1 Year Without Trial - Free the Human Rights Defenders
The 8th October will mark the one year anniversary of the detention of 3 prominent Saharawi human rights defenders. They have been held in prison without trial and no evidence to support the charges against them has been produced. If they are ever brought to trial it will be in a military court where they could face the death penalty.
After one year their detention becomes illegal under Moroccan law. UK citizen Aicha Dahane, sister of one of the prisoners said: It has been a very long year waiting for my brother’s release. The impact on my family is immense; we just want him to return home.
TAKE ACTION Please email: Ms Navanethem Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights asking her to urgently investigate their detention and request their immediate release.
Send emails to: InfoDesk@ohchr.org
BACKGROUND All three hold senior positions within Saharawi human rights organisations. They were arrested along with four others on return from a trip to the refugee camps in Tindouf. According to the Moroccan state news agency, their arrest is a result of meetings with “bodies opposing Morocco”. No evidence to support the charges against them has been produced.
The other four have since been released, however Ali Salem Tamek, Brahim Dahane and Ahmed Naciri remain imprisoned. Read a statement by Human Rights Watch.
WESTERN SAHARA CAMPAIGN UK
The Western Sahara Campaign works in solidarity with the Saharawi people to generate political support in order to advance their right to self-determination and to promote their human rights.
Our role is to lobby the UK Government and the EU. You can help us to ensure the UK does not ignore the voice of the Saharawi people.
Follow the news about EU's illegal fisheries in Western Sahara
