A Polisario representative has written to IF in response to article 'Vindication for Stolen filmmakers', published on if.com.au on 27 November, 2014.
IF has published his letter below in full. You can read the original article here.
Dear IF,
I read with interest your article “Vindication for Stolen filmmakers” of 27 November 2014. I regret that the article did not take into consideration the views of all those who are concerned by the story.
Stolen was based on the specific story of Fetim Sellami a Saharawi refugee woman who was not mentioned at all in the recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) Report of 18 October 2014.
The problems with the film called Stolen were and remain: the exaggerated claims of widespread slavery, the inaccurate or invented sub-titles, the enactments, the muddled locations, the claim of stolen tapes, the fake allegation of being detained and the liaison with a Moroccan secret agent…etc None of these issues were addressed in the recent HRW report. Therefore, HRW has not vindicated the filmmakers.
It is worth noting that HRW report stated that it “did not find evidence of widespread practices of slavery in the Tindouf refugee camps or the areas of Western Sahara under SADR jurisdiction. Nor did we find evidence or hear claims that SADR authorities practice, profit from, or encourage slavery.”
The report further added “from its earliest days, the Polisario Front called for the eradication of slavery. The SADR’s constitution guarantees the equality of all citizens before the law and stipulates that no person shall be deprived of his or her freedom save in accordance with the law. Slavery is prohibited by the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, to which the SADR is party, and to which the SADR constitution pledges in its preamble the “adherence” of the Sahrawi people. In 2011 the SADR Penal Code was amended to outlaw slavery explicitly.”
The stipulated that “Nevertheless, some practices of slavery have persisted among Sahrawis. As a rule, the alleged victims are from the minority of dark-skinned Sahrawis. While visiting the camps in November 2007, Human Rights Watch was told by dark-skinned Sahrawis that the ownership aspect of the relationship between a white “owner” and dark-skinned “slave” was typically limited to the ability of the “owner” to withhold consent for a “slave” woman to marry.”
There is nothing new in the recent HRW report that was not available when Stolen was made and screened. See for example HRW Report of 2008.
– Kamal Fadel
Polisario representative to Australia