Front Line is deeply concerned by the news of the on-going detention of Saharwi human rights defender Shikhin Brahim. 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, Shikhine Brahim reportedly remains in detention at the El-Áaiun prison. Shikhine Brahim is a school student and member of the Committee for The Protection of Human Rights in Smara, Western Sahara.

Further Information

Young Saharawi are routinely detained and ill treated. Torture is endemic in the Moroccan police system and demands for the investigation of allegations of torture are routinely dismissed for “lack of evidence”. The arrest of Shikhine Brahim is consistent with an ongoing pattern of harassment of human rights defenders in Western Sahara.