SAHARA PRESS SERVICE

El Aaiun (occupied territories), 06/10/2005 (SPS) Saharawi human rights activist and ex-political prisoner, Mrs. Fatma Ayach, was victim last Tuesday to a new act of harassment and intimidation by the Moroccan colonial authorities in the occupied capital of Western Sahara, El Aaiun, reported SPS’s correspondent on the ground. 

"The house of the activist was sealed since Monday th 03 of October 2005 by agents from the different corps of the Moroccan forces of repression. The next day Tuesday the 04th October) agents of the Moroccan Criminal police came to her door and accused her of hiding another Saharawi human rights’ activist, Terrouzi Yahdih, who is wanted by the Moroccan secret services because of his human rights’ activities and because he escaped arrest during the arrest of Saharawi political prisoners and activists: Noumria Brahim, Lidri Elhoussein and Laarbi Massoud last July. Mrs. Ayach denied any relation with Mr. Terrouzi, refusing to let anyone in her house without an official mandate", the same source added. 

Tuesday 18.30 GMT, another car, a 'Renault Trafique' of the Criminal police,  "came near the house of the Saharawi activist, this time with a convocation signed by the Regional Director of the Criminal Police. One of the agents tried to intimidate Mrs. Ayach ordering her to get into the car, but she categorically refused recalling them that the normal time of daily work has finished and that she will answer the convocation the next day, especially that she has got a kid she can not leave alone". 

Wednesday 10.10 GMT, Mrs. Ayach effectively went to the seat of the Criminal police as she promised the day before. She was immediately interrogated for more than 5 hours by the Regional Director of the Criminal Police, an officer from the D.S.T (Moroccan political police), an officer from the D.A.G besides other officers from the Moroccan police, it was indicated. 

According to the interrogatory, reported trustworthy sources, the Saharawi activist is accused of "maintaining close relations with the families of the Saharawi political prisoners! Being in charge of the coordination between the political prisoners and their families! And being in the list of the most wanted persons in Morocco!! And thus, Saharawis are now forbidden from having close relations with each others especially with the families of the victims of the Moroccan repression, according to the accusations", one of the source said ironically. 

Besides these ridiculous accusations, Mrs. Ayach was "of course accused of being the supervisor and financer of demonstrations and the origin of the flags that became a normal aspect of the daily panorama in all the occupied Saharawi cities", he added. 

"Anyhow, this new act of intimidation aims in the first place at harassing Mrs. Ayach, who is dedicating her time and energy to the defence of human rights in the occupied territories of Western Sahara, but also comes within the framework of the fierce search undertaken by the Moroccan political police for the Saharawi human rights’ activist, Terrouzi Yahdih", the same source added. 

Mr. Terrouzi Yahdih, it should be stressed, is a young man who used to ork closely with the Saharawi human rights’ activists, Ali Salem Tamek, Aminatou Haidar, and other political prisoners, and was the most active human rights defenders during the events of the Intifada of Independence. 

Ex- political prisoners, abducted in 1987 and detained in the camp of concentration and secret detention PC CMI in the occupied city of El Aaiun until 1991, Mrs. Fatma Ayach, was brutalised with two other human rights activists, mainly Mrs. Aminatou Haidar and Lidri Elhoussine, last June the 17th 2005 during a peaceful demonstration held to protest against the repression exercised by the Moroccan police against an other demonstration that was held earlier the same day in commemoration of the historical Intifada of ‘Zemla’ in  1970. (SPS) 

060/090/000 061657 Oct 05 SPS