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U.S. Department of State Annual Report on International Religious Freedom for 1999: Western Sahara Released by the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Washington, DC, September 9, 1999

WESTERN SAHARA Section I. Freedom of Religion Due to continuing Moroccan administrative control of the territory of the Western Sahara, conditions for religious freedom in that territory are similar to those found in the Kingdom of Morocco. Apart from a tiny foreign community working for the United Nations Interposition Force in the territory (known by its French acronym, MINURSO), the overwhelming majority of the population are Sunni Muslim. There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom during the period covered by this report. There were no reports of religious detainees or prisoners. There were no reports of the forced religious conversion of minor U.S. citizens who had been abducted or illegally removed from the United States, or of the authorities' refusal to allow such citizens to be returned to the United States. Section II. Societal Attitudes Relations among religious believers were generally amicable. Section III. U.S. Government Policy The U.S. Embassy in Morocco discusses religious freedom issues in the overall context of the promotion of human rights in the Western Sahara. [End of Document] Table of Contents | Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor | Department of State