While Algeria is advocating for the Sahrawi people to obtain independence in the Moroccan Sahara, it is oppressing Kabylians in their own territories, Ferhat Mehenni the President of the Provisional Kabyle Government in Exile and leader of the Kabylia Self-Determination Movement (MAK) asserted in a tweet on Wednesday addressing remarks at the UN General Assembly.
He highlighted the contradiction between Algeria’s positions with respect to the Moroccan Sahara and Kabylia, tweeting that Algeria is “making a fool of itself” by claiming to defend independence for the Sahara, while preventing independence for Kabylia “through violence, torture and imprisonment of the Kabyle people.”
Mehenni lauded the remarks of Omar Hilale, Morocco’s Ambassador to the UN, thanking him for reminding leaders at the United Nation’s general assembly of that “fact.”
He also thanked Morocco, which, although “bruised by a devastating earthquake, honorably upholds its principles.”
Mehenni was sentenced to life imprisonment last November after a “trial” in absentia on alleged “terrorism” charges in Algeria. The Algerian regime had previously designated MAK a “terrorist group” in 2021, a characterization subsequently rejected by the US State Department.