Paris (France), June 24, 2026 (SPS) – The French Association of Friends of the Sahrawi Republic (AARASD) renewed its call for the immediate release of the Sahrawi political prisoner Naama Asfari and all detainees of the Gdeim Izik group, at a time when Asfari continues his open hunger strike that he has been on since June 8 to demand the implementation of United Nations recommendations related to his arrest.
The association explained, in a press statement issued in the French capital, Paris, that this step comes after three previous 48-hour hunger strikes during the month of May, without receiving any response from the Moroccan authorities.
The Assembly recalled that the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded, in an opinion issued in 2023, that the detention of Sahrawi prisoners within the Gdeim Izik group constitutes arbitrary detention, calling for their release.
She stressed that Morocco did not implement any of the measures recommended by the UN body, stressing that the sentences issued against the Gdeim Izik detainees were based on confessions extracted under torture, which was previously confirmed by the United Nations Committee against Torture, denouncing at the same time the continued ill-treatment, retaliatory measures and medical neglect to which Sahrawi political detainees are subjected.
The French Association also referred to the 2025 report issued by the Association for the Protection of Sahrawi Political Prisoners in Moroccan Prisons, entitled “No Treatment… No Visitation… No Justice”, which documents the continuing violations of the basic rights of Sahrawi detainees inside Moroccan prison institutions.
According to information provided by Al-Naama Asfari’s family, he is currently detained in the Kenitra prison clinic in extremely difficult conditions. He is only allowed one hour of recess per day, and is deprived of a number of basic equipment. Despite losing significant weight after more than two weeks of hunger strike, the Sahrawi activist confirmed his determination to continue his battle “for dignity” and respect for his basic rights.
The French Association called on France and the states parties to international conventions related to human rights, along with relevant United Nations institutions and non-governmental organizations, to intervene with the Moroccan authorities to put an end to what it described as the “legal non-state situation” that Sahrawi political detainees have been suffering from for fifteen years.
At the conclusion of its statement, the association renewed its support for all peaceful initiatives taken by Al-Naama Asfari and the rest of the Sahrawi political detainees to defend their rights and ensure the implementation of the decisions and opinions of international mechanisms concerned with the protection of human rights. (Was)
