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14/04/2010 | 214 lecturas | Imprimir | Enviar a un Amigo

Open letter of the Sahrawis Human Rights Defenders / 7 prisoners of conscience

Local prison of Salé On March 19, 2010 Subject: Open Letter First of all, we would like to express our profound gratitude to your organisation for all its efforts and its swift reaction following our arrest on October 8th, 2009. It is unquestionable that this was a strong sign of support for us, our families and for the Saharawi human rights movement in general, as we are carrying out our work in defence of human rights in the darkest and the worst of circumstances.

Sir/Madam;

Since your organisation, as other human rights organisations all over the world, has considered us to be both prisoners of conscience and Saharawi human rights defenders, it seems pointless to reiterate all the details of our arrest. Your assessment is undoubtedly based upon your knowledge of the exact legal and objective context of such a detention, in relation to the concepts of freedom of opinion and human rights activism.

However, we would like to draw your attention to our situation in prison. After eight days of pre-trial detention and investigation (from 8 October to 15 October 2009) at the headquarters of the National Group of the Judicial Police in Casablanca, the investigatory judge – in a dangerous precedent – referred us to a military court in Rabat. The same investigatory judge ordered to put us in preventive detention in Salé prison, pending trial for further investigations.

During the period of 15 October 2009 and 23 February 2010, we were imprisoned in a quarter originally intended for complete isolation, known as the new Quarter N°II. It contains narrow individual cells, “cachot”, where we faced a strict punitive system. We were deprived of all fundamental rights and were subjected to inhumane, degrading inspections on a daily basis. Let us suffice by saying that we did not see the sun, we rarely received medicine nor did we benefit from any healthcare, and we were deprived from going outside, nutrition, communication and correspondence. Visits were allowed only once a week for no more than one hour whilst being separated from our visitors by windows. Moreover, the prison administration has systematically harassed our families and exposed them to repression, as in the case of Salka Dahane, who was arrested on October 22^nd of last year.

This behaviour is part of a retaliatory and degrading approach, which can – based on aforementioned data – be categorized as torture, specifically on the psychological level. This torment has led to serious complications for our colleague Edegja Lachgar, whose medical reports confirmed her psychological confusion.

All of us underwent this treatment and worse. And all of this was blessed and backed by a racist media campaign lead by partisan, political and human rights organisations, as well as media hired by the Moroccan political system which explicitly calls for murder, hatred and malice. In doing so it tries to influence the judiciary power so as to legitimise the reasons for a prior conviction, although we have categorically and continuously rejected all the charges against us.

Sir/Madam;

Because of the efforts undertaken by your organisation, and those of dozens of other human rights and humanitarian organisations worldwide – including the Moroccan human rights organisations – our situation in prison has partially improved. We were gathered in one room on Tuesday, February 23^rd 2010, and ever since we’re allowed to go outside and to have access to television, newspapers and radio. Alas, other demands did not receive a similar response from the Moroccan prison administration, namely:

- Open visits for all visitors, without exception, seven days a week except Saturday and Sunday with a room specifically allocated for this purpose;

- Healthcare and provision of essential medicine;

- Incoming and outgoing correspondence (all letters received from human rights organisations and sympathisers from all over the world were confiscated by the prison administration);

- Our share of nutrition;

- An investigation of the complaints filed to the prison administration and the judiciary regarding the abuse we have been exposed to on December 15^th 2009, by prison guards;

- Return the books confiscated by the prison administration at the beginning of our arrest.

At another level, despite the fact that the investigation was completed by the investigatory judge of the military court on December 31^st 2009, until the day of writing no date has been set to try our case. We add that our fate is depending on a special court that does not allow for any possibility of appeal, and that lacks independence and integrity since it’s employed by the executive authority to deter and punish opponents of the Moroccan political system.

In conclusion, we repeat our gratefulness for the work you are doing in the aim of our release, without restriction or condition, and the release of all those arrested for their opinion. Most certainly the values of human rights will prevail in spite of repression, as this is inevitable and is actually the real embodiment of the true and enlightened will of the peoples of the free world.

Sahrawi Human Rights defenders / Prisoners of conscience:

- Edegja Lachgar (pursued under provisional release)

- Ali Salem Tamek

- Brahim Dahane

- Ahmed Naciri

- Yahdih Etarrouzi

- Saleh Lbaihi

- Rachid Sghayer

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