On 22 May 2007, a Court of Appeal in El Ayoune extended the sentences of leading human rights defenders Brahim Sabbar and Ahmed Sbai detained in El Ayoune Civil, ‘Black Prison’ since June 2006.

Brahim Sabbar and Ahmed Sbai attended the Court of Appeal of El Ayoune with a view to appealing the sentences of twelve months imprisonment handed down on 6 March 2007. It has been reported that the appeal hearing was originally scheduled for midday and was brought forward to 10.00am, which prevented two international observers from attending. Moroccan security forces surrounded the courtroom in order to prevent people from entering the building and from observing the proceedings.

Front Line condemns the sentencing and is deeply concerned for Brahim Sabbar and Ahmed Sbai safety. Reportedly, on 19 January 2007 a number of police from the Mobile Intervention Forces entered a cell where the two human rights defenders and 16 other political prisoners were being detained and violently beat the prisoners with batons. Apparently, Brahim Sabbar, had his leg broken during the attack and has not been given access to medical treatment. The attack followed a month of demonstrations by the human rights defenders and the political prisoners at the “Black Prison”.

Brahim Sabbar is the Secretary General of the Association Sahraouie des Victimes des Violations Graves des Droits de l’Homme Commises par l’Etat du Maroc (ASVDH). He was arrested along with Ahmed Sbai, a member of the Advisory Council of the ASVDH and a member of the Comité pour la Protection des Détenus de la Prison Noire, on 17 June 2006 in Boujdour, Western Sahara, following an inaugural meeting of the Boujdour branch of the ASVDH.

Both men were arrested shortly after the ASVDH published a 121-page report that details allegations of arbitrary arrests, torture and ill-treatment in Western Sahara. It is believed that they have been targeted for their role in collecting and disseminating information about human rights violations in Western Sahara, as well as their public advocacy of the right of the people of the territory to self-determination.

Although under the de facto administrative control of Morocco, the status and sovereignty of Western Sahara remains unresolved. The Polisario Front proclaimed the Saharan Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) in 1976, with a government in exile headed by Mohamed Abdelaziz. The UN delegation, which visited Western Sahara in May 2006, underlined, in particular, that Sahrawi people were severely restricted from exercising their rights to express their views, create associations and hold assemblies, as well as being denied their right to self-determination.

Front Line calls on the Moroccan authorities to immediately release Brahim Sabbar and Ahmed Sbai and ensure that the treatment of Brahim Sabbar and Ahmed Sbai, while in custody, adheres to all those conditions set out in the “Basic Principles for Treatment of Prisoners”, adopted by General Assembly resolution 45/111 of 14 December 1990.

(28 May 2007)