Porto (Portugal) 23 June 2025 (SPS)— 358 organizations and 378 eminent personalities issued an open letter addressed to the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, calling for urgent intervention in the case of Saharawi political prisoners detained by the Kingdom of Morocco in it prisons in total violation of international human rights law.
The letter, dated 23 June 2025, denounces the ongoing arbitrary detention, torture, and denial of due process faced by Saharawi prisoners, particularly members of the well-known Gdeim Izik group. The organizations assert that these violations persist despite multiple decisions and opinions from United Nations human rights mechanisms, including the Committee Against Torture (CAT) and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD).
According to the letter, CAT has issued binding decisions in several cases—CAT/C/72/D/871/2018, CAT/C/72/D/923/2019, CAT/C/74/D/891/2018, and CAT/C/75/D/999/2020—confirming the use of torture and inhuman treatment against prisoners such as Sidi Abdallah Abbahah, Mohamed Bourial, Abdeljalil Laaroussi, and Mohamed Bani. The CAT decisions call for immediate remedies including cessation of abuse, medical care, and transfer to detention centers closer to their families.
The WGAD, in its legal opinions—including A/HRC/27/48/Add.5 and A/HRC/WGAD/2023/23—has concluded that the detention of the Gdeim Izik group members is arbitrary under international law and urged their immediate release. Although not legally binding, WGAD’s findings carry significant weight within the UN human rights framework.
Despite these rulings, the letter notes that the Moroccan authorities have failed to implement any of the required measures. Moreover, they have reportedly withheld the official UN decisions from the prisoners themselves, denying them access to key legal documents and violating their rights to due process and legal representation.
“This denial of access,” the letter states, “constitutes a flagrant violation of due process and a deliberate obstruction of justice. It isolates these prisoners from the very mechanisms meant to protect them and further reinforces a system of secrecy and impunity.”
The signatories of the open letter warn that Morocco’s continued non-compliance undermines the credibility of international human rights instruments and threatens the authority of the United Nations itself.
The signatories urge Secretary-General Guterres to take decisive action by, publicly reaffirming the binding nature of CAT decisions and the importance of WGAD opinions; calling for the immediate release of all Saharawi political prisoners held in violation of international law; pressuring Morocco to fulfill its obligations under UN treaties, including delivery of legal documents to prisoners and access to legal counsel; and highlighting these violations in official UN reports and public statements.
“The Saharawi political prisoners have been silenced, isolated, and ignored for too long,” the letter concludes. “It is time for the United Nations to assert its authority and reaffirm the rule of international law.”
This open letter comes amid growing calls from civil society and the Saharawi people for the international community to take concrete steps toward ending Morocco’s illegal occupation of Western Sahara and addressing the human rights crisis in the occupied territories. (SPS)
090/500/60 (SPS)
Related blogs
