Ahmed Mahmoud Haddi, a Sahrawi man aged about 32, was abducted on 28 October by people suspected of being members of Moroccan security forces. He may have been subjected to an enforced disappearance, and is at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.
Ahmed Mahmoud Haddi and a male friend, El-Houssine El-Mahmoudi, were abducted from a street in the city of Rabat on 28 October. Several days earlier, they had travelled together from Laayoune in Western Sahara to the cities of Casablanca and Rabat, reportedly on business. A group of men in civilian clothes forced the two into separate vehicles and took them to an unknown location. El-Houssine El-Mahmoudi, who was released on 3 November, believes that he was detained by members of the Directorate for the Surveillance of the Territory, Morocco’s internal intelligence service, in an unofficial place of detention. He suspects he was held in the Témara centre, near Rabat. Amnesty International has received reports that people, particularly individuals suspected of terrorism-related activities, have been tortured there. El-Houssine El-Mahmoudi said that he was questioned several times on the purpose of their travel from Laayoune and Ahmed Mahmoud Haddi’s activities as an advocate for the self-determination of Western Sahara. El-Houssine El-Mahmoudi was released without being formally charged; but had his car, a number of documents pertaining to his business, vehicle ownership papers and money confiscated. When El-Houssine El-Mahmoudi asked a man interrogating him what had happened to Ahmed Mahmoud Haddi, he was told that he will remain detained while he is being investigated.
Members of Ahmed Mahmoud Haddi’s family approached local authorities in Laayoune, and visited police stations in Rabat and a prison in Casablanca to ask about his whereabouts. A lawyer helping them also approached the General Prosecution in Rabat. The authorities denied holding him.
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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.
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