Occupied Laayoune, June 15, 2026 (SPS) – Several human rights bodies called on the international community to intervene urgently to protect Sahrawi political detainees, ensure respect for their basic rights, and put an end to the violations they are exposed to inside Moroccan prisons.
In this context, the Committee for the Protection of Civilians of the Collective of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders (CODESA), in a statement, called on the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, special rapporteurs on human rights, as well as competent international organizations to intervene to protect Sahrawi prisoners, based on the views of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the decisions issued by the Committee against Torture.
The same committee expressed its deep concern about the “deplorable inhumane” situation suffered by Sahrawi detainees in Moroccan prisons, holding the Moroccan occupation “full responsibility” for their physical and psychological safety, especially in light of the increasing health risks resulting from hunger strikes for prisoners who have been in political detention for more than 15 years and have been subjected to physical and psychological torture with forced deportation and detention in solitary confinement cells as a form of torture. Punishment.
For its part, the Committee of Families of Sahrawi Political Detainees Students renewed its call to international and regional human rights organizations and United Nations bodies for urgent intervention to monitor the human rights situation in Western Sahara and provide the necessary protection for defenders, calling on the international community to assume its legal and moral responsibilities towards the ongoing violations targeting the basic rights and freedoms of the Sahrawi people and human rights defenders in Western Sahara.
In the context of the grave violations committed against Sahrawi human rights defenders, the Sahrawi Association of Victims of Serious Human Rights Violations Committed by the Moroccan State confirmed that the fabricated rulings issued recently against former Sahrawi students and political prisoners, Al-Bar Kantaoui, Al-Salek Babir, and the student Abdel Samad Tika, were carried out in the absence of those concerned and their defense team, in a manner that violates the rights of the defense and the guarantees of a fair trial.
It called for these provisions to be abolished, and to ensure that those concerned enjoy all their legal rights, and for a trial that meets the conditions of justice, calling on the United Nations and organizations concerned with human rights to follow up on this case and monitor the violations associated with it.
This escalation comes in conjunction with the series of intimidation targeting Sahrawi prisoners, including students, after the end of their sentences, in an attempt to break their steadfastness and will to defend their just cause. (SPA)
