Case History: Mbarek Daoudi

On 8 February 2016, the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Appeal in Agadir upheld the conviction of human rights defender Mr Mbarek Daoudi. The Court approved his sentencing to five years' imprisonment on trumped-up charges of “possession of hunting cartridges” and “attempting to manufacture a firearm”. The case was previously heard on 3 December 2015 by the Court of First Instance in Agadir.

The human rights defender appeared before the Court of appeal of Agadir on 8 February 2016, repeating slogans in support of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro (POLISARIO), and claiming the right to self-determination for the Sahrawi people, and independence for Western Sahara. In response, the president of the court ordered his expulsion from the courtroom and proceeded to deliberate on the case without allowing the defence to speak. After more than three hours of deliberation, the court approved the initial sentence of five years' imprisonment that had previously been issued by the Court of First Instance in Agadir.

The human rights defender was sentenced in a separate case to six months' imprisonment by the Court of Appeal in Agadir on 9 April 2015, on the charge of “possession of a military uniform”. The decision was made after the Public Prosecutor had appealed the initial judgement in the case, in which Mbarek Daoudi was convicted and sentenced to three months' imprisonment, calling for a stricter punishment.

Mbarek Daoudi was originally arrested on 28 September 2013 after his house on El Kharachi Street in Guelmim was raided by Moroccan police. The house of his father in Legsabi was raided without a warrant on the same day. During this raid, police officers found a weapon from the war against the French in 1936 that belonged to the human rights defender's great-grandfather. The possession of this firearm was subsequently declared as the official reason for Mbarek Daoudi's arrest.

On 3 September 2015, Moroccan authorities refused to release human rights defender Mr Mbarek Daoudi, who served a six month sentence in prison beginning in April 2015. The HRD was scheduled to be released on 3 September, but authorities have refused on the basis of “other cases” allegedly pending against him.

Mbarek Daoudi's family received a phone call from him on 4 September 2015 during which he explained that, on the day he was scheduled to be released, he was informed by a prison officer that there were other cases against him. However, the prison officer did not explain what the cases were, nor if there were any formal charges.

On 9 April 2015, Mbarek Daoudi was sentenced to six months' imprisonment by the Court of Appeal in Agadir. The decision came after the Public Prosecutor appealed the initial conviction to three months, and calling for the stricter punishment. A military court had initially sentenced Mbarek Daoudi to three months in prison on 9 March 2015, and issued him with a fine of 1000 Moroccan Dirhams (approximately €94) after he was charged with “possession of weapons”.

Mbarek Daoudi was initially arrested on 28 September 2013, after the Moroccan police raided his house and arrested him alongside his three sons. The house of his father in Legsabi, 10km from the centre of Guelmim, was also raided and police found a weapon from the war against the French in 1936 that belonged to his great-grandfather. Subsequently, the possession of this firearm was declared as the official reason for Mbarek Daoudi's arrest. Both houses were searched without a warrant.

9 December 2014 marked the sixth week of hunger strike for Sahrawi human rights defender Mr Mbarek Daoudi which he began on 1 November 2014 in protest of his lengthy pre-trial detention and the conditions of his detention. Moroccan police arrested Mbarek Daoudi ِand three of his sons on 28 September 2013, after raiding his house in the city of Guelmim in southern Morocco. Since then, he has been in pre-trial detention, facing military court for “possessing weapons”. He is currently detained in Salé prison and is in very poor health.

On 1 November 2014, the human rights defender started a hunger strike in protest against abuse and negligence by prison officials, as well as the delay in scheduling his trial. Mbarek Daoudi's health is rapidly deteriorating. He is reportedly unable to walk or talk and has difficulty opening his eyes. He started vomiting blood on 21 November. He is detained in an overcrowded cell with over 20 prisoners.

Mbarek Daoudi was initially arrested on 28 September 2013, after the Moroccan police raided his house on El Kharchi Street, in the centre of Guelmim, and arrested him alongside his three sons, including one who was just 17 years old. The four of them were then handcuffed and moved to an undisclosed location. Reportedly, the house of Mbarek Daoudi’s father in Legsabi, 10km from the centre of Guelmim, was also raided, where police officers found a weapon from the war against the French in 1936 that belonged to his great-grandfather. Later on, the possession of this firearm was declared as the official reason for Mbarek Daoudi's arrest. Both houses were searched without a warrant.

On Friday, 29 November 2013, Mbarek Daoudi appeared before the General Crown Prosecutor at the Permanent Court of the Royal Armed Forces in Rabat, although his trial session was originally scheduled for 30 January 2014. Reportedly, Mbarek Daoudi's lawyer was not present and the court appointed a different lawyer to provide legal assistance. In his court session on 30 January, the original date scheduled for his initial court appearance, the trial of the human rights defender was indefinitely postponed by the Moroccan military court in Rabat. He appeared before the court in the absence of his family, international observers and Sahrawi defenders of human rights. A group of observers and lawyers from Spain and France arrived the day before to attend the trial, but they were prevented from accessing the court room.

In a separate incident, on 19 August 2013, the Guelmim Commission Court in southern Morocco issued sentences ranging from four to ten months in prison against six Sahrawi prisoners, including another two of Mbarek Daoudi's sons. They were arrested after a football match for raising the Sahrawi flag, chanting slogans, demanding the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination and leading to clashes between security forces and young Sahrawis. On the day of their trial, Mbarak Dawdi's house was surrounded by police officers in civilian clothing because of a meeting he had attended with foreign observers and Sahrawi human rights activists in the capital city of the formerly Spanish colony, El Aaiun. The international observers were also prevented from attending the trial.

Mbarek Daoudi's arrest is believed to be related to his advocacy for the right to self determination of the Sahrawi people, his regular participation in peaceful demonstrations and the fact that he had testified as a witness to the execution of a family in February 1976, whose bodies were discovered in the mass grave of Amgala in June 2013.