ASVDH Association has been subjected to a series of serious violations of its rights and freedoms by the Moroccan authorities. On February 13, 2023, the association discovered that three surveillance cameras installed on the front of its headquarters had disappeared. Additionally, its bank account has been suspended and members of the new office were denied the right to register on April 11, 2022. The association’s headquarters was also physically attacked on February 7, 2022, resulting in the destruction of its electric meter and a permanent loss of electricity. Members of the Moroccan intelligence and police services have physically assaulted members of the association, preventing them from attending the first session of its coordinating council. Since then, members of the association and Sahrawi victims have been unable to access the headquarters due to these repressive and illegal measures. These actions constitute a gross violation of the association’s right to assembly, freedom of expression, and freedom of association.
On February 18, 2023, members of the Moroccan police in civilian clothes severely assaulted Ali Al-Saadouni, the head of the Commission for the Revocation of Moroccan Nationality, on the main street of El-Ayoun in Western Sahara. This violent act is yet another example of the ongoing repression faced by Sahrawi activists at the hands of the Moroccan occupation forces.
Later that same day, a group of activists were surrounded in the house of the “Damber family” by many Moroccan police cars. The activists were forcibly prevented from leaving and all entrances to the house were closed off. When the activists attempted to leave, Moroccan forces violently intervened, leaving many of them injured. Among those injured were:
Dagja Lachgar, Mina Abaali, Al-Zahra Lgrid (who suffered a fracture at the level of her left hand), Salaha Boutangiza, Gali Aajna, Akhiarhoum Alia, Lkouria Saidi, Mbarka Alina Baali, El-Meki Benina, Laarousi Altaklbot, Abdulaziz Abiy, and Abdul Karim Mubarkat.
Therefore, Freedomsun Defenders expresses grave concern and vehemently denounces the ongoing repression faced by the Sahrawi people, including the suffocation of their public freedoms. This repressive approach is part of the Moroccan occupation state’s persistent violations of the rights of the Sahrawi people, specifically their right to self-determination and struggle for freedom, which is guaranteed by international law and legitimacy.
Furthermore, this repressive approach aims to suppress and silence the voices of human rights defenders and supporters of the independence of Western Sahara. It is in response to their exposure of the policy of imposing a fait accompli on the Sahrawis with the “autonomy” project and their rejection of repeated attempts to prevent the Sahrawi people from exercising their inalienable right of return and self-determination. It also weakens the voices calling for accountability and an end to impunity for the perpetrators of crimes against humanity against the Sahrawi people.
Freedomsun Defenders organization calls on all the forces of freedom, justice, human rights defenders, and peoples around the world to stand in solidarity with the Sahrawi people. We urge them to take concrete measures to overcome the obstacles faced by human rights associations and enable them to monitor the ongoing violations and crimes of the occupation. Additionally, we urge them to provide support to the Sahrawi people in their continuous struggle, which has lasted for over five decades, towards enabling them to achieve all their rights.