Boumerdes (Algeria), August 20, 2026 (SPS) – Sahrawi human rights activists and students have raised the alarm over the escalating grave and systematic violations against Sahrawi civilians in the occupied part of Western Sahara, stressing that the practices of the Moroccan occupation target the fundamental freedoms and legitimate rights of the Sahrawi people, in flagrant violation of international law and relevant international conventions.
In statements to the media on the sidelines of their participation in the 14th edition of the Summer University for Executives of the Polisario Front and the Sahrawi Republic, held at M’hamed Bougara University in Boumerdes, former political prisoner and Sahrawi human rights defender Abdelmoula Mohamed El Hafidi said that the occupied Sahrawi territories are witnessing a “major escalation” in the repressive practices pursued by the Moroccan occupation forces against Sahrawi civilians.
El Hafid explained that the human rights situation in the occupied part of Western Sahara “has long been the exception,” describing it as “the first front in confronting the Moroccan occupation, without weapons, only with bare chests.” He stressed that this peaceful struggle reflects the determination of the Sahrawi people to continue their struggle until they secure their inalienable right to self-determination and independence.
He pointed out that, in response to this determination, the Moroccan occupation is “escalating its repressive practices on all fronts,” through the suppression of freedoms and the denial of the right to peaceful assembly, as well as violations of the fundamental rights of Sahrawi political prisoners and civilians inside Moroccan prisons.
He added that these practices essentially seek to “silence and restrain Sahrawis from expressing their established right to self-determination, freedom and independence.” At the same time, he noted, the occupation continues to impose a media blockade on the occupied territory by preventing journalists and international observers from entering and witnessing first-hand the situation of the human rights situation there.
In this context, El Hafidi recalled his personal experience in Moroccan occupation prisons, where he spent many years alongside Sahrawi political prisoners, stressing that his imprisonment was simply the result of exercising his right to defend the freedom of his people and their right to self-determination.
This testimony comes at a time when the United Nations Committee against Torture, in a decision adopted during its 84th session on April 24 and published recently, found Morocco responsible for violating the Convention against Torture in the case of Sahrawi human rights defender and former political prisoner Abdelmoula El Hafidi. The case concerned the conditions of his detention in Ait Melloul Prison, which the Committee concluded amounted to “degrading treatment.”
Recalling his years in detention, El Hafidi said: “The price was 10 years of unjust imprisonment, characterized above all by discrimination, the denial of the most basic rights, medical neglect, deprivation of visits, contact with the outside world, and the use of the time allocated for prisoners’ recreation, among other repressive practices.”
For his part, Sahrawi student Mohamed Mouloud Mohamed shed light on the situation of Sahrawi students at Moroccan universities, stressing that their suffering cannot be separated from the situation of their people in the occupied territories, amid restrictions, targeting and systematic attempts to “bury” their presence and identity and silence their voices within university institutions.
In the same context, Sahrawi student and former political prisoner Ibrahim Babit highlighted the particular targeting of Sahrawi students, describing them as “the educated group that carries the torch and struggles from within Morocco for the legitimate rights of its people.”
Babit also addressed the situation of Sahrawi students detained in Moroccan prisons, calling on the international community to “assume its responsibilities and fulfill its commitments” by pressuring the Moroccan occupation to immediately halt all forms of repression and violations committed against Sahrawi civilians.
He further stressed the need to establish an independent international mechanism to monitor human rights in Western Sahara and continuously document violations, in order to ensure the protection of civilians and put an end to impunity. At the same time, he emphasized “the need to accelerate the process of ending the occupation of the last colony in Africa, in accordance with the requirements of international legitimacy.”
According to those giving the testimonies, these accounts reflect the widening scope of targeting to include various segments of Sahrawi society, including human rights defenders, students and political prisoners, at a time when restrictions on independent access to the occupied territory continue. This has prompted renewed calls for international protection for Sahrawi civilians and for ensuring that they are able to exercise their fundamental rights, foremost among them the right to self-determination and independence.
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