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Written evidence submitted by Western Sahara Campaign UK
HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORING IN WESTERN SAHARA - THE UK'S RESPONSIBLILTY
Closer monitoring of the human rights situation both in Western Sahara and in the refugee camps in Tindouf is indispensable. The United Nations should explore with all relevant actors the best way to ensure adequate and continuous monitoring of the human rights situation. Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Geneva, 8 September 2006
The UK Government as a permanent member of the UN Security Council must support the adoption of human rights monitoring in Western Sahara.
The United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) is the only contemporary peace-keeping mission without a mandate to monitor human rights. All other peace-keeping missions established since 1978 have this capacity.
Whilst the Saharawi people await a solution to the 35 year conflict, they continue to face harassment, arrest, sexual violence, imprisonment and torture.
We believe the UK must support human rights monitoring for the following key reasons: · To ensure that both parties engage seriously, and with confidence in the current UN sponsored negotiations - both parties allege human rights abuses against the other, the suggested monitoring would cover both Moroccan occupied Western Sahara and the refugee camps administered by the POLISARIO. · Previous efforts have not improved the human rights situation. Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch state that it deteriorated in 2009. · The UN itself, in the 2006 report[1] by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) called for the implementation of urgent measures to protect human rights. · MINURSO is mandated to provide for self-determination of the people of Western Sahara. Conditions in which to implement this cannot exist whilst those who express support for self-determination are violently repressed. · The UK as a permanent member of the Security Council has a clear responsibility to protect human rights in Western Sahara.
In 2009 the human rights situation under the Moroccan occupation suffered a serious deterioration. This included violent measures taken to prevent young people from visiting the UK to take part in confidence building measures initiated by UK organisations. Securing the safety of all citizens is vital in ensuring the progression of the UN sponsored negotiations.
Whilst we welcome the UK's efforts to raise issues of human rights with the Moroccan authorities, it is clear this is not enough. This April the Security Council has the opportunity to extend MINURSO's mandate to monitor human rights. We call on the UK Government to support this.
Insufficiency of current measures
Last year's report by the Secretary General observed:
'both parties to the conflict often accuse each other, in communications with the United Nations or in the media, of human rights violations.'
Last year's report by the Secretary General acknowledged the human rights abuses and encouraged both parties to engage with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. This has not resulted in any improvement. In addition, Resolution 1871 paragraph 7 included a reference to the 'human dimension' and concern was expressed by various delegations about the human rights situation. Whilst we welcome the intention of this statement and the UK's support for this, it is clear that its spirit has not been respected. On the contrary, both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch state that conditions deteriorated in 2009. (See Annex 1)
It is therefore clear that these statements are not enough to prevent the ongoing violation of human rights.
A formal mechanism to monitor human rights with reporting responsibilities to the Security Council must be established as a matter of urgency.
Support for human rights monitoring
The OHCHR report and human rights organisations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have repeatedly called for the UN to implement human rights monitoring within the region.[2] The POLISARIO Front have also called for human rights monitoring. Whilst the OHCHR report uncovered no conclusive evidence of human rights violations in the Tindouf camps, the POLISARIO have stated their willingness to welcome human monitoring in the parts of the Western Sahara and the Refugee camps in Tindouf which they administer. However Morocco continues to oppose this, despite the fact that this would monitor abuses they allege is conducted by the POLISARIO.
We fail to understand why, if Morocco is prepared to engage seriously in the negotiations and is, as it alleges, concerned with human rights violations in the Tindouf camps it continues to block human rights monitoring which would include both Western Sahara and the refugee camps.
It stands to reason that nothing can do more to build confidence, strengthen MINURSO and ensure that both parties engage seriously in the UN process than ensuring that international principles of human rights are upheld.
Despite this, in refusing to call for human rights monitoring the UK has so far acquiesced to Morocco's position with disregard for the POLISARIO's wishes and those of human rights organisations.
Recent human rights developments
Human rights conditions deteriorated overall in 2009 in Morocco. Human Rights Watch World Report 2010
The Moroccan authorities appear to be adopting an increasingly repressive approach to the exercise of these rights by Sahrawis, in breach of their obligations under international human rights treaties. Amnesty International Public Statement 17 November 2009
2009 saw a marked decline in the human rights situation in occupied Western Sahara. On the 6th November King Mohammed VI gave a speech signalling an even stronger stance against Saharawi who oppose the Moroccan occupation, stating 'one is either a patriot or a traitor'.
