Tokyo (Japan) 17 April 2020 (SPS)- Sahara Japan Journalist Association (SJJA) launched a Medias campaign under the title “Freedom for all Western Sahara political prisoners”, on the 13 April in 2 Japanese online newspapers, “Nikkanberita” and “Chikyuza” (in Japanese), due to concerns about the possible spread of COVID-a9 in Moroccan prisons.
The campaign recalled that historically, Japanese and other authorities have repeatedly released prisoners in times of extreme danger, such as wars, but also in times of epidemics and pandemics.
Saharawi political prisoners are not criminals, they are all imprisoned in Moroccan jails because of their political and peaceful opposition to the Moroccan occupation of their country.
There are now 41 Saharawi political prisoners suffering from all sorts of chronic diseases and results of ill-treatments and torture they went through for the last 10 years.
International organizations and Saharawi authorities reached out to the United Nations, European Union and relevant international human rights NGOs asking for the liberation of Saharawi political prisoners before they get affected by the COVID-19, especially that Moroccan prisons already registered cases of infection. (SPS)
090/500/60 (SPS)