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Aicha Duihi: Spain’s hosting of Brahim Ghali is an insult to all women

Spain’s hosting of Brahim Ghali is an insult to all women

Like all Sahrawi women, I have been outraged to learn that Spain has admitted on its soil war criminal Brahim Ghali, under a fake identity and forged documents provided by Algeria.
It is indeed a true insult to the women, men and children that are victims of the crimes against Humanity perpetrated by this individual, against whom the Spanish judiciary issued an arrest warrant. 
However, Spain’s actions are especially hurtful to the thousands of women held hostage in the Tindouf camps, on Algerian territory, who are left at the mercy of a ruthless separatist armed group, in complete violation of international humanitarian law. 
These women are vulnerable to the entire spectrum of gender-based violence, in a context where Algeria deprives them of any protection of their rights and any possibility of judicial redress. 
In the shadow of this illegal devolution of authority to a separatist armed group, the women of the Tindouf camps are victim of sequestration, physical violence, and rape. 
It is especially the case of Khadijatou Mahmoud, who was victim, when she was eighteen, of a crime of rape perpetrated by Brahim Ghali, the very individual that Spain is hosting on its soil, in defiance of its own judiciary. 
This unprecedented situation with respect to international humanitarian law has been vehemently condemned by the UN Human Rights Committee in 2018, when this UN body expressed its concerns over Algeria’s illegal devolution of power to “polisario” and the tragic effects this situation bears for human rights protection in the Tindouf camps. 
Today, in defiance of its own law and international humanitarian law, Spain behaves as the accomplice of systematic human rights violations perpetrated, with Algeria’s approval, in the Tindouf camps. Spain is also contradicting its international obligations with respect to fighting impunity for crimes against humanity. 
As civil society activist committed to women’s rights, I call upon the Spanish government to move ahead with the arrest of Ghali, so as to provide redress to his numerous victims.
It is the only pathway towards restoring legality. 

Aicha Duihi

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