UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, has called on Moroccan authorities to end their crackdown on Sahrawi human rights activists in Western Sahara. In a statement posted on her official social media page, Lawlor expressed alarm over reports of violence by Moroccan police against activists Sidi Mohamed Daddach and Mustapha Dah, following their participation in a commemoration of the 55th anniversary of the historic Zemla Uprising on June 19.
Lawlor stressed that the Moroccan authorities must immediately cease their repression of human rights defenders in the occupied territory. On that same day, Moroccan occupation forces allegedly assaulted Daddach, president of the Sahrawi Committee for the Defense of the Right to Self-Determination, and Mustapha Dah, member of ISACOM (Sahrawi Authority Against the Moroccan Occupation), during a gathering marking the 1970 uprising.
This is not the first time the UN official has raised concerns. In May, Lawlor expressed deep worry over intimidation, defamation, and restrictions imposed by Moroccan forces on Ali Salem Tamek, president of the Collective of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders (CODESA). In a joint letter sent in February to the Moroccan government, Lawlor and other UN experts highlighted serious concerns over constant surveillance, harassment, and security presence outside Tamek’s home.
UN experts also denounced the broader restrictions on freedom of movement and peaceful assembly imposed on Tamek, other CODESA members, and Sahrawi activists. These actions, they noted, violate several articles of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Morocco ratified in 1979—particularly Article 19 on freedom of expression, Article 21 on the right to peaceful assembly, and Article 12 on freedom of movement.
