Blackrock (Ireland) June 29, 2026: Front Line Defenders has called on the Moroccan authorities to immediately release the Sahrawi defender and political prisoner, Naama Asfari, who is illegally and arbitrarily detained, expressing grave concern about the rapid deterioration in his health condition after he entered the third week of an indefinite hunger strike, which he had begun on June 8, 2026.
The organization said in a statement today, June 29, that Naama Asfari is one of the most prominent Sahrawi human rights defenders, and holds the position of Vice-Chairman of the Committee for Freedoms and Respect for Human Rights in Western Sahara (CORELSO). Over many years, he worked peacefully to document and denounce human rights violations in Western Sahara, and to defend the rights of the Sahrawi people. He is a member of the “Gdeim Izik detainees” group. He was arrested on November 7, 2010, one day before the camp was dismantled. He spent five days in an unknown location, where he was detained blindfolded and handcuffed. He was then forced to sign statements and confessions under torture. In 2017, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
In addition, the statement adds – before Mr. Al-Naama Asfari embarked on an open hunger strike on June 8, 2026, he went on three separate hunger strikes, each of which lasted 48 hours during the month of May 2026, without receiving any response from the Moroccan authorities. What prompted him to peacefully protest through a hunger strike to demand the implementation of the opinion of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued in 2023.
According to the statement, Al-Naama Asfari is currently detained in the Kenitra prison clinic under restrictive conditions. He is only allowed one hour a day to exercise in the open air, and is deprived of some basic necessities such as a lamp, a table, and a chair, while he has lost about 5 kilograms of weight, which is cause for concern.
In light of these serious developments, Front Line Defenders expressed deep concern about reports of medical negligence, reprisals, and other forms of ill-treatment against Naama Asfari, calling on the Moroccan authorities to ensure that he immediately receives adequate, independent and specialized medical care, of his own choosing, and to guarantee his physical and psychological safety throughout the period of his detention, while putting an end to all forms of reprisals, medical neglect, ill-treatment, and discriminatory treatment against Sahrawi defenders. human rights while in detention, and ensure that they have regular communication with their families and lawyers, and have access to appropriate health care.
At the conclusion of the statement, Front Line Defenders also called for prompt, comprehensive, independent and impartial investigations into all acts of torture and ill-treatment, ensuring that those responsible are held accountable, and excluding any evidence or confessions obtained under torture from judicial proceedings, in accordance with Morocco’s obligations under the Convention against Torture, and ensuring that all human rights defenders in and around Western Sahara are able to freely and safely exercise their legitimate human rights activities, without fear of judicial harassment, or Arbitrary detention, intimidation, or reprisals. (SPA)
