I have got to confess that I am not a specialised investigator, nor do I represent an "international mission" (like Mme. Karmous and Dubouisson), but I can read, and I think that the first impression I had, reading the two Ladies report, was a deception. The famous "France Libertés" report, the mentioned Ladies wrote was a real mess of misinformation, unproved accusations, inaccurate statements and definitions, a large set of incoherence and contradictions, and a lot of symbolical statements that try to give specific ideas to the careless reader. In brief, it is far from being professional, honest or impartial, and I will try to argument my claim trying to be brief.

1-The report was pretended to be a result of an International mission! In fact, the two Ladies in the introduction of the report (it was more a judgement and a conclusion than an introduction), were the only members of the mission and they represent a single Foundation. Surprisingly we will discover latter, while reading the report that the two Ladies are specialists in medicine, Psychology, International laws, and above all they are , in fact, Attornies and Judges (if we believe the medical, psychological...information they give us).

2- It is exclusively based on testimonies of Moroccan POWs, and had not mentioned any kind of validation, checking or consultation of the information with Polisario relevant authorities, to make sure of the testimonies, or at least to confront them with the results (the Ladies instead try to make the reader feel that checking such information with Saharawi authorities would be dangerous for the prisoners! While, it is the same authorities who gave the investigators the permission to investigate, freely and privately as the report says (the ladies say that they met with 700 POW and interrogated some 300). Thus, the POWs were, for the Ladies, witnesses and reliable judges. The result, Polisario is guilty of tortures, summary executions, bad treatment...etc, Polisario should be sentenced!

3- The report pretended that there are no reliable information about POWs conditions and treatment! That is to say that CICR, all Human Rights Associations, Journalists, Parliament Members from different countries, United nations...etc, all these people are not reliable and are, in fact, accomplices of Polisario in the crimes mentioned in the report. Because, after all, CICR periodically and closely visits and attends the POWs since 1976 ( and not the 80s as many journalists write).

4-The report tries to make confusion, pretending that there are Moroccan civil in detention in the camps. Civilians, it seems, are kidnapped, imprisoned...etc! Irrelevant. (the report used different definitions or titles‚ to describe the POWs on purpose to create confusion, using sometimes detainees, civil detainees, instead of POWs to give a specific impression to the reader).

If Polisario has ever been interested in kidnapping‚ Moroccan civil it would have been able to capture tens of thousands during its numerous attacks on regions in South Morocco, in the 70s and till the middle 80s. Polisario Front is known as a liberation movement which have never targeted civilians in its long struggle against the invading Morocco. It is known that Saharawi Liberation Army had never poisoned water sources, never killed cattle, never used non-conventional arms in its struggle against civil or military, while all the mentioned atrocities are Moroccan Forces tactical methods to counter Saharawi military movement.

5- The report pretends that Polisario uses POWs as guinia pigs to medical experiences and that the POWs blood is used to medical benefit of refugees maybe. Yet, it stresses on the fact that all the POWs are "seriously sick, and suffer from various diseases at a time". So if the two Ladies "Doctors" have found out that the POWs were sick how could Saharawis use their blood? Are they stupid? Or did not they know that the POWs are "seriously sick"?

6- The report says that the condition of life of the POWs is precarious, and that the medication is not at the required level.

Well this is normal, since the refugees also live the same precarious conditions of life in the camps, and suffer from the same lack of medical assistance, lack of food and water, this is no secret.

7- In page 16 paragraph 5, the report says that "refugees show compassion to the Moroccan POWs". Then suddenly another contradictory sentence of the report pretends that "up to the 80s they (POWs) were delivered to public vendetta: insults, bad treatment..." !!!

What do we have to trust, the first statement or the second, and the report is full of similar contradictions.

The report if read reveals itself to be a real mess of unreliable misinformation. And though so irrelevant, Polisario official asserted that they are studying it point by point and that they will be very accurate and responsible in their reply.

And I really do not wish to be in the place of the two "Human Right" activists, for from the incoherence and misinformation I was able to get out of the report, I can not see how they would look like when Polisario official reply will be published.

04.09.03

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