CODESA Statement on the Attack against Sidi Mohamed Dadach
19 Jun 2008 | Information/Update
Sidi Mohamed Dadach receiving the 2002 Rafto Prize
A Violent Attack Against Prominent Sahrawi Human Rights Defender Sidi Mohamed Dadach
CODESA Secretariat
El-Ayoune, Western Sahara
June 17th, 2008
Sidi Mohamed Dadach (51 yrs old), a prominent human rights defender, recipient of the 2002 Rafto Award, and the president of the Support Committee for the Sahrawi People’s Self-Determination, was subjected to a brutal attack early in the morning of June 17th, 2008.
When Mr. Dadach left the house of a human rights defender in Ezzamla neighbourhood in El Ayoune, he was surprised by a group of Moroccan police agents in plainclothes who physically assaulted him in public on the street. Dadach had been with many other Sahrawis preparing for the reception of the human rights defender, Brahim Sabbar, released from prison that day.
Sidi M. Dadach claims that he about 15 [Moroccan] police agents participated in his beating (on the face and other parts of the body), which led to his falling down into the dirt, only to be violently pulled by a police officer who looked into his pockets kicked him. Mr. Dadach was subsequently followed by [Moroccan] police agents who threw stones at him while he was fleeing away from them.
Mr. Dadach now is suffering from serious pain on his right ear, left arm, back and backbone.
The secretariat of the CODESA, observing with worry and anxiety, the continuing aggression agaainst the Sahrawi population in general, and the human rights defenders in particular, by the Moroccan police agents,
-declares its unconditioned solidarity with the Sahrawi human rights defender, Sidi Mohamed Dadach and all the other victims who were banned to see Brahim Sabbar after his release.
- condemns the brutal attack against the Sahrawi citizens and their deprivation of expressing their joy for the release of their sons from prison.
-calls the Moroccan state to respect human rights in the Western Sahara and stop the harassment and torture of the Sahrawi human rights defenders and all the Sahrawi population.
-urges the Moroccan authorities to release all the Sahrawi political prisoners without any condition.
CODESA Secretariat
El-Ayoune, Western Sahara
June 17th, 2008
Sidi Mohamed Dadach (51 yrs old), a prominent human rights defender, recipient of the 2002 Rafto Award, and the president of the Support Committee for the Sahrawi People’s Self-Determination, was subjected to a brutal attack early in the morning of June 17th, 2008.
When Mr. Dadach left the house of a human rights defender in Ezzamla neighbourhood in El Ayoune, he was surprised by a group of Moroccan police agents in plainclothes who physically assaulted him in public on the street. Dadach had been with many other Sahrawis preparing for the reception of the human rights defender, Brahim Sabbar, released from prison that day.
Sidi M. Dadach claims that he about 15 [Moroccan] police agents participated in his beating (on the face and other parts of the body), which led to his falling down into the dirt, only to be violently pulled by a police officer who looked into his pockets kicked him. Mr. Dadach was subsequently followed by [Moroccan] police agents who threw stones at him while he was fleeing away from them.
Mr. Dadach now is suffering from serious pain on his right ear, left arm, back and backbone.
The secretariat of the CODESA, observing with worry and anxiety, the continuing aggression agaainst the Sahrawi population in general, and the human rights defenders in particular, by the Moroccan police agents,
- -declares its unconditioned solidarity with the Sahrawi human rights defender, Sidi Mohamed Dadach and all the other victims who were banned to see Brahim Sabbar after his release.
- condemns the brutal attack against the Sahrawi citizens and their deprivation of expressing their joy for the release of their sons from prison.
-calls the Moroccan state to respect human rights in the Western Sahara and stop the harassment and torture of the Sahrawi human rights defenders and all the Sahrawi population.
-urges the Moroccan authorities to release all the Sahrawi political prisoners without any condition.