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Human Rights Watch: Sahrawi Activists, Detained 18 Months, Await Verdict. Trial Delays, Limited Evidence Raise Concerns of Politically Motivated Prosecution

08 / 04 / 2011 | Solidarity-Support

Three Western Sahara activists have been in pretrial detention for 18 months, with numerous delays in their trial, Human Rights Watch said today. Their trial on charges of « harming [Morocco's] internal security » has proceeded in fits and starts, with limited evidence produced against them. Four co-defendants are provisionally free. The police arrested the six men and one woman on October 8, 2009, upon their return from visiting the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria. Unlike previous low-profile family visits by Sahrawis from the disputed, Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara to the refugee camps, this delegation openly met there with officials of the Polisario, the Sahrawi independence movement that runs a government-in-exile and administers the camps. « The court trying the seven Sahrawi activists should without any further delay issue a verdict that properly presents the evidence and reasoning behind the verdict, » said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

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RFK Center Report: Western Sahara: Accounts of Human Rights Abuses in Wake of November Unrest

20 / 02 / 2011 | Solidarity-Support

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The RFK Center finds evidence of escalating abuse, torture, and arbitrary imprisonment in Western Sahara

19 / 01 / 2011 | Solidarity-Support

Torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, failure to follow criminal procedures, and repression of civilians by Moroccan government forces are all too common in Western Sahara, according to the findings of a recent visit to El Aaiun by the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights.

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Human Rights Watch calls on Morocco to investigate abuses of its security agents in occupied Western Sahara

26 / 11 / 2010 | Solidarity-Support

Moroccan security forces repeatedly beat and abused people they detained following disturbances on November 8, 2010, in the Western Sahara capital city of El-Ayoun, Human Rights Watch said today. Security forces also directly attacked civilians, a Human Rights Watch investigation showed. The Moroccan authorities should immediately end the abuse of detainees, and carry out an independent investigation into the abuse, Human Rights Watch said.

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In letter to UN Security Council, RFK center demands an investigation into recent Moroccan abuses in Western Sahara

16 / 11 / 2010 | Solidarity-Support

‘An impartial international investigation, led by the United Nations is critical to understand the cause and circumstances of the violence and to determine whether excessive force was and continues to be used by Moroccan authorities. Accountability for the recent violence is important to maintain stability in the region and to prevent future human rights abuses. The continuing lack of reliable information on the situation demonstrates the necessity for an independent human rights monitoring mechanism, within MINURSO.’

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ANC denounces Moroccan repression in Western Sahara, calls for UN human rights monitors

12 / 11 / 2010 | Solidarity-Support

The African National Congress and the entire nation of South Africa cannot sit idly by while innocent people are murdered in cold blood only because they refuse to accept to live in perpetual servitude and endure gross violations of human right and the denial of their right to self-determination. This act of barbarism has to be condemned in the strongest possible terms by all humanity. We likewise join all peace-loving humanity in condemning these cowardly acts and call for the immediate cessation of violence against the people of Western Sahara.

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RFK Center and Aminatou Haidar call for an investigation into Moroccan repression of Western Saharan protest camp

12 / 11 / 2010 | Solidarity-Support

The RFK Center for Justice & Human Rights and 2008 RFK Human Rights Award Winner, Aminatou Haidar, call for an immediate investigation into the clashes between Moroccan military forces and thousands of Saharawis living in the Gadaym Izik camps in Western Sahara and denounce the violence. The absence of reliable information on the incident demonstrates again the necessity for an independent human rights monitoring mechanism within the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, MINURSO. This human rights mandate would promote protection of human rights in the region.

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Amnesty International calls for investigation into deaths in Western Sahara protest camp

11 / 11 / 2010 | Solidarity-Support

The Moroccan authorities must open an independent investigation into events that led to a number of deaths and injuries at Gadaym Izik, a protest camp near Laayoune, Western Sahara, Amnesty International said today. The government says nine people were killed during Monday’s operation and in its aftermath, including eight members of the security forces. Local human rights activists have told Amnesty International that 11 camp residents were seen lying injured on the ground, some of whom were bleeding while others had been burnt. According to reports, thousands of Sahrawis were also forcibly removed from the protest camp by Moroccan security forces.

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Members of US congress call on President Obama to take action against Moroccan abuses in Western Sahara

10 / 11 / 2010 | Solidarity-Support

We write to call your immediate attention to the increasingly violent and tragic situation unfolding in the occupied territory of Western Sahara – the last colony in Africa – where thousands of Sahrawi people are in imminent danger

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HRW: Morocco: Court Delays Trial of Jailed Sahrawis – Again

05 / 11 / 2010 | Solidarity-Support

Morocco should end the delays in bringing three imprisoned Sahrawi activists to trial, Human Rights Watch said today. If the court is unable to proceed, it should release them from pretrial detention or drop the charges against them and their four co-defendants altogether, Human Rights Watch said.

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