1 September 2005
A Sahrawi (Western Saharan) human rights defender, due to attend the bi-annual Front Line platform for human rights defenders in October, is unlikely to appear as he is on hunger strike in a Moroccan prison.
Ali Salem Tamek (31), a founding member of the Saharan branch of the human rights organization Forum for Truth and Justice, is being held without charge in Ait Meloul prison, Morocco.
Mr. Tamek was arrested on July 18th at D’el Ayoun airport after returning from Europe where he had been campaigning for Western Saharan independence from Morocco and raising awareness of human rights violations in the region. According to The Sahara Presse Service, Tamek, along with four other imprisoned Sahrawi human rights defenders, Mohamed Elmoutaoikil, El Hussein Lidri, Brahim Noumria and Laarbi Massoud, has been on hunger strike for three weeks.
Front Line is seriously concerned about the health of Ali Salem Talek and calls on the Moroccan authorities for his immediate and unconditional release
