Bir-Lehlu, July 23, 2017 (SPS) – President of Republic, Secretary-General of the Frente POLISARIO, Brahim Ghali, has called on the United Nations “to make all necessary representations to the Moroccan authorities to ensure the immediate and unconditional release of the Sahrawi political prisoners of Gdeim Izik Group and all Sahrawi political prisoners held unlawfully in Moroccan jails,” in a letter Friday to UN Secretary-General Mr. António Guterres.
Following is the full text of the letter addressed by President of Republic, Secretary-General of the Frente POLISARIO, Brahim Ghali, to United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres:
“Bir Lehlou, 21 July 2017
Mr Secretary-General,
I would like to draw your attention to a serious development relating to the question of Western that may have adverse consequences on the UN ongoing peace process in the Territory.
On 19 July, in a mock trial, a Moroccan court delivered harsh sentences against the Sahrawi political prisoners, known as the Gdeim Izik Group. The unjust sentences, which are virtually identical to those issued by a Moroccan military court against the same group in 2013, range from 20 years to life imprisonment.
As we have warned on numerous occasions, the Moroccan authorities never had any intention to give the Sahrawi political prisoners a fair trial considering the fact that the detainees were arrested mainly because of their political opinions as well as their public defence of the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination. However, the recent sentences represent a serious development in the Morocco’s infamous record of human rights violations in the Sahrawi occupied territories.
Mr Secretary-General,
As you may be aware, the members of the Gdeim Izik Group were arrested in the aftermath of the violent dismantling of the peaceful protest camp that was set up by thousands of Sahrawi civilians at Gdeim Izik some 15 kilometres south-east of the occupied city of La Aaiún at the beginning of October 2010. The main objective of setting up the camp by the Sahrawi civilians was to protest against the deteriorating socio-economic and political conditions in which they had been living for over three decades under Morocco’s illegal occupation of their country.
Despite the peaceful and non-violent nature of the protest, in the early morning hours on 8 November 2010, the Moroccan army and security forces attacked the protestors and violently destroyed the camp using rubber bullets, live bullets, tear gas, water cannons, truncheons and stones. The violent attack resulted in the loss of life and destruction of property, and many Sahrawi civilians were arbitrarily arrested and brutalised including the members of the Gdeim Izik Group.
After two years in detention, on 17 February 2013, the members of Gdeim Izik Group were brought before a Moroccan military court and were given long sentences that ranged from 20 years to life imprisonment. The sentences were based on fabricated and ready-made accusations and records concocted at the Moroccan police stations where the detainees were subjected to all sorts of torture. Moreover, apart from the illegality of bringing civilians before military courts in keeping with international law, the Moroccan courts do not have jurisdiction over matters occurring in Western Sahara, which has its internationally recognised status as a Non-Self-Governing Territory.
Many national, regional and international organisations around the world condemned the unfair trial and the politically motivated sentences. On 19 February 2011, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed its concern about the use of a military court to try Sahrawi civilians, as it raised serious problems as far as the equitable, impartial and independent administration of justice was concerned. Amnesty International, for its part, expressed its concern about the trial that it considered flawed from the outset, as it cast a serious doubt on the Moroccan authorities’ intention and whether they were more concerned with securing a guilty verdict than justice.
Thanks to a series of hunger strikes that the detainees had to undergo to protest against their unlawful detention as well as international pressure, the Moroccan Court de Cassation referred the case to the Moroccan court of appeal in Rabat, which condemned the political prisoners to the above-mentioned sentences.
Mr Secretary-General,
The unjust sentences against the group of Sahrawi political prisoners are another demonstration of Morocco’s intentions to continue its policy of human rights abuses without the presence of witnesses, which highlights the urgent need for establishing a human rights mechanism in Western Sahara to monitor, protect and report on the human rights situation in the Territory.
It has become evident therefore that Moroccan authorities do not respect international humanitarian law and persist in their gross violations of human rights in Western Sahara, which lies within the scope of the United Nations’ responsibility in anticipation of the decolonisation of the Territory and the exercise by its people of their inalienable right to self-determination and freedom.
In view of the above, I would like to call on you in your capacity as Secretary-General of the United Nations to make all necessary representations to the Moroccan authorities to ensure the immediate and unconditional release of the Sahrawi political prisoners of Gdeim Izik Group and all Sahrawi political prisoners held unlawfully in Moroccan jails.
In anticipation of your urgent action, please accept, Mr Secretary-General, the assurances of my highest consideration.
Mr Brahim Ghali
Secretary-General of the Frente POLISARIO
Mr António Guterres
Secretary-General of the United Nations
New York” (SPS)
062/090