In October and November 2009 there was an increase in the number of serious violations of human rights reported. This appeared to be a serious attempt to silence Saharawi human rights activists. Saharawi who openly oppose the occupation or speak out against human rights abuses do so at serious risk. Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have noted that Morocco's human rights trend is regressing.[3]
Examples of recent human rights violations include: · The detention of 7 prisoners of conscience who may face the death penalty. 7 representatives of key Saharawi human rights organisations were arrested on the 8th October on their return from a visit to the refugee camps in Tindouf. 6 still remain in Sale prison facing fabricated charges relating to the security of Morocco, including attacking the country's "territorial integrity". They will be tried in a military court and if found guilty could face the death penalty. Unfair trials are commonplace in Western Sahara. (See further information below on unfair trials and Annex 2 for further information on this case) · The enforced disappearance, imprisonment and torture of Ahmed Mahmoud Haddi on the 28th October. (See Annex 2 for Amnesty International's urgent action on this case) · The expulsion of prominent Saharawi human rights activist and former Nobel Peace Prize nominee Aminatou Haidar from Western Sahara on the 14th November. Mother of two young children, Aminatou was expelled from the country after returning from a visit to the USA to collect the 2009 Civil Courage Award. This was a result of her writing Western Sahara on her landing card, and therefore failing to acknowledge Moroccan sovereignty. International pressure enabled her to return; however she and her supporters face ongoing surveillance and intimidation. (See Annex 2 for examples of urgent actions on this case) · The arrests and possible torture of Mohamed Baikam and Ahmed Salem Fahime arrested at the Mauritanian border on the 21st November. · The obstruction of access for foreign journalists and human rights lawyers to Saharawi activists - Human Rights Watch reported at least 5 cases between 19th October and 21st November.[4]
Moroccan authorities not only target Saharawi activists calling for the self-determination of Western Sahara, but also Saharawi human rights defenders monitoring violations taking place in that context Amnesty International Public Statement 13 October 2009
The UK and Confidence building
Repeated support is expressed within the Security Council for 'confidence building'; however, 2009 saw the Moroccan authorities brutally repress attempts by UK organisations to contribute to confidence building measures.
In August 2009, the Moroccan authorities took violent and politically motivated action to obstruct groups of young people from Morocco, the occupied territory of Western Sahara and the refugee camps in Algeria from coming together to participate in a 2 week conference on cross-cultural understanding and conflict resolution organised by UK organisation Talk Together, funded by the British Council and the European Commission Youth in Action Programme.
Their actions include: · Preventing, at the last minute the 7 Moroccan students from flying to the UK. · Refusing to allow their 6 counterparts from the occupied territory of Western Sahara to board their plane - despite the fact that the students all had valid travel documents and UK visas and were given no reason as to why they were prevented from travelling. · Violently beating these 6 Saharawi with batons before driving them to El Aaiun where they were interrogated at numerous checkpoints along the way. At El Aaiun police station they were brutally assaulted both verbally and physically before being released in the early hours of the morning.
Following this incident the young people have faced continued and brutal intimidation. For example:
On the 27th August one of the students, a 19 year old woman Nguia El Haouassi was forced into a car and blindfolded. The Moroccan police officers forced her to strip naked, beat her and threatened her with rape. She was interrogated about her reasons for wanting to come to the UK, questioned about her views on the political situation in Western Sahara and her relationships with human rights organisations. This ordeal lasted approximately 5 hours, when she was released, naked, after being threatened that if she did not give up her opposition to the occupation they would kill her.
On the 1st September, a second student Razouk Choummad was detained and beaten. The police stripped him, poured liquid, which he was told was petrol, onto his body and threatened to set him alight.
The UK's responsibility for human rights in Western Sahara
· The UK as a permanent member of the UN Security Council has a clear responsibility to protect human rights in Western Sahara as is the UN's duty under Article 73 of the Charter regarding non-self-governing territories · 2009 saw the Moroccan authorities violently obstruct confidence building initiatives by UK organisations · A report following an ad hoc delegation of the European Parliament to the area in January 2009 called on EU members of the Security Council to make efforts towards securing a human rights function for MINURSO. · The Secretary General's report from 2009 acknowledges that whilst MINURSO currently does not have a human rights monitoring capacity or mandate, it has a duty to uphold human rights. Furthermore it noted that: 'both parties to the conflict often accuse each other, in communications with the United Nations or in the media, of human rights violations.' · In 2006 the OHCHR, in a leaked report, called for urgent action to protect human rights and tasked the UN with finding the means to implement this. · This human rights crisis is a result of the failure of the UN to implement the right to self-determination. This is explicitly acknowledged in the above report.
