The Saharan Association of Serious Violations of Human Rights Monitors committed by the Saharan State, gathers information on the violation of human rights. The organisation is in direct contact with the victims, records the cases, provides assistance to victims and participates in public activities relating to human rights - conferences and seminars. Djimi El Ghalia is Vice-President of WSAVHRV. In general her work involves recording accounts from victims and coordinating the internal and external work of the association in the absence of the President.

"The human rights situation in Western Sahara is no better than the political situation. The situation of human rights, which is closely bound up with political questions, remains alarming, especially since 2005.

The arrests, the ransacking of houses, the torture of Saharan citizens, notably women and children, the repression of peaceful demonstrations, the iniquitous and inequitable trials, the prohibition on freedom of association, the media and security embargo, are only a few big headings from the list of intense suffering of a people that has been torn apart. In Western Sahara, the task of a human rights defender is difficult and also complicated and dangerous.

The major problem that confronts Saharan human rights defenders is the recognition of their status. The Moroccan state refuses to recognise the status of Saharan defenders or tallow them to create associations. From this derives other problems linked to the task and the responsibility of a human rights defender. Thus, the collection of data and information on human rights violations entails great risks for the defender and the victims. A human rights defender, whose responsibility also lies in propagating the culture of human rights, finds himself or herself lacking the means to accomplish the desired goal. Public meetings are banned, freedom of expression repressed.

Also, a human rights defender must provide victims with moral and psychological support even more than legal support. But this defender, who hasn’t legal or psychological knowledge, needs to be guided and provided with qualifications. With this lack of knowledge the latter cannot honour his or her obligations. In addition, the absence of premises and centres for reception and support aggravates the situation.

Furthermore, one of the principal tasks of human rights defenders is to denounce violations of human rights. But in Western Sahara, without a media or the right to freedom of expression or freedom to demonstrate, this task is far from being honoured.

I would like to illustrate this with a personal experience, as a victim of a forced disappearance that lasted three years and seven months in the Moroccan secret prisons, without trial, in inhumane conditions, as a granddaughter of a sixty year old woman who disappeared on 04/04/1984 and whose fate is still unknown, and also as a human rights defender in a country where rights are flouted daily .

The abduction of my grandmother motivated me to search for her and to spend time with Saharan families who have lived the same tragedy since 1975. This led me to the forced disappearances of 1987 to 1991, a terrible period which has marked my body and my spirit. After our release, I started a human rights movement in Western Sahara. This started with the creation of a Coordination Committee delegated by the Victims of Forced Disappearances in Western Sahara in 1994, an experience of repression during which the Moroccan authorities stopped at nothing to abort this movement. The members of the committee are followed and subjected to state interrogation – they are also constrained by the need for permission to leave the territory.

We also thought of creating an association for the victims of grave human rights violations committed by the Moroccan state, called ASVDH, on 07/05/2007. Alas, this association is not yet recognised. Worse, three of its members are in prison (Mr. Brahim Sabbar, Mr. Said el Baillaland and Mr. Mohamed Tahlil), and one of its members Mlle. Sultana Khaya, was savagely attacked and lost an eye.

It is difficult to see current Moroccan proposals for autonomy as credible when they will not recognise human rights organisations and don’t respect fundamental rights.

The journey therefore has been easier to recount than to experience because we have all been victims of forced disappearance, intimidations, threats, arbitrary arrests, attacks and torture. But our profound conviction and our legitimate aspirations feed our spirit to continue the struggle even in conditions where the risk has become a daily one."

Djimi el Ghalia was prevented by the Moroccan authorities from travelling to Dublin to participate in the platform and deliver this testimony in person.