Cairo, May 18, 2013 (SPS) - Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) said that Western Sahara has remained an open field for wide-range violations by Morocco against political and human rights activists of the Western Sahara, who call for the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination, highlighting that Saharawi rights activists continued to face arbitrary arrest, physical attacks and unfair trials.
In its annual report on the state of human rights in the Arab Region, CIHRS considered that the conflict of Western Sahara is the most important source of human rights violations, in addition to the severe restrictions on the activities of Saharawi human rights organizations, which lacks the legal authorization.
The report pointed out that Moroccan authorities consider demanding the right to self-determination a breach to the alleged sovereignty, and hence any manifestation of protest inside the Western Sahara being harshly and violently dealt with using “excessive force”, despite the peaceful nature of the rallies.
Moroccan authorities, stated the report, continued to be hostile to rights organizations working in the Western Sahara, including by refusing to allow such organizations to legally register, adding that human rights activists working on the region continued to face arbitrary arrest, physical attacks, and unfair trials.
On the subject of torture and enforced disappearance, the report mentioned some cases in the right of Saharawi political detainees in Moroccan prisons, like the case of the Saharawi political prisoner Balla Shekhatu Ali Salem inside Lekhal prison, and the political prisoner Mohamed Daihani, who subjected to torture and humiliation at the hands of Salé Prison’s administration.
The report also noted to the deteriorating conditions of prisons and detention centers and to the use of routine physical and psychological torture against Saharawi political prisoners, and this was confirmed by the Moroccan National Council of Human Rights. (SPS)
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