The issue of human rights has been raised frequently with regard to Western Sahara with repeated calls by human rights organisations for the inclusion of monitoring within MINURSO's mandate. This has not been implemented. Meanwhile the Saharawi people, in particular human rights defenders, continue to be harassed, arrested, raped, tortured and imprisoned following unfair trials.
Without a mechanism to monitor human rights abuses the UN's acknowledged duty to uphold human rights standards in all its operations, including those relating to Western Sahara cannot be fulfilled.
The UK must demonstrate through clear action that it will not condone the ongoing human rights abuses.
Report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
A leaked report by the UN's own human rights agency, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in 2006 acknowledged the seriousness of the situation, called for urgent action on human rights and tasked the UN with finding the means to implement this. The UN has so far failed to do so.
The OHCHR recommendations include: closer monitoring of the human rights situation; urgent measures to protect human rights; and implementation of the right to self-determination.
As yet, the Security Council has not implemented any of these measures.
The OHCHR report found evidence of human rights abuses including: · Violence against pro-independence Saharawi Excessive violence is regularly used against those peacefully protesting against the Moroccan occupation. Numerous cases are documented alongside photographic and video evidence of the violence. On the 30 October 2005 a young Saharawi, Hamdi Lembarki died after being savagely beaten by security forces. The report found: "Moroccan law enforcement officials seem to have used force in an indiscriminate and disproportionate manner when exercising their responsibilities in the course of exercising their duty to maintain public order and security." · Restrictions on freedom of expression Morocco refuses to legalise pro-independence associations.[5] The report found serious restrictions to Saharawi freedom of expression. · Unfair Trials It is clear that many Saharawi have been imprisoned following unfair trials. Evidence of this includes defendants denied the right to call witnesses; trials being postponed when independent observers were in attendance; harassment of defendants and their families; and tainted evidence such as 'confessions' extracted under torture and written statements by police, which are denied by defendants. In several trials Amnesty International found that evidence of this kind was accepted without examination of the veracity of the defendants' claims.
These concerns are all echoed in the OHCHR report which concludes, with regard to trials: "...the delegation remains concerned that there are serious deficiencies with regard to ensuring the right to a fair trial"
Human rights and self-determination
The "Moroccanness" of the Western Sahara, which Moroccan authorities have portrayed for decades as the national cause, remains a convenient pretext for repressing rights, on the grounds that Sahrawis who favor self-determination are Algerian-backed enemies of Morocco's "territorial integrity." Human Rights Watch, published in Foreign Policy in Focus November 16, 2009
The human rights abuses are a direct result of the failure of the UN to implement a referendum of self-determination in line with previous Security Council resolutions and international law.
The OHCHR report is clear in its assertion that the human rights crisis is a direct result of this lack of a right to self-determination. "Almost all violations of human rights noted above stem from the nonrealization of this right, including civil and political rights as well as economic, social and cultural rights of the people of Western Sahara in all locations where they currently reside."
Saharawi are targeted because of their rejection of the Moroccan occupation. King Mohammed VI himself made this very clear in his 6th November speech.
The conditions in which to provide for self-determination of the people of Western Sahara and resolve the conflict cannot exist whilst those who express support for self-determination are violently repressed.
Human rights monitoring in practice
The OHCHR report and human rights organisations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, alongside the POLISARIO Front continue to assert the urgent need for human rights monitoring.
The UK as a permanent member of the Security Council has both a legal and a moral obligation to resolve this conflict, and protect human rights.
The extension of MINURSO's mandate to include human rights monitoring is not a complex procedure. In order to establish this, a simple reference to human rights monitoring could be inserted into the current mandate.
Currently MINURSO must observe in silence, whilst human right violations continue to be perpetrated.
Last year's report by the Secretary General observed: 'both parties to the conflict often accuse each other, in communications with the United Nations or in the media, of human rights violations.'
It stands to reason that nothing can do more to build confidence, strengthen MINURSO and ensure that both parties engage seriously in the UN process than ensuring that international principles of human rights are upheld.
MINURSO must not remain - in direct opposition to fundamental UN principles and the recommendations of its own human rights agency - the only contemporary peace-keeping mission without a human rights mandate.
