Algerian Radio
The Collective of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders in Western Sahara (CODESA) condemned yesterday, Friday, the continuous practice of torture, ill-treatment, enforced disappearance, and arbitrary detention in the occupied part of Western Sahara, calling for the establishment of an independent and permanent international mechanism to monitor the human rights situation there.
This was stated in a statement issued by the organization to commemorate the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, which was established by the United Nations General Assembly to mark the entry into force of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 1987, and to renew the international commitment to prohibiting torture as one of the most serious crimes affecting human dignity and a flagrant violation of international law.In this context, CODESA expressed its condemnation of the continuous practice of torture, ill-treatment, enforced disappearance, and arbitrary detention in the occupied part of Western Sahara, emphasizing that it "constitutes a violation of the Convention against Torture on one hand, and a serious violation of the rules of international humanitarian law and international human rights law on the other."
The Collective of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders in Western Sahara (CODESA) also recalled the plight of the Sahrawi victims who, since the Moroccan occupation's invasion of Western Sahara, have been subjected to various forms of torture, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, and collective punishment, in connection with the Western Sahara issue, which has been classified by the United Nations General Assembly as a decolonization case since 1963.
The organization highlighted that the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is not merely an occasion for remembrance, but rather "a global call for truth, justice, and equity, bringing a definitive end to policies of repression and impunity, and enabling peoples under occupation to enjoy their fundamental rights, foremost among which is the right to freedom and self-determination."
CODESA emphasized that the torture, denial of a fair trial, deliberate medical neglect, and arbitrary transfer to prisons located hundreds of kilometers away from their families—endured by Sahrawi human rights defenders, bloggers, students, political activists, and political prisoners—fall within a "systematic repressive apparatus aimed at silencing voices demanding the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination."
The organization expressed its full and unconditional solidarity with all Sahrawi civilian victims of torture and their families, who have been targeted due to their opinions and stances regarding the Western Sahara cause.
It called for the establishment of an independent and permanent international mechanism to monitor the human rights situation in Western Sahara and to investigate the physical and psychological torture inflicted upon human rights defenders, political prisoners, and Sahrawi civilians, which has led to the deaths of many within secret safehouses, military barracks, and various detention centers.
Meanwhile, CODESA urged the International Committee against Torture, as well as the Special Rapporteurs on torture, arbitrary detention, and human rights defenders, to intensify their monitoring of the human rights situation in the territory.
The human rights organization emphasized the need for all Sahrawi political prisoners to regain their freedom unconditionally, while ensuring their fundamental rights, including reuniting with their families and working toward providing them with material and moral compensation. This demand is based on the recommendation of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in favor of a group of Sahrawi students and political prisoners who received illegal sentences in connection with the Gdeim Izik case.
It firmly adhered to the principle of non-impunity and holding accountable all officials involved in crimes of torture and crimes against humanity committed against Sahrawi civilians. It emphasized that protecting the Sahrawi people from torture and flagrant violations is inseparable from enabling them to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination, in accordance with the United Nations Charter and relevant General Assembly and Security Council resolutions.
It concluded by calling on the international community to take "urgent action" to put an end to the continuous violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in the occupied Western Sahara.
