International Jurisdictions Must Increase Pressure on the Makhzen to Release Sahrawi Detainees (Lawyer)
Ingrid Metton, a French lawyer specializing in international law, has once again condemned the arbitrary detention of Sahrawi activists from the Gdeim Izik group by the Makhzen regime. She urges relevant international jurisdictions to intensify their pressure on Rabat for their immediate release.
“As a lawyer, I can assert that they were all convicted without any evidence,” Metton stated during her participation in the international march for the freedom of Sahrawi detainees in Moroccan prisons, which arrived in Béziers, France, on Tuesday.
The lawyer highlighted that “in criminal law, whether in France, Morocco, or elsewhere, there must be evidence and proof of intent to convict individuals, particularly for crimes.” She emphasized that “during the trial of the Sahrawi detainees from Gdeim Izik before the Rabat Court of Appeal, which lasted six months, there was no evidence presented.”
“I realized from day one that there was no evidence. There were no weapons, and the number of so-called victims was incorrect,” she further asserted, claiming that “the alleged confessions introduced by the Moroccan defense were obtained under torture.”
She noted that “the UN Committee Against Torture acknowledged in its report the use of torture by Moroccan authorities on Sahrawi detainees,” asserting that throughout the six-month trial, “what Morocco sought was to fabricate a narrative to legitimize the extremely violent dismantling of the Gdeim Izik camp, aiming to silence and erase the deaths and injuries on the Sahrawi side while identifying culprits.”
According to the lawyer, this was further evidenced by the behavior of the president of the Rabat court, who expelled her from the courtroom when she attempted to present counter-expertise.
“I myself was expelled from the room on the day I tried to present counter-expertise demonstrating that the Sahrawi activists had been tortured. This truth was so unbearable for the Moroccan judiciary that the president preferred to suspend the session and expel me,” she recounted.
Emphasizing that such actions are condemned by international law and all recognized legal standards, Metton called on competent international jurisdictions to exert pressure on Morocco to overturn its decisions.
Discussing the legal status of Western Sahara, the advocate for just causes highlighted that under international law, it is considered an occupied territory, and therefore the rules of international humanitarian law should apply.
“Morocco has no authority over this territory. Currently, the United Nations recognizes this through its Fourth Committee, which deals with special political issues and decolonization,” she stated, urging the UN to increase its pressure on Morocco to comply with international law.
In this context, the lawyer noted that the international march for the freedom of Sahrawi detainees, initiated by human rights activist Claude Mangin and a group of solidarity activists for the Sahrawi cause, aims to advance the struggle for the independence of the Sahrawi people and the recovery of all their legitimate rights.