We urge the UK to support the extension of the mandate to include human rights monitoring.
22 March 2010 ANNEXES
Annex 1 Extracts from recent documents exploring Morocco's deteriorating human rights situation
Human Rights Watch, Morocco: An 'Endangered Model', published in: Foreign Policy In Focus November 16, 2009
More recently, though, Morocco's advances have been eroded or reversed, mainly because they have not been institutionalized --- the setback on rights seems to have less to do with combating terror than with reining in those who challenge the political status quo, centered on an unaccountable monarchy and the key ministries that answer directly to it. --- In an ominous development, Morocco last month referred to a military court seven nonviolent activists who seek self-determination for the Western Sahara --- The "Moroccanness" of the Western Sahara, which Moroccan authorities have portrayed for decades as the national cause, remains a convenient pretext for repressing rights, on the grounds that Sahrawis who favor self-determination are Algerian-backed enemies of Morocco's "territorial integrity."
While Morocco's press may be among the freest in the Middle East and North Africa, it's also arguably the one whose freedom has shrunk the most during the past year. --- To remain silent about Morocco's backsliding because "it is better than its neighbors" would promote complacency about a situation that, once a cause for hope, is threatening to settle down as one more stalled transition.
Human Rights Watch Morocco/Western Sahara Country Summary, January 2010
Human rights conditions deteriorated overall in 2009 in Morocco, although the country continued to have a lively civil society and independent press. The government, aided by complaisant courts, used repressive legislation to punish and imprison peaceful opponents, especially those who violate taboos against criticizing the king or the monarchy, questioning the "Moroccanness" of Western Sahara, or "denigrating" Islam.
Restrictions on rights are particularly tight in the restive Western Sahara region
Amnesty International Public Statement: 17 November 2009 Morocco/Western Sahara: Expulsion of human rights defender reflects growing intolerance
The expulsion of Aminatou Haidar, who received the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award in 2008, is the latest of a series of measures taken by the Moroccan authorities against Sahrawi human rights defenders and advocates of self-determination for the people of Western Sahara. In October 2009, the Moroccan authorities confiscated the travel documents of six Sahrawi activists - Sidi Mohamed Daddach, Ahmed Sbai, Laarbi Massoud, Atig Brai, Ibrahim Ismaili and Sultana Khaya - to prevent them from travelling to Mauritania and Spain. On 6 November, in a speech marking the anniversary of the "Green March", when Morocco took possession of the former Spanish territory of Western Sahara in 1975, King Mohamed VI said that challenges to Morocco's "territorial integrity" - a reference to Western Sahara's incorporation - will not be tolerated. --- The Moroccan authorities appear to be adopting an increasingly repressive approach to the exercise of these rights by Sahrawis, in breach of their obligations under international human rights treaties
Amnesty International Public Statement, 6 November 2009 Morocco/Western Sahara: Eight new prisoners of conscience in October
The detention of eight individuals in October, apparently for crossing red lines on the "taboo" issues of the monarchy and the status of Western Sahara, represents a serious attack on freedom of expression by the Moroccan authorities --- Amnesty International unequivocally opposes the trial of civilians in military courts and furthermore fears that the charges are a result of the seven activists' legitimate activities in support of the self-determination of the Sahrawi people. It believes that the activities that the seven are reported to have undertaken during their visit to Algeria, including the Tindouf camps, between 26 September and 8 October, such as meeting with Polisario representatives and attending festivals and other events organized in their honour, amount merely to the peaceful and legitimate exercise of their rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly as guaranteed in international law and standards.
Amnesty International is concerned that the Moroccan authorities are treating peaceful political activities challenging Morocco's "territorial integrity" as a national security issue.
Amnesty International Public Statement, 13 October 2009 Morocco/Western Sahara: Sahrawi activists targeted for Tindouf visit
Their arrests also come in the midst of increased reports of harassment of Sahrawi activists including breaches of the right of individuals to leave the country in contravention of Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights (ICCPR), which guarantees freedom of movement, and to which Morocco is a state party. For instance, five Sahrawi activists were prevented from travelling to Mauritania on 6 October. After prolonged interrogations, they had all their identification documents confiscated before being released without being given any official reason for the ban. --- Moroccan authorities not only target Sahrawi activists calling for the self determination of Western Sahara, but also Sahrawi human rights defenders monitoring violations taking place in that context. Sahrawi human rights defenders continue to face intimidation, harassment or even prosecution. Amnesty International fears that defenders are targeted because of their human rights activities and for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression, including the right to peacefully advocate for self-determination. Their work is further hampered as they are unable to obtain legal registration for their organizations due to politically motivated administrative obstacles.
