During his stay in Morocco, Ould Sidi Mouloud, chief inspector of the polisario's police, "publicly declared his support for Morocco's proposal to resolve the conflict over the Sahara (…) by granting it autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty," HRW said in a statement.

Ould Sidi Mouloud "publicly praised Morocco's solution to the conflict and said he would return to Tindouf to defend it, which is his right," Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch made it clear.

In this respect, HRW called on Algeria to shoulder its responsibility to guarantee human rights of all persons on its territory and "ensure Ould Sidi Mouloud's right to free speech."

Ould Sidi Mouloud had announced In a press conference, on August 9 in the southern city of Smara, his intention to return to the camps of Tindouf to defend Morocco's autonomy proposal.