Jalal Bouchaab
Jalal Bouchaab is a human rights defender and advocate of Sahrawi rights and student rights, as well as being a member of the preparatory commission of Sahrawi Collective of Human Rights Defenders (CODESA). He has worked on denouncing the imprisonment of Sahrawi human rights defenders and documented Sahrawi student activities.
The issue of the status of Western Sahara remains unresolved, despite ongoing negotiations between the Moroccan authorities and the Polisario Front. The UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), established in 1991, has been extended but continues to have no human rights monitoring component. The dispute over self determination created deep political and security related tensions throughout the Sahara area and affects all aspects of life, including the work of human rights defenders.
Sahrawi human rights defenders continued to be subjected to intimidation, harassment, questioning, arrest, incommunicado detention, and unfair trials.