Annex 2 Links to evidence of specific cases of human rights violations referred to in the briefing
Seven prisoners of conscience
Front Line Defenders: Seven Sahrawi human rights defenders could face harsh sentences before a military court http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/node/2206
Amnesty International: Eight new prisoners of conscience in October http://www.amnesty.org/library/asset/MDE29/011/2009/en/b9eb683c-3715-4d48-a8bc-50ffca5eaa1c/mde290112009en.html
Aminatou Haidar
Amnesty International: Morocco must allow human rights activist Aminatou Haidar to return home http://www.amnesty.org/appeals-for-action/morocco-must-allow-human-rightsactivist-aminatou-haidar-return-home
Amnesty International: Expulsion of human rights defender reflects growing intolerance http://www.amnesty.org/library/asset/MDE29/012/2009/en/9168fdcd-6f76-4f8f-949a-e3346239b061/mde290122009en.html
Amnesty International: URGENT ACTION Sahrawi human rights defender returns home http://www.amnesty.org/library/asset/MDE29/005/2010/en/d274de87-4c81-43ba-8d72-6b5a7d0f060c/mde290052010en.html
Ahmed Mahmoud Haddi
Amnesty International: URGENT ACTION Victim of torture facing trial http://www.amnesty.org/library/asset/MDE29/004/2010/en/6dfa845c-5cd5-488fb6f4-0135269dc86a/mde290042010en.html
Annex 3 Further evidence - Extracts from human rights reports by: · Amnesty International · US State Department · European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights · Frontline Defenders · Human Rights Watch · AFAPRADESA
Amnesty International Report 2009 http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/morocco/report-2009
The rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly continued to be restricted. Criticism of the monarchy or views contradicting the official position on other politically sensitive issues were penalized. The authorities used excessive force to break up antigovernment protests. Proponents of self determination for the people of Western Sahara were harassed and prosecuted. Allegations of torture were not investigated, and victims of past human rights violations were not granted effective access to justice.
US State Department Human Rights Report 2008 Western Sahara
During the year Sahrawi human rights activists claimed that beating and torture continued and that threats and the use of psychological and "mental stress" interrogations persisted. --- According to a May Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, during the year and in recent years there was impunity for police abuses. Numerous victims of human rights abuses repeatedly named specific police or security officials as arbitrarily arresting, either supervising or employing excessive force and/or beating demonstrators, including children, and forcing them to sign statements against their will that they were prevented from reading. During the year multiple complaints were filed with both police and judicial authorities against specific officers who had received complaints against them in previous years. According to HRW, authorities dismiss the overwhelming majority of complaints without collecting evidence beyond the police's own version of events. No officer was charged with any crimes during the year. --- Despite a reduction, the government and many NGOs reported multiple cases of human rights abuses. For example, two activists, Dahha Rahmouni and Brahim al-Ansari reported filing formal complaints of police mistreatment on January 4, which authorities denied receiving. In 2007 Zahra Bassiri, a 14-year-old girl, was arrested after a peaceful demonstration by approximately 50 persons in support of Western Saharan independence, according to the Associated Press. Bassiri stated that police officers began beating her as soon as they put her into a transport van. No investigation was conducted. Of 12 complaints of abuse that local authorities acknowledged receiving since 2005, all were found baseless by the government or closed without contacting the original complainant. --- On June 17, Moroccan authorities forcibly prevented parties and other gatherings from celebrating the release of Brahim Sabbar. Security officers assaulted Mohamed Dadach, a prominent human rights activist, recipient of the 2002 Rafto Human Rights Award from Norway and the President of the Support Committee for the Sahrawi People's Self-Determination, after he left the home of another activist in Laayoune. The activists were preparing to celebrate the release of Brahim Sabbar. Dadach claimed that approximately 15 police officers beat him on the face and body.
