The Polisario frente had to recognize that it is still holding prisoner the opponent Mustapha Salma Ould Sidi Mouloud, two weeks after having announced his being released in which seems today to be a simple way to create diversion. The false announcement about the  release of the Polisario dissident  has been got out of Polisario under pression from human rights defenders and  international NGOs .
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have denounced the arbitrary arrest of the Polisario police chief, stating that Mustapha Salma did only express his opinion in favour of the Moroccan autonomy plan in the Western Sahara, intended to put an end to the conflict in the region. The new announcement of the Polisario that it is still detaining Mustapha Salma and that it was looking for a way to give him back to  HCR seems to be another manœuvre. Especially that it comes at a time when Christopher Ross, the Personal Envoy of the UN General Secretary has started a tour in the region, looking for a way to restart negotiations.

Facing this  shillyshallying, many NGOs among which the Action Committee for the release of Mustapha Salma, have called to redouble pression on Polisario and Algeria which support and hosts the separatist group on its territory. Human rights defenders call for the immediate release of the dissident and the guarantee of his right to freedom of expression and movement. They require also to allow him to join his wife and children inside Tindouf camps in Algeria, which remain inaccessible to international NGOs control and the HCR has never been able to make a census of its population.