Geneva (UN Human Rights Council) 27 June 2026 (SPS) – The President of the Sahrawi Organ Against the Moroccan Occupation (ISACOM), Ms. Aminatou Haidar, stressed that the fast development of artificial intelligence and digital technologies must not become a new tool for enhancing surveillance, discrimination, and exclusion against Sahrawi women human rights defenders under Morocco's illegal occupation in Western Sahara.
Haidar made the statement during her oral intervention before the 62nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, delivered as part of the interactive dialogue with the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls, held in Geneva on June 25.
The Sahrawi human rights defender opened her statement by welcoming the Working Group's report, noting that its recognition that artificial intelligence does not develop in a vacuum, but rather reflects and can amplify existing inequalities and power imbalances, represents an important step toward understanding the risks faced by women living under occupation.
In this context, she highlighted that Sahrawi women, who play a central role in defending human rights and advocating for the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination, continue to face surveillance, harassment, intimidation, and reprisals because of their human rights activism.
She further pointed out that Sahrawi women human rights defenders are subjected to restrictions on their freedom of expression and freedom of association, both offline and online.
They also suffer economic and social reprisals affecting both themselves and their families, including dismissal from employment and the denial of job opportunities to family members, including their children, she added.
These practices, she said, are intended to punish those who expose human rights violations and to silence voices calling for respect for human rights in Western Sahara.
The President of ISACOM emphasized that the situation in Western Sahara demonstrates that technology is never neutral when deployed in contexts of occupation.
She concluded by stressing that no technological advancement can substitute for respect for human rights or for guaranteeing the Sahrawi people's right to freedom, dignity, and self-determination. (SPS)
090/500/60 (SPS)
Related blogs