US State Department Human Rights Report 2008, Morocco
Reports of torture and other abuses by various branches of the security forces persisted, and prison conditions remained below international standards. Reports of arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detentions, and police and security force impunity continued. Politics, as well as corruption and inefficiency, influenced the judiciary, which was not fully independent. The government restricted freedoms of speech, religion, and the press. --- Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
The law prohibits such practices, and the government denied the use of torture. According to domestic and international human rights organizations, prisoners, and detainees, however, members of the security forces tortured and abused individuals in their custody. The penal code stipulates sentences of up to life imprisonment for public servants who use or allow the use of violence against others in the exercise of their official duties. --- While there has been a marked diminution of allegations of abuse by Moroccan security officials in Western Sahara (see separate report), there have been multiple allegations of abuse and torture levied against a police official in southern Morocco. The officer, who previously served in Western Sahara, was the subject of multiple abuse complaints in both locations. The government reported that it had investigated the allegations against the officer in both locations and determined that they were politically motivated and took no action. --- In February authorities released two officers convicted and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment in 2007 for the 2005 beating death of Western Saharan activist Hamdi Lembarki. Their sentences were reduced to time served following the death of another policeman during disorders in Tan Tan. --- Prison conditions remained poor and generally did not meet international standards. Extreme overcrowding, malnutrition, and lack of hygiene characterized the poor conditions inside prisons --- Human rights NGOs, however, charged that judges decided cases often on the basis of forced confessions, especially in cases of Islamists accused of terrorism or in the cases of some Sahrawis. Police statements about detainees were sometimes used in place of defendants' confessions. --- On April 13, police arrested Sahrawi activist Enaama Asfari in Marrakech after a night-time traffic altercation. He said that three plainclothes policemen slapped, punched, stripped, and kicked him, including in the stomach and on the soles of his feet, and burned him with cigarettes. They subsequently took him to a hospital for treatment, but when he requested a medical certificate of injury, he was whisked away. According to Asfari, he was later forced to sign a statement he had not written or read, admitting to drunk driving, and did so to stop the beatings. He was denied the opportunity to contact his family. During the trial the judge refused to allow a medical examination. Authorities expelled Asfari's wife and two other trial observers from Tan Tan and then the country for incitement. He was sentenced to two months in prison and fined 3,000 dirhams ($420) and was freed on June 13
Report by Thomas Schmidt, Secretary General of ELDH European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights Report on a visit in the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) refugee camps of the Sahrawi 3-9 October 2009 people near Tindouf in Algeria and in the liberated zone
A great problem is also the violation of human rights by the Moroccan Government, in particular concerning the Sahrawi people living in the occupied zone. The situation became worse after the Intifada of Western Sahara broke out.
Frontline Defenders - Western Sahara http://frontlinedefenders.org/westernsahara accessed 26.10.09
A high proportion of those detained are secondary school students and the police maintain a constant presence in the schools. Many young men claim to have been arrested and beaten by the police in custody, including allegations of sexual assault. Many complaints, in relation the aforementioned violations, were submitted to different administrative and legal bodies, however, no serious response was reported
Frontline Defenders - Shikhine Brahim http://frontlinedefenders.org/node/1636 accessed 26.10.09
Young Saharawi are routinely detained and ill treated. Torture is endemic in the Moroccan police system and demands for the investigation of allegations of torture are routinely dismissed for "lack of evidence".
Human Rights Watch report, December 2008 http://www.hrw.org/en/node/77259/section/1
Morocco ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 1993. In 2006 it took the positive step of lifting its reservation to Article 20 of that Convention, thereby recognizing the competence of the Committee against Torture to open an investigation when it "receives reliable information which appears to it to contain well-founded indications that torture is being systematically practiced" in its territory. Morocco recognized at the same time the competence of the Committee against Torture, under Article 22 of the Convention, to receive and consider communications from or on behalf of individuals who claim to be victims of a violation of the convention. --- Also in 2006, Morocco promulgated amendments to its Penal Code prohibiting torture and bringing the code's definition of torture closer to the one found in the Convention against Torture. The code, as revised, refers to:
any act that causes severe physical or mental pain or suffering intentionally inflicted by a public agent or upon his instigation or with his express or tacit consent, upon a person for the purpose of intimidating or pressuring him or for pressuring a third person, to obtain information or a confession, to punish him for an act that he or a third party committed or is suspected of having committed, or when such pain or suffering is inflicted for any other objective based on any form of discrimination.[125] --- Despite these legislative measures, torture persists in Morocco in part because of a lack of political will to eradicate it. --- When asked about accountability for abuse, Moroccan authorities repeatedly cite the case of two police officers who served two years in prison for beating Hamdi Lembarki, a Sahrawi man, to death on an El-Ayoun street in October 2005. Outside of this case, we found no evidence that the many formal complaints lodged by Sahrawis of physical abuse by the police triggered a serious investigation, much less punishment of those found to be --responsible. --- This report describes three prevalent types of violence committed by police against Sahrawi activists and suspected activists: violence that police inflict during the interrogation of suspects in custody, violence against persons in their custody as punishment for alleged participation in illegal street demonstrations, and excessive force used to disperse illegal demonstrations. Some of the cases meet the definition of torture under Moroccan and international law; others amount to inhumane and degrading treatment, also forbidden by the Convention against Torture. For full report please refer to http://www.hrw.org/en/node/77259/section/1
Report by AFAPRADESA, Association for the Families of Saharawi Prisoners and the Disappeared, September 2009 http://www.afapredesa.org/arabe/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=539&Itemid=40
The report covers violations reported to have been committed by Moroccan authorities in Western Sahara and southern Morocco.
