Ali Salem Tamek
Western Sahara - Trial of Sahrawi 7 postponed yet again as violence breaks out in El Ayoun
What is almost as shocking as the images of the violence in Western Sahara is the fact that, although tension has been mounting over the past week with 25,000 people leaving their homes to camp in the desert in protest at their deplorable living conditions, this has only become a news story receiving any kind of serious coverage when the body count started to mount.
Human rights defenders in this the "last colony in Africa" are routinely harassed, intimidated and arrested. Ali Salem Tamek, Brahim Dahane and Ahmad Anasiri have been in pre-trial detention since October 2009 and now their trial - again disrupted by pro-Moroccan elements chanting slogans and threatening lawyers and defendants alike - has been postponed until December.
The state has presented no credible evidence against the defendants and has so far failed to conduct a trial that could be seen in any way to comply with international standards.
Western Sahara - Trial of Sahrawi 7 postponed yet again as violence breaks out in El Ayoun
What is almost as shocking as the images of the violence in Western Sahara is the fact that, although tension has been mounting over the past week with 25,000 people leaving their homes to camp in the desert in protest at their deplorable living conditions, this has only become a news story receiving any kind of serious coverage when the body count started to mount.
Human rights defenders in this the "last colony in Africa" are routinely harassed, intimidated and arrested. Ali Salem Tamek, Brahim Dahane and Ahmad Anasiri have been in pre-trial detention since October 2009 and now their trial - again disrupted by pro-Moroccan elements chanting slogans and threatening lawyers and defendants alike - has been postponed until December.
The state has presented no credible evidence against the defendants and has so far failed to conduct a trial that could be seen in any way to comply with international standards.
From Casablanca - Violent scenes in court lead to postponement of trial of leading human rights defenders
Due to the the disturbances in court the trial has now been postponed and some Saharawi human rights defenders have claimed that the violent incidents witnessed in the court were part of an orchestrated plan to delay the trial and prevent the international observers from carrying out their role. The three human rights defenders are calling on the Moroccan authorities to allow them to have a fair trial as guaranteed under international law or to release them unconditionally.
With the links below you can see some of the scenes in court which led to the postponement of the trial.
Video 1 - Footage of violence scenes in Court which led to the postponement of the trial
Video 2 - Footage of violence scenes in court which led to the postponement of the trial
Trial of Sahrawi human rights defenders Ali Salem Tamek, Brahim Dahane and Ahmed Naciri about to start
REPORT DIRECTLY FROM CASABLANCA
At the time of writing, the Saharawi human rights defenders - Ali Salem Tamek, Brahim Dahane and Ahmed Naciri – are still in jail. They have not yet been transported to the court.
However, others have arrived at the court. Only 25 minutes ago, Mrs. Aminatou Haidar, the president of CODESA (Saharawi Collective of Human Rights Defenders) arrived on the scene.
There are lots of journalists and international observers (from Spain, Sweden, Italy ...) waiting for the trial to start. Moroccan human rights organisations are also present, as are representatives of different legal bars from Morocco.
Moreover, many SahArawi from the occupied territories have made the trip to Casablanca in support of the human rights defenders. Saharawi students have come to Casablanca for the very same reason.
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