Occupied El Aaiun, January 23, 2026 (SPS) — Sahrawi human rights organizations have denounced the Moroccan occupation’s arbitrary and discriminatory measures against Sahrawi activists and human rights defenders, considering restrictions on their movement and freedom of travel to be part of a systematic policy aimed at harassing them and preventing them from breaking the siege imposed on the occupied territories.
In a statement, the Executive Bureau of the Sahrawi Body against the Moroccan Occupation (ISACOM) said that preventing its president, Aminatou Haidar, from traveling to Madrid via the airport of the occupied city of Dakhla—despite having completed all required procedures—constitutes an “arbitrary, illegal, and unjustified measure.” It noted that she intended to undergo urgent medical examinations “due to her sensitive health condition resulting from past exposure to torture, enforced disappearance, and arbitrary detention.”
The organization considered the targeting of Aminatou Haidar, in her capacity as a human rights defender, to be a “direct act of retaliation for her positions rejecting the occupation and demanding respect for human rights in Western Sahara,” condemning the “degrading and inhuman treatment aimed at restricting Sahrawi human rights defenders.”
For its part, the Collective of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders in Western Sahara (CODESA) — Dakhla Branch — stated that preventing the Sahrawi activist Haidar from traveling to Madrid via the occupied Dakhla airport by the Moroccan occupation authorities is an “arbitrary measure and a clear violation” of international human rights standards.
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