These are some examples of the cases: 1. The kidnapping of the Saharawi student Shamad Razouq (20 years of age) by members of the Moroccan police dressed in civilian clothes on 1st Sept 2009, the attack took place about two hours after the breaking of the Ramadan fast whilst Razouq was walking near the Almurabitin school in the occupied city of Al-Aiun. It is reported that there was a Moroccan police car watching him. Policemen left the car and forced him into the car without giving him a chance to talk. They blindfolded him and kicked him repeatedly until he fainted, then took him in the car to an unknown place in the outskirts of the city. The Saharawi student Shamad Razouq continued to undergo psychological and physical torture after those who were interrogating him poured cold water over his body and tied his hands behind his back in an attempt to force him to confess to his involvement in criminal acts to which he has no relation. Then they moved into the next stage of terrorising him after they made him hang from a pole held between two cars. He was held in that position and exposed to beating and hitting on his face and back for several hours before they moved him to another unknown place where they threatened to bury him in a hole and rape him if he did not offer some information about the organizers of a demonstration held in the city. Before releasing him, his interrogators forced him to sit for at least half an hour on the sand naked and without moving or talking before he was moved again to the police car where he was interrogated in a similar fashion, subjected to beating and abuse.
2. The imprisonment of the Saharawi student Mohamd Raha by the Moroccan police on 1st September 2009 in the occupied city of Boujdour, on account of his participation in a peaceful demonstration asking for the self-determination of the Saharawi people and protesting against the occupation. He was subjected to physical and verbal abuse before being released from the police station without being charged.
3. The imprisonment of two Saharawi students Mohamad Alahmadi and Aba Bakanna, and the raiding of their family homes by the Moroccan authorities. They were taken to the main police station in the occupied city of Boujdour, where they were severely beaten and abused. The incident occurred at 1.30 in the afternoon on September 2nd 2009. They were forced by two Moroccans known as Moahamd AlMadfa' and Abdullah to sign false testimonies, without seeing the contents, and to make a recorded confession that they had incited the Saharawi human rights activists Mohamad Atahlil and Sultana Haya, and that they had supplied demonstrators with the Saharawi national flag and pamphlets. After hours of interrogation involving different kinds of torture, under pressure from the Saharawi public they were released in a very bad state, and with visible signs of having been tortured. [1] Report of the OHCHR Mission to Western Sahara and the Refugee Camps in Tindouf 15/23 May and 19 June 2006 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Geneva, 8 September 2006 [2] For examples see AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC STATEMENT: 28 April 2009UNSC members should support independent human rights monitoring in Western Sahara and the Tindouf camps http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/IOR52/002/2009/en/383437d4-18ff-4212-9120-bc7b1732ecd8/ior520022009eng.html and Human Rights Watch Letter to the UNSC urging human rights monitoring in Western Sahara, April 17, 2009 http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/04/17/letter-unsc-urging-human-rights-monitoring-western-sahara [3] See Human Rights Watch article http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/11/16/morocco-endangered-model and Expulsion of human rights defender reflects growing intolerance AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC STATEMENT 17 November 2009 http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE29/012/2009/en/9168fdcd-6f76-4f8f-949a-e3346239b061/mde290122009en.html [4] Human Rights Watch, Morocco/Western Sahara: Reverse New Rule on Sahrawi Activists' Contacts, 16 November 2009 [5] See Human Rights Watch Morocco/Western Sahara Country summary 2009 http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/related_material/morocco.pdf |