Morocco: Protect and Preserve Mass Grave Sites
Written by DI Monitoring & Investigation Committee
Tuesday, 15 January 2008
Defend International (DI) urges Moroccan authorities to ensure that
investigations and exhumations at mass grave sites in Western Sahara are
carried out in line with international guidelines.
Oslo - Norway, January 15, 2008 / Defend International /
Defend International urge the Moroccan authorities to conduct a thorough
and
transparent investigation of the mass grave site in the town of Samara in
Western Sahara, to ensure the preservation of relevant evidence and to
deal
with them correctly.
According to the information received by members of DI Networks and DI
Defenders, a mass grave was discovered on January 4, 2007, in a former
military zone near the district of the city of Samara, as a construction
company based in Casablanca started to implement a project in the city of
Samara. On January 4, 2008, the mass grave was found accidentally by the
company employees while digging.
The authorities re****tedly buried the boons elsewhere without prior notice
and without performing adequate autopsies or collecting crucial evidence
which could have helped in identifying the perpetrators.
The loss of potential evidence is a serious violation of human rights.
Cases
such as the mass grave in Samara, and the mass grave in Al-Oyoun in
Western
Sahara discovered in November 2007, must be followed up and thoroughly
investigated.
The sites are believed to contain the remains of victims killed in 1970s,
and may be the biggest mass graves since the end of the conflict at that
time, where persons were abducted and taken to unknown locations.
a.. Defend International calls to bring the perpetrators to justice and
to
take urgent measures to preserve the evidence at the sites in order to
determine the identities of the victims.
a.. Defend International urges Moroccan authorities to ensure that
investigations and exhumations at mass grave sites are carried out in line
with international recommendations, standards and guidelines, especially
the
UN Model Protocol for Disinterment and Analysis of Skeletal Remains, which
covers the procedures to follow by the authorities, if human remains are
to
be exhumed.
a.. Any failure of the authorities to bring perpetrators to justice will
cause pain, concern and disappointment to the victims of human rights
violations.
a.. Therefore, efforts should be made by authorities to identify human
remains from mass graves and to allow the families of victims to bury
their
relatives with dignity. Their feelings should be taken into account in
moral
or legal calculations. Last Updated ( Tuesday, 15 January 2008)
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Source:
http://www.defendinternational.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=153&Itemid=73
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Forwarded by:
Norwegian Sup****t Committee for Western Sahara
*** Referendum now! ***
www.vest-sahara.no
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sahara-update
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