Mohamed Tahlil
Mohamed Tahlil is a human rights defender who was born in 1981. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison by the Appeals Court in Salé in 2017. Mohamed Tahlil is the president of the Bojador section of the Sahrawi Association of Victims of Grave Human Rights Violations Committed by the Moroccan State. He has twice been imprisoned for his activism, both in 2005 and again in 2007. Mohamed Tahlil was detained together with Bachir El Khadda and Hassan Eddah on 4 December in 2010. Mohamed Thalil stated to the Appeal Court that he was never at Gdeim Izik camp and that he subsequently was not present in the camp on 8 November, when he allegedly committed criminal acts. He claimed to have been subjected to torture, also inside the court facilities, as well as to have signed all the confessions blindfolded and under torture.
The issue of the status of Western Sahara remains unresolved, despite ongoing negotiations between the Moroccan authorities and the Polisario Front. The UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), established in 1991, has been extended but continues to have no human rights monitoring component. The dispute over self determination created deep political and security related tensions throughout the Sahara area and affects all aspects of life, including the work of human rights defenders.
Sahrawi human rights defenders continued to be subjected to intimidation, harassment, questioning, arrest, incommunicado detention, and unfair trials.
The right to freedom of assembly remains severely restricted. Permission to hold public gatherings is often denied and demonstrations dispersed by force. Participants, including human rights defenders, have been beaten, arrested or otherwise intimidated.
