(Washington, D.C. | April 15, 2015) Kerry Kennedy, President of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, and Santiago A. Canton, Executive Director of RFK Partners for Human Rights, reiterated their call today for the United Nations Security Council to expand the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) to include a human rights monitoring and reporting mechanism. The Security Council must vote to extend the mandate by April 30, 2015.

 INURSO is the only active peacekeeping mission established after 1978 without a human rights monitoring mechanism, and there is no international mechanism dedicated to responding to human rights abuses in Western Sahara. 

"It is shameful that a small group of countries are denying the people of Western Sahara a basic human rights protection mechanism. The reports of abuses are undeniable, and the United Nation's Security Council needs to respond by expanding MINURSO's mandate," said Kerry Kennedy. "The international community must not turn its back on reports of torture in detention, medical negligence towards ailing prisoners, unmonitored landmine blasts, violent dispersal of peaceful protests, and constraints on entry and travel within the region." 

In February, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights released a report tracking reported human rights abuse in Western Sahara. In the nine-month period covered by the report, there were nearly 90 separate instances of human rights violations, many involving multiple victims. Most abuses are violations of the right to arbitrary arrest, the right to freedom of assembly, and the right to freedom of movement. There are instances, however, of physical mistreatment and torture, landmine injuries and death, and death while in detention. Taken as a whole, the frequency and nature of the abuses paints a grim picture of the human rights situation in Western Sahara, and one that occurs largely out of the view of the international community. 

A number of entities, including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, have called for an independent human rights monitoring mechanism in Western Sahara. Last week, the African Union Chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma sent a letter to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon specifically urging that MINURSO's mandate be expanded to include human rights monitoring. 

"While international law does not recognize Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara, as the occupying power, Morocco must ensure that the human rights of the people living in Western Sahara are fully respected," said Santiago A. Canton. "The international community is responsible for ensuring that an independent human rights monitoring mechanism be put in place in Western Sahara, and can do so this month by expanding MINURSO's mandate."