Sidi Mouloud Shot Attempting to Escape Algerian, Polisario Captors

Sidi Mouloud Shot Attempting to Escape Algerian, Polisario Captors

by Staff
November 8, 2010

ALEXANDRIA, Va., (christiansunite.com) -- Mustapha Salma Ould Sidi Mouloud, the 42-year-old Moroccan Sahrawi freedom activist detained illegally and unjustly by the Polisario Movement and Algerian authorities, has been shot by his captors during an escape attempt, his family reported.

During an attempt to escape a prison from which Polisario guerillas claim he has already been released, Sidi Mouloud was shot and recaptured.

The Leadership Council for Human Rights has just returned from meeting with Salma Ismaili Ould Sidi Mouloud, Sidi Mouloud's father.

"When my son was 11 years old, he was torn from my hands by the Polisario and Algeria," stated Salma Ismaili. "Now at 42, he has once again been torn from the hands of his family by illegitimate rulers of a fake, non-existent country."

Salma Ismaili told the delegation the heart-wrenching story of the bombing of his home in 1979 by Polisario forces. The bombing killed four of his daughters, and his wife and sons were taken from him and transported with 800 others from Smara and driven to the Tindouf camps in Algeria.

"Algeria stole our children and used them to fight a war against us," continued Salma Ismaili. "Now they steal my son when he tries to speak the truth of the corruption and illegitimacy of the Polisario. He was arrested by the Polisario and Algeria coming back to the camps to tell them the truth; he was holding his mother's hand when they grabbed him and took him away."

"This detention and subsequent shooting are the actions of a dictatorial guerrilla group trying to control the thoughts, beliefs, desires, and wishes of the people it holds hostage in camps," stated Kathryn Cameron Porter, Founder and President of the Leadership Council for Human Rights.

"As a parent, I cannot fathom the suffering that Salma Ismaili has endured over the years at the hands of the Polisario movement and their systematic abuse of women, children, and families."

"Algeria and the Polisario must free Sidi Mouloud, must permit him to return to his family, and must permit him to speak his mind without being punished for doing so," Ms. Porter demanded.

"International human rights organizations had been told that Sidi Mouloud would be released and that he would be turned over to them. That time has come. I will seek a visa to visit the camps in Algeria, meet with Sidi Mouloud, and return him to his family where he belongs," she stated.

Mustapha Salma Ould Sidi Mouloud was illegally and unjustly detained by Algerian authorities on September 21 for exercising his right of free speech.

The former head of the Polisario Front's police forces, Sidi Mouloud spoke out in favor of the Moroccan Autonomy Plan as a final resolution of the 35-year Western Sahara conflict and was thrown into an Algerian prison for doing so.

Prior to his detention, Sidi Mouloud was barred access to his family, including his newborn daughter, Lalla Meriem, whom he still hasn't seen.

On 6 October 2010, the Polisario Front announced that Sidi Mouloud was to be released, and 7 October they and the Government of Algeria confirmed that he in fact had been released.

Then on 8 October 2010, the Polisario Front representative in Washington confirmed to the US Department of State that he had in fact been released and was in Mheriz with his mother.

Unfortunately, when his mother was contacted by representatives of human rights organizations, his mother stated that she had not seen him and was not in contact with him. She again stated this on numerous phone calls since.

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