Moroccan Occupation Escalates Repression in Western Sahara Amid Renewed Targeting of Saharawi Activists
Repressive practices by Moroccan occupation authorities in Western Sahara continue to escalate, in a context reflecting a persistent policy of targeting free voices through arbitrary arrest, judicial prosecution, and security pressure.
Saharawi political activist Abdelmoula Mohamed El-Hafed revealed in a new testimony the details of his arbitrary arrest on Monday by elements of the Makhzen gendarmerie near his family tent in the “Jraifia” area, near the occupied city of Boujdour, an incident that once again exposes the true face of an authority that relies solely on the language of intimidation.
He stated that the arrest was carried out without any legal basis, in what he described as a clear illustration of a policy of impunity governing the conduct of the occupation’s apparatus. He added that he was forcibly taken under the supervision of an administrative official, which he said further confirms that such violations are not isolated incidents but part of a systematic strategy to subjugate Saharawis and break their will.
He further explained that the violations did not stop at arbitrary arrest, noting that he was subjected to intensive interrogation focused mainly on his political positions and recent media statements following his release from prison, where he had served a full ten-year sentence for defending the Saharawi people’s right to self-determination. He said this reflects the determination to pursue free voices even after their release.
In addition, the circumstances of his release, being transported to Kilometer Point 175 south of Boujdour and having his mobile phone thrown away, reveal, he said, humiliating and deliberate practices aimed at spreading fear and breaking morale.
At the same time, other dimensions of this systematic targeting are emerging, as repression is no longer limited to field activists but has also extended to students and former Saharawi political prisoners, through their renewed summoning to trial in what is described as an illegal judicial process lacking the most basic guarantees of justice.
The Executive Office of the Collective of Saharawi Human Rights Defenders in Western Sahara (CODESA) reported that the Court of First Instance in Guelmim, southern Morocco, has summoned a group of activists, including Salek Baber, El Bar El Kentaoui, and Abdel Samad Tiki, to appear at a hearing scheduled for 25 May, after they had previously been arrested and interrogated over peaceful activities, most notably participation in the reception of former Saharawi political prisoner Hussein Bourekba.
In a testimony, human rights defender and former Saharawi political prisoner Salek Baber, a member of CODESA’s administrative committee and the committee of families of detained Saharawi students, confirmed that he and his colleague Abdel Samad Tiki were subjected to serious violations, which he said reflect the repressive approach of the Makhzen system, which continues to use its security apparatus to suppress Saharawi activists and silence voices, in flagrant violation of international conventions, in an attempt to obscure the truth and impose a fait accompli.
CODESA, in a statement, condemned these violations, considering them further clear evidence of the Moroccan authorities’ continued policy of systematic repression and tightening restrictions on Saharawi activists, in open defiance of international laws and conventions and a desperate attempt to silence the voice of truth and break the will of those demanding freedom and dignity.
For its part, the Association for the Protection of Saharawi Prisoners in Moroccan Prisons reaffirmed in a statement that these serial criminal practices, including abduction, torture, and forced displacement, are only another link in a chain of systematic crimes committed against the defenseless Saharawi people.
