Occupied El Aaiun, 21 October 2023 (SPS) - Sahrawi political prisoner of the Gdeim Izik group, Hassan Mohamed Radi Dah, who has been arbitrarily detained since 2010, has begun a hunger strike on Saturday to protest against the discriminatory and racist treatment inflicted by the Moroccan prison authorities.
"This protest action comes as a result of the Moroccan prison authorities' refusal to comply with the legitimate demands made by the Sahrawi human rights activist, who is serving an unjust 25-year prison sentence," said local Sahrawi human rights sources.
According to the same sources, Radi Dah's sister stated that the administration of the central prison in Kenitra (northeastern Morocco) confiscated materials necessary for his university studies.
Since the violation of the ceasefire agreement by the occupying army and the subsequent resumption of armed struggle in Western Sahara on November 13, 2020, Morocco has launched a relentless campaign of repression, persecution, and harassment against Sahrawi human rights activists and their families.
The agency also mentions the extremely difficult detention conditions in which Sahrawi civilian prisoners live in Moroccan prisons, citing the case of Abdel Mawla Mohamed Hafed, whose health has significantly deteriorated.
According to the same source, the Sahrawi prisoner has been facing pressure and harassment inside the prison for the past two months.
In this regard, the League for the Protection of Sahrawi Political Prisoners has reported that Mohamed Hafed is held in an overcrowded cell despite his health problems.
Added to this are medical negligence, poor nutrition, as well as racial pressure and discrimination. As if that were not enough, the Sahrawi prisoner is only allowed to communicate by phone with his family once a week, under strict guard control.
Morocco continues to restrict the activities of Sahrawi human rights organizations in the occupied territories and to suppress peaceful demonstrations calling for the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination.
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