Geneva (UN Human Rights Council) 19 September 2025 (SPS) – Four United Nations Special Rapporteurs have sent a strongly worded written communication to the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco, expressing grave concern over the continued persecution of Saharawi human rights defenders, in particular the case of political prisoner Al-Hussein Al-Bashir Ibrahim (El Hussein Amaadour) and his sister, the activist Soukaina Amaadour.
The communication (Ref. AL MAR 4/2025), dated 17 July 2025 was signed by Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Tlaleng Mofokeng, Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, and Margaret Satterthwaite, Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers.
The four Special rapporteurs underscore serious violations of international law committed against the two defenders, and denounced allegations of harassment, humiliating treatment, racist verbal abuse, and denial of essential medical care against the Sahrawi human rights defenders.
They specifically highlight the degrading strip-search imposed on Soukaina Amaadour during a prison visit she was paying to her imprisoned brother on 19 June 2025, which was accompanied by racist insults and threats by prison staff at Bouizakarne (a city in the South of Morocco).
They further highlight the deteriorating health of Al-Hussein Al-Bashir Ibrahim, a Saharawi student leader and human rights defender, who is serving a 12-year prison sentence handed down after a politically motivated trial in 2019. It should be recalled that the human rights defender had sought refuge in Spain, but was arrested by the Spanish authorities and forcibly extradited to Morocco, where he was subsequently detained and sentenced.
The 4 UN Rapporteurs recall that the defender’s detention has already been ruled arbitrary by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in its opinion no. 63/2024, which called for his immediate release and reparation.
Despite this, Moroccan authorities have kept him imprisoned under deteriorating conditions, far from his family home, in overcrowded and unhygienic cells, and without proper access to medical care or education.
Reports describe him as suffering from chronic kidney problems, malnutrition, and extreme weakness following a hunger strike in early 2023, all while being denied hospital treatment unless he agreed to wear a uniform for common criminals, a condition he refused as degrading to his status as a prisoner of conscience.
The four Special Rapporteurs point out that Morocco’s actions breach the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ratified by Morocco in 1979, specifically, Article 7, prohibiting torture and inhuman or degrading treatment, Article 10, requiring humane treatment for persons deprived of liberty, Article 12, guaranteeing the right to health and Article 19, protecting freedom of opinion and expression.
They also stress that Morocco is failing to respect the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Nelson Mandela Rules), which require access to medical care, detention near family, and visitor searches conducted with dignity.
Furthermore, the communication recalls that Al-Hussein Amaadour had previously been the subject of three earlier UN interventions (AL MAR 2/2020, AL MAR 5/2020, AL MAR 2/2023).
The 4 Special Rapporteurs ask the Moroccan government to provide information about the allegations of torture, harassment, and denial of health care, clarification on why his requests to be detained closer to his family have been ignored, details of any investigations into the treatment of Soukaina Amaadour and the abusive conditions of her brother’s detention and concrete measures ensuring that Saharawi human rights defenders can operate freely, report abuses, and advocate peacefully for the right to self-determination without fear of reprisals.
They stress that unless Morocco addresses these issues, its obligations under international human rights law remain unfulfilled. The experts make clear that the communication, along with Morocco’s reply, will be published within 60 days on the UN Human Rights Council’s website.
The case of Al-Hussein Amaadour also carries a Spanish responsibility. In 2019, Spain handed him over to Morocco under a so-called “re-admission agreement”, despite appeals from Spanish and international human rights organizations who warned of the persecution he would face. The subsequent events have tragically confirmed those fears: arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, and systematic denial of his basic rights.
This is not the first time that UN mechanisms have intervened against Morocco’s repression of Saharawis. In June 2023, eight UN Special Procedures, including rapporteurs on housing, minorities, cultural rights, and arbitrary detention, jointly called on Morocco to stop the demolition of Saharawi homes and cultural heritage and to end patterns of discrimination and dispossession in the occupied territories.
These repeated interventions highlight a systematic policy of persecution carried out by Morocco against Saharawi defenders, journalists, students, and ordinary civilians who refuse to give up their right to self-determination.
The latest UN communication is yet another international confirmation of the horrific conditions endured by Saharawi political prisoners. The torture, denial of medical treatment, humiliation of families, and discriminatory practices amount to grave violations of international law. (SPS)
090/500/60 (SPS)
Related blogs
