Front Line welcomes the decision of the Moroccan authorities to reinstate the monthly social support for Abdulla Al-hamdi, member of the Committee for Protection of Human Rights in Smara-Western Sahara. However, Front Line regrets that other members of this group and other Sahrawi human rights groups are reportedly still subjected to suspension of social support apparently as a means to hinder their human rights activities, including, Saeed Albelal, Mohamed Alsa’ed, Mariam Ment Jaffre, Abdullah Al-hamdy, Engiya Boukhars and Sakina Jedahlo Al-Edreesi.
Further Information
The social support of Engiya Boukhars, a single parent of four children,and Sakina Jedahlo Al-Edreesi was suspended after meetings with Front Line representatives who visited Western Sahara in September 2008.
Alnassiri Ahmed, the Secretary General of the Committee for Protection of Human Rights in Smara-Western Sahra, remains dismissed from his job at Khraibka Municipality, which was reportedly the result of his human rights work and his meeting with Front Line last September. Alnassiri Ahmed is married and a father of four children. People in Western Sahara endure a very low standard of living and very high unemployment rate, estimated at 45%.
According to information received, as Front Line was visiting the region, on 21 September 2008, a group of Western Saharan activists, which included human rights defenders, organised a peaceful demonstration in the town of Smara, following which the Moroccan security services launched a campaign of arbitrary arrests of several defenders and attacked several homes. While Front Line welcomes the release of nearly all of those arrested, Shikhin Brahim reportedly remains in detention at the El-Ayoune prison. Shikhin Brahim is a school student and member of the Committee for Protection of Human Rights in Smara-Western Sahara.
Following a Front Line delegation meeting with Alnassiri Ahmed, the Secretary General of the Committee for Protection of Human Rights in Smara-Western Sahra and a member of the Moroccan Human Rights Society, Moroccan security services allegedly attempted to arrest him at his home but did not find him there. Following this attempted arrest, he received an official letter dismissing him from his job at Khraibka Municipality, apparently as a result of his human rights work and his meeting with Front Line. Previous reports show that Alnassiri Ahmed was subjected five times to arbitrary detention during 2002-2004 and was twice suspended from work. Alnassiri Ahmed is married and a father of four children.
Human rights defender Engiya Boukhars, who also met with the Front Line delegation, was subjected to physical assault on 21 September 2008 by security forces resulting in an injury near the right eye and since then, her salary has been frozen. Engiya Boukhars is an active member of the Sahrawi Committee for the Defence of Human Rights in Smara and a single parent of four children. Previous reports allege that she was a victim of detention and torture in March and July 2006.
Front Line believes that the continued detention and harassment of Western Saharan human rights defenders is directly related to their legitimate and non-violent work in defence of human rights, in particular the exercise of the right to freedom of assembly and freedom of expression. Front Line is concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of all human rights defenders involved, as well as that of their families.
