Rabat – The number of US representatives in support of a congressional bill seeking to designate Polisario as a terrorist group is growing.
Congressman Don Bacon added his name to the list of signatories on Tuesday, weeks after Representative Zachary Nun also joined the cosponsors on February 24.
Congressman Joe Wilson officially introduced the bill to designate Polisario as a terrorist group in June of last year. It was later referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on the Judiciary for deliberation.
The bill recalled Polisario’s documented history of operational ties with Iranian proxy Hezbollah, detailing “Iran’s support has reportedly advanced from training to the provision of lethal hardware.”
Now eight representatives are backing the bill, including Jimmy Panetta, Mario Diaz Balart, Jefferson Shreve, Randy Fine, Lance Gooden, Pat Harrigan, and Nunn.
Global concerns over Tindouf
This comes amid global concerns about the Polisario Front and the threats they pose to regional stability.
A separatist group taking shelter in Algeria’s controlled Tindouf camps, the Polisario is holding an estimated number of 90,000 Sahrawis captive in the guise of an alleged independence campaign seeking to undermine Morocco’s territorial integrity and sovereignty over its southern provinces in Western Sahara.
The population in Tindouf, according to several reports – including from the UN– endures many challenges, including embezzlement of funds directed to Sahrawis, a situation that triggers diseases and dire living conditions in the region.
On Monday, a former Polisario detainee expressed concerns in the camps, saying that crimes like abduction, enforced disappearance, torture and death threats continue.
Mahmoud Zaidan made his remarks at the 61st session of the Human Rights Council, saying his decision to become a blogger was to document the systematic violations committed against Sahrawis in the camps.
Zaidan described the camps as home to slavery, systematic theft of humanitarian aid, and child exploitation in criminal gangs, including in drug trafficking.
The situation is ongoing amid Algeria’s regime’s reluctance to allow a census to identify the real number of Sahrawis in the camps. Critics have long explained Algeria’s decision to reject a census due to fears that only 20% of the Tindouf population are actually Sahrawis.
