Geneva (UN Human Rights Council) 10 Sept 2025 (SPS) – Sahrawi human rights defender Ms. Yaguta Mukhtar addressed the 60th Session of the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday morning in Geneva, warning against the systematic use by the Moroccan occupying force of arbitrary detention as a tool of repression in Western Sahara.
Speaking during the General Debate on Item 2 of the agenda, she highlighted the targeting of Sahrawi human rights defenders, journalists, and students through detention without legal basis, ill-treatment, and unfair trials.
Yaguta stressed that short-term undocumented detentions are being employed to intimidate communities and silence peaceful dissent. She recalled emblematic cases such as the Gdeim Izik group, journalist Khatri Dadda, and human rights defender Hussein El Bachir Ibrahim, pointing out that despite findings by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Morocco has failed to provide remedies or ensure accountability.
She further underlined that the situation in Western Sahara clearly illustrates the global concerns raised in the report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights regarding shrinking civic space and the targeting of human rights defenders.
She insisted that accountability and access of UN Mechanisms to the occupied territory are essential to prevent arbitrary detention from continuing as an unchecked tool of political repression in Western Sahara.
The Sahrawi human rights defender called for immediate and concrete action to protect Sahrawi civilians. She urged member states to demand the release of all Sahrawi political prisoners currently held in Moroccan prisons, many of whom have been subjected to unfair trials and prolonged detention.
She further pressed the Council to ensure that Morocco complies with international fair trial standards and guarantees the rights of detainees in line with its obligations under international law.
The activist also called for unhindered access to Western Sahara for UN mechanisms and independent observers, stressing the need for transparency and monitoring to document ongoing violations.
Finally, Ms. Yaguta Mukhtar reiterated the long-standing demand for the establishment of a permanent human rights monitoring mechanism, including within the mandate of MINURSO, to provide the Council and the international community with independent and continuous reporting on the situation in Western Sahara.
“Sustained accountability and effective access are indispensable,” she concluded, warning that without them, arbitrary detention will remain an unchecked instrument of political repression against the Sahrawi people. (SPS)
090/500/60 (SPS)
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