Shaheed El Hafed, July 8, 2026 (SPS) – The Sahrawi National Human Rights Committee (CONASADH) has held the Moroccan authorities fully responsible for any deterioration in the health or any harm that may happen to Sahrawi civilian prisoner Naâma Asfari, who is currently on a hunger strike.
In a statement, the CONASADH said that Asfari's life is now in imminent and serious danger, holding the occupying Moroccan authorities fully accountable for any further deterioration in his condition or any harm resulting from what it described as the deliberate disregard of his legitimate demands. These demands include the implementation of Opinion No. 23/2023 issued by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which calls for his immediate release, along with the other members of the Gdeim Izik Group.
In light of this critical situation, CONASADH called on the international community, particularly the United Nations, to take urgent action to ensure that Asfari receives independent and immediate medical care and that the Sahrawi prisoners are transferred to a prison closer to their families in Western Sahara pending their release.
It also called for an end to their solitary confinement, for the International Committee of the Red Cross and the relevant UN Special Rapporteur to be granted access to visit the Sahrawi prisoners, and for lawyers and family members to be allowed to conduct regular visits.
CONASADH expressed its full solidarity with Sahrawi political prisoners held in Moroccan prisons, especially the members of the Gdeim Izik Group, who have launched an open-ended hunger strike in solidarity with Naâma Asfari. It pledged to continue exposing the serious human rights violations they are subjected to and to urge the international community to assume its responsibilities.
The statement appealed to the United Nations, the UN Security Council, the European Union, the African Union, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the International Committee of the Red Cross, the European Parliament, and international human rights organizations to intervene urgently to save the life of Naâma Asfari, press the Moroccan authorities to release all Sahrawi political prisoners, guarantee independent international monitors access to Moroccan prisons, and ensure the implementation of United Nations resolutions concerning the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination.
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