the Tindouf camps, which are under the control of the Polisario Front on Algerian territory.
The letter, delivered by a delegation led by the Forum’s president, Ignacio Ortiz Palacio, crowns a series of meetings and consultations held this week in Geneva. The initiative seeks to amplify the voices of victims and shed international light on the “deteriorating humanitarian situation” in the camps, where tens of thousands of Sahrawis are said to live in degrading conditions that violate all international norms.
The document submitted to the High Commissioner goes beyond general condemnation, providing a detailed compilation of evidence and data on the violations committed. These include extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, systematic torture, modern forms of slavery, and racial discrimination against certain segments of the Sahrawi community. The documents also reported 21 cases of executions or attempted executions since 2014, most involving young people trying to earn a living through basic means.
One of the emblematic cases highlighted was that of Ahmed Khalili, a former human rights advisor to the Polisario Front, who was abducted in Algeria in 2009 by the intelligence services (DRS). The UN Human Rights Committee had already expressed concern in a decision dated March 27, 2020, over “the lack of avenues for redress” in the Algerian judicial system in such cases—raising serious questions about the systematic collusion between Algerian authorities and the Polisario in violating the rights of Sahrawi refugees.
The accusations extended beyond human rights issues to include regional security concerns. The Canarian Sahrawi Forum held the Polisario Front responsible for the involvement of some of its former members in terrorist activities across the Sahel region. It specifically cited the case of Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, a former senior Polisario figure who later became a leader in the Islamic State group in the Sahel. The Forum also referenced reports from the African Centre for the Study and Research on Terrorism, which indicated that several Polisario fighters had joined organizations such as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO).
Financial irregularities were also addressed in the report. The Forum accused the Polisario of orchestrating a “systematic looting” of humanitarian aid destined for camp residents, alleging that the Front had appropriated over €105 million in EU aid between 1994 and 2004—aid that never reached its intended beneficiaries.
In conclusion, the Forum issued an urgent appeal to open the camps to international investigative missions and UN human rights organizations, in order to conduct on-the-ground verification, carry out a transparent and internationally supervised census of those held in the camps, and establish an international mechanism to ensure the fair distribution of humanitarian aid—free from corruption and the political manipulation imposed by the Polisario.
With this move, the Canarian Sahrawi Forum continues to play an active role in exposing the hidden human rights realities in Tindouf, striving to break the wall of international silence and draw attention to a situation still held hostage by geopolitical rivalries.
