Algerian Radio
The Vitry-sur-Seine Municipal Council on Wednesday condemned Morocco's continued arbitrary detention of Sahrawi human rights defender Naâma Asfari and called for his release.
The city of Vitry-sur-Seine strongly denounces the arbitrary detention of Naâma Asfari and "calls for his release as well as that of all Sahrawi political prisoners," it indicated in a statement signed by the city's mayor, Pierre Bell-Lloche.
Naâma Asfari, a Sahrawi human rights defender who has been arbitrarily detained since 2010, is the vice-president of the Committee for the Respect of Freedoms and Human Rights in Western Sahara.
On June 8, he began a new hunger strike to denounce his detention by the Moroccan occupier.
On November 7, 2010, he was violently arrested in El-Ayoun, on the eve of the forced dismantling of the Gdeim Izik camp, where thousands of Sahrawis were protesting against social and economic discrimination.
He had previously been imprisoned for his fight for the self-determination of the Sahrawi people.
Following his arrest, he was interrogated and tortured for five days by Moroccan authorities. He signed confessions under duress, which were used against him in a trial that contravened international law and violated the right to a fair trial.
In 2013, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison by a military court, despite being a civilian. Other activists, arrested during the dismantling of the camp, also received heavy prison sentences, including life imprisonment for some. Imprisoned for over 15 years, they have become the face of the Sahrawi Gdeim Izik group.
In 2023, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention recommended that Morocco release him, along with his 18 other companions from the Gdeim Izik group. This recommendation has gone unheeded.
"Since 1975, the Kingdom of Morocco has pursued a policy of occupation and colonization of Western Sahara, silencing all dissent in defiance of international law," lamented the Vitry-sur-Seine Municipal Council. The council takes pride in sustaining solidarity with the Sahrawi people, notably by hosting a delegation of Sahrawi children who grew up in refugee camps every year in its holiday centers.
