Paris, July 9, 2026 (SPS) – The French Association of Friends of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (AARASD) has expressed deep concern over the deteriorating health of Sahrawi political prisoner Naâma Asfari, who has been on an open-ended hunger strike since June 8 at Kenitra Prison in Morocco.
In a statement issued on Thursday in Paris, the association said that Naâma Asfari, a member of the Gdeim Izik group of Sahrawi political prisoners, has entered the fifth week of what he describes as a "hunger strike for dignity" to protest the Moroccan authorities' failure to implement Opinion No. 23/2023 of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.
According to AARASD, the UN opinion calls for the release of the Sahrawi prisoners of the Gdeim Izik group, whose detention has been deemed arbitrary. Pending their release, Naâma Asfari is also demanding that they be transferred to El Aaiún Prison to enable them to be closer to their families.
The association noted that his health condition has become a source of serious concern due to significant weight loss. It also highlighted his determination to continue the hunger strike and questioned the lack of response from Morocco's so-called General Delegation for Prison Administration despite the protest having continued for more than a month.
AARASD stressed that hunger strikes remain the only means available to Sahrawi political prisoners to protest their conditions of detention and demand respect for their fundamental rights.
In its statement, the association called on French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu to intervene with the Moroccan authorities to ensure that they respond to the demands of Naâma Asfari and the other Gdeim Izik prisoners and uphold Morocco's international human rights obligations.
AARASD recalled that the Gdeim Izik prisoners were sentenced to lengthy prison terms following trials that have been described as unfair by several international bodies. The association also noted that the United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) has repeatedly condemned Morocco for acts of torture and for relying on confessions allegedly obtained under coercion against members of the group, including Naâma Asfari. It added that four new decisions made public on May 20 reaffirm, in its view, the systematic nature of torture and the urgent need for the prisoners' release.
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