تأريخ الحالة: علي سالم التامك

Front Line welcomes the release (albeit on bail) of three human rights defenders from Western Sahara on 14 April 2011. They are Ali Salem Tamek, first Vice-President of the Sahrawi Collective of Human Rights Defenders (CODESA); Brahim Dahane, President of the Sahrawi Association of Victims of Grave Violations of Human Rights (ASVDH); Ahmad Anasiri, General Secretary of the Sahrawi Committee for the Defence of Human Rights in Smara.

The three defenders were arrested along with four others on 8 October 2009 and have been detained since that date. The defenders have undertaken eight hunger strikes in protest against their detention and alleged deprivation of their right to a fair trial. Three of the defenders had intended to start a ninth hunger strike on 14 April.

Front Line believes that the arrest of these seven human rights defenders was directly related to their work in the defence of human rights, particularly their work for various human rights organisations in Western Sahara, including CODESA, ASVDH, the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH), the Forum for the Protection of Sahrawi Children, the Action Committee Against Torture in Dakhla/Western Sahara, and the Sahrawi Committee for the Defence of Human Rights in Smara.

The trial of Sahrawi human rights defenders Mr Ali Salem Tamek, Mr Brahim Dahane and Mr Ahmad Anasiri who have been held in pre-trial detention since October 2010 and the four other detainees who had been released on provisional bail Mr Yahdih Ettarrouzi, Mr Rachid Sghayar, Mr Saleh Lebayhi and Ms Idagja Lachgare reconvened on Friday 5th November and was almost immediately postponed until 17 December amid further scenes of violence and intimidation.

The earlier trial had been marked the presence of large numbers of pro Moroccan supporters in the courtroom who chanted nationalist slogans and harassed and intimidated the defence lawyers, the defendants and international observers.

On Friday 05 November as the trial reconvened the Security Services again allowed a large crowd to enter the courtroom so that there was no room for the international observers.

The Front Line observer refused to sit beside the defendants and the defence team and asked the Security Services to provide a special space for the international observers which included representatives from Sweden, Britain, France and Spain. This was eventually provided.

As the trial got under way the people in the public gallery began chanting the Moroccan national anthem – the “Sahara is Moroccan and “Traitors Traitors”.

When the four defendants who had been previously been released on provisional liberty and the defence lawyers arrived the crowd tried to attack them

After the judge arrived the three defendants, who had been brought from the prison Ali Salem Tamek, Brahim Dahane and Ahmad Anasiri , began to shout “No Alternative - No Alternative “

The judge finally left the court because of the noise from the public gallery at which point the crowd started to attack the Sahrawi human rights defenders beating them and shouting insults. In the resulting melée the correspondent from Spanish television station 8TV was severely beaten and had to be rushed to hospital.

There was also an attempt to assault activists from Sweden, Spain, Britain and France, including the Front Line representative.

The Front Line representative demanded urgent protection from the security services for the international observers and they were eventually able to leave the court under police protection. As they left the court the representatives of Front Line, the International Commission of Jurists and the British Bar Association were subjected to a flood of insults as they made their way though the streets from the court.

The hearing was postponed until 17 December 2010

Further to the Urgent Action sent on 9 October 2009 and subsequent updates, Front Line has received the following new information with regard to imprisoned human rights defenders Mr Yadih Ettarrouzi, Mr Rachid Sghayar and Mr Saleh Lebayhi in Western Sahara.

Front line welcomes the release on 18 May 2010 of three Saharawi human rights defenders: Mr Yahdih Ettarrouzi, aged 29, a member of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH); Mr Rachid Sghayar, aged 37, a member of the Action Committee Against Torture in Dakhla/Western Sahara and Mr Saleh Lebayhi, aged 37, the President of the Forum for the Protection of Saharawi Children and the head of the Samara branch of AMDH.

The release of the three defenders follows a decision, on 18 May 2010, by the court of appeal in Sale to accept the appeal lodged by the defence team against the order by the military court in Rabat to detain the three defenders. The same court rejected the appeal to release three other defenders in the same case who remain in detention at Sale military prison, namely: Mr Ali Salem Tamek, the Vice-President of the Saharawi Collective of Human Rights Defenders (CODESA); Mr Brahim Dahane, the President of the Saharawi Association of Victims of Grave Violations of Human Rights (ASVDH); Mr Ahmad Anasiri, the General Secretary of the Saharawi Committee for the Defence of Human Rights in Smara. Ms Idagja Lachgare, the seventh defender in the same case was released on 28 January 2010.

The seven defenders, who were arrested on 8 October 2009 at Mohamed V Airport in Casablanca, are likely to be subjected to judicial prosecution before the military court on charges related to their human rights activities including the right to freedom of self determination.

Further to the Front Line Urgent Appeal sent on 9 October 2009, Front Line has received the following information regarding the case of seven imprisoned Western Saharan human rights defenders in arbitrary detention.

On 13 April 2010, seven lawyers issued a statement on the case of seven well-known Sahrawi human rights defenders and the deteriorating health conditions of six of them who are on a hunger strike in Sale prison since 18 March 2010 in a protest against their continued detention without charge since their arrest on on 8 October 2009, and violations of their rights as prisoners of conscience.

The seven Human rights defenders are: Mr Ali Salem Tamek, the Vice-President of the Saharawi Collective of Human Rights Defenders (CODESA); Mr Brahim Dahane, the President of the Saharawi Association of Victims of Grave Violations of Human Rights (ASVDH); Mr Ahmad Anasiri, the General Secretary of the Saharawi Committee for the Defence of Human Rights in Smara; Mr Yahdih Ettarrouzi, a member of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH); Mr Rachid Sghayar, a member of the Action Committee Against Torture in Dakhla/Western Sahara; Mr Saleh Lebayhi is the President of the Forum for the Protection of Saharawi Children and the head of the Samara branch of AMDH, and Ms Idagja Lachgare, a member of the executive office of ASVDH. Idagja Lachgare is at present under conditional release since 28 January 2010, apparently due to a deterioration in her health conditions, having spent three months and twenty days in detention. The other six human rights defenders remain in in Sale military prison.

In their statement, the lawyers said that four of them had met with the investigatory judge of the military court of Rabat on 12 April 2010, and that the judge had informed them that the investigation concerning the 6 hunger strikers and Idagja Lachgare is still ongoing. After the meeting with the investigatory judge, the lawyers said that they had visited the group of detainees in the local prison of Salé, where the prisoners were presented to them in wheelchairs, with the exception of one who walked in.

The lawyers stated further that: “we learned that Saleh Lebaihi had also started a hunger strike, in spite of his poor health. The visit to the prisoners has allowed us to note the severe conditions of the detainees’ health, leading to weight loss, loss of consciousness, headaches and physical pain. On the other hand, while the prisoners retain good morale, remain attached to life due to the righteousness of their cause and are confident towards the future, they do detest the oblivion and indifference surrounding their current situation, especially since no government official has made the effort to see them or talk to them since our visit and after 26 days of hunger strike. According to them, the press as well as the majority of political and human rights activists in the world treat them with the same indifference. We have tried to get them to renounce or even temporarily suspend their hunger strike, but to no avail”.

In their statement, the lawyers also sought to draw public attention to the grave health situation of the detainees who continue their hunger strike, and appealed to "all concerned with this case at the level of prison administrations, at the level of justice and even at the political decision-making level,...to urgently intervene to save the lives of the hunger strikers". The lawyers called upon the public, the media, international human rights organizations and human rights activists to monitor the situation closely and to help the detainees realise their demand for immediate release or to be tried promptly and fairly.

On 8 October 2009, seven human rights defenders from Western Sahara were arrested at Mohamed V Airport in Casablanca, Morocco, allegedly by Moroccan security agents. The group of arrested defenders include Ali Salem Tamek, first Vice-President of the Saharawi Collective of Human Rights Defenders (CODESA); Brahim Dahane, President of the Sahrawi Association of Victims of Grave Violations of Human Rights (ASVDH); Ahmad Anasiri, General Secretary of the Saharawi Committee for the Defence of Human Rights in Smara; Yahdih Ettarrouzi; Saleh Lebayhi, President of the Forum for the Protection of Saharawi Children; Dagja Lachgar, and Rachid Sghayar. The seven defenders work for various human rights organisations in Western Sahara, including CODESA, ASVDH, the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH), the Forum for the Protection of Saharawi Children, the Action Committee Against Torture in Dakhla/Western Sahara, and the Saharawi Committee for the Defence of Human Rights in Smara. They had been travelling from Alhawari Boumedyan Airport in Algeria. Their whereabouts are unknown.

At about 2.00pm on 8 October 2009, the aforementioned human rights defenders, travelling from Algeria on flight number AT561, were arrested immediately after their plane had landed in Mohamed V Airport. They were reportedly taken from the main door of the plane by Moroccan security agents and taken by car to an unknown location. Another group of human rights defenders reported a high police presence at the airport as they waited for several hours for their colleagues without success. It is thought that the arrest of the seven human rights defenders may be linked to the visits they had made to Sahrawi refugee camps in south-west Algeria during their stay abroad.

Front Line believes that the arrest of these seven human rights defenders is directly related to their work in the defence of human rights, particularly in Morrocan-administered Western Sahara. Front Line is seriously concerned for their physical and psychological integrity.