Press Release
The Association of Families of Saharawi Prisoners and
Disappeared (AFAPREDESA) learned of the extradition to the Kingdom of Morocco
of Saharawi citizen Faysal Ali Salem Bhaia Bahloul, on November 16, 2021, by
the Spanish authorities. Mr. Faysal Bahlaoul is a Saharawi citizen, born
December 15, 1976 in El Aaiun. He resided legally in Spain with a residence in
force until 2024 and is known for his positions hostile to the Moroccan
occupation and for having defended the right of the Saharawi people to
self-determination, especially since the resumption of the armed struggle by
the Front Polisario, on November 13, 2020. He was arrested by Spanish police in
Basauri on March 30, 2021 and brought to justice at the Spanish National Court
which ordered his detention into Murcia 2 prison until the day of his
deportation in the kingdom of Morocco. During his detention in Spain, he was
assigned an office lawyer without being able, at any time, to contact his
relatives, both those residing in Spain and those in the occupied territories
of Western Sahara.
This serious act violates the obligations of the Kingdom
of Spain, as the administering power[1] of the territory of
Western Sahara with regard to the protection of the Saharawi people provided
for in articles 73 and 74 of the Charter of Nations. This expulsion is also a
serious violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention which prohibits the transfer
out of occupied territory of protected persons. The Spanish State has also
failed to fulfill its obligations under Article 3 of the Convention against
Torture, which prohibits “the expulsion, deportation or extradition of a person
to another State when there are reasons founded to believe that she would be in
danger of being subjected to torture”. In addition, the Spanish government is
fully aware of the many well-founded reasons for the existence of a persistent
pattern of manifest, patent or massive violations of human rights by the
Kingdom of Morocco against the Saharawi people, both in the past than in the
present. This is the case of the genocide, a legal truth recognized in the sentence
n° 1/2015 of the National Court of Spain prosecuting 11 senior Moroccan
civilian and military commanders, sentence rendered on April 9, 2015, by Judge
Pablo Ruz. The Spanish Government has also extensive knowledge of the decisions
of the Committee against Torture and other mandate holders of Nations, among
others:
• Decision
CAT/C/59/D/606/2014[2] adopted on 12 December
2016 by the United Nations Committee against Torture under article 22 of the
Convention against Torture, concerning communication No. 606/2014 on the case
of Ennaâma Asfari, a Saharawi Citizen and human rights defender. The Decision
condemns the Kingdom of Morocco for the violation of Articles 1, 12; 13; 14; 15
and 16 of the Convention.
• The
numerous decisions of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions, among others:
o The decision No. 39/1996[3] of August 2, 1996 concerning
10 young Sahrawis (Andala Cheikh Abilil, Abdellah Ouali Lekhfaouni, Salek
Leghdat Bambari, Abdellah Dafa Mohamed, Mohamed M'barek Kharchi, Saleh
Mohamed-Lamin Baiba, Abdellah Mustapha Sid-Ahmed, Sid-Ahmed Ahmed Mustafa,
Ahmed Nabt Ahmed, Mansour Ali Sid-Ahmed et Driss Houssein Khatari El Fakraou) arbitrarily
detained by Morocco and sentenced between 18 months to 10 years in prison for
having raised the flag of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). The
detainees reported ill-treatment during interrogation at a secret prison. An eleventh
young Sahrawi was arrested at his home and sentenced to eight years in prison
for unknown charges. The Moroccan government has not provided information on
any of the arrests. The Working Group noted that no cases of violence by
protesters had been reported and that the government had previously jailed
pro-SADR protesters simply for participating in the peaceful exercise of their
right to liberty of opinion and expression. The Working Group considers that
the government violates articles 9 and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and articles 9 and 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, included in category II.
o The Decision 4/1996[4] of the Group relating to the
case of five young Sahrawis (Saaba Bent Ahmed, El Mokhtar Ould Saheb, El Ansari
Mohamed Salem, Khadidjatou Bent Aij et Malaenin Ould Abdenabi) detained without
charge or trial after having organized a demonstration in support of the
Polisario Front. They were subsequently prosecuted for “undermining the
external security of the State and the territorial unity of Morocco”, for
demonstrating, distributing leaflets and shouting slogans in favor of an
independent Sahrawi State. The detainees allege that one of the detainees died
as a result of torture inflicted during his imprisonment. The Working Group
considers that the government violates articles 8 and 9 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and articles 9 (3) and 14 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, included in category III.
o The Decision n°68/2020 adopted
on February 2, 2021 by the Working Group on the case of the Sahrawi journalist and
human rights defender Walid El Batal. The Working Group concludes in the dispositive
part that “the deprivation of liberty of Walid El Batal is arbitrary insofar as
it is contrary to articles 2, 3, 7, 9, 10, 11 (para. 1) and 19 of the
Declaration Universal Human Rights Law and Articles 2 (para. 1), 9, 14, 19 and
26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and is included
in categories I, II, III and V."
•
Urgent Action MAR 5/2021, adopted on June 10, 2021, by
the Mandates of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary
executions; the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right
to freedom of opinion and expression; the Special Rapporteur on the right to
peaceful assembly and freedom of association; the Special Rapporteur on the
situation of human rights defenders; the Special Rapporteur on torture and
other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; and the Working
Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls. The Urgent Action refers to
complaints of physical and sexual assault, harassment, threats and raids
against journalists and human rights defenders who defend the right to
self-determination of the people of Western Sahara and members of the
organization ISACOM (Saharawi Instance Against the Moroccan Occupation) have
suffered since November 2020, and they have intensified considerably since
then. This action concerns 15 human rights defenders: Sultana Khaya, Luara
Khaya (two human rights defenders under siege and victims of physical
sexual assault and intimidation since November 19, 2021)[5], Babouzeid Mohamed, Said Labbihi, Essalek
Baber, Khalid Boufrayoua, Elghalia Djimi, Hassanna Abba, Lahcen Dalil, Mina
Baali, Salha Boutinguiza, Laaroussi Lafqir, M’birkatte Abdelkrim, Hmad Hammad
et Maâti Monjib.
• The numerous reports [6] from Spanish and international
organizations which leave no doubt as to the practice of torture and systematic
violations against the Saharawi people by the occupying power of Morocco.
AFAPREDESA strongly condemns the extradition of
Saharawi citizen Faisal Ali Salem Bhaia Bahlaoul to the Kingdom of Morocco and
holds the Spanish government responsible for the possible and foreseeable
violations of its physical and mental integrity that he could suffer at the
hands of the Moroccan authorities of occupation.
Done at the Sahrawi Refugee Camps, November 18, 2021
[1] The
National Court of Spain reaffirms in its sentence n ° 40/2014, dictated by the
president Mr. FERNANDO GRANDE MARLASKA GÓMEZ, and current Minister of the
Interior, that "ultimately, Spain de jure, although not de facto,
continues to be the administering power, and as such, until the end of the
period of decolonization, it has the obligations contained in Articles 73 and
74 of the Charter of the United Nations; among which, it ensures protection,
including judicial protection, to its citizens against any abuse, for which it
must extend its territorial jurisdiction for events such as those referred to
in the complaint to which this procedure is contracted ”
[2] See the Decision CAT/C/59/D/606/2014 https://www.usc.es/export9/sites/webinstitucional/gl/institutos/ceso/descargas/CAT_C59_D_606_2014_121216_Asfari_fr.pdf
[3] See
page 8 of the report of Working Group E/CN.4/1998/44/Add.1
https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G97/142/03/PDF/G9714203.pdf?OpenElement
[4] See
page 8 of the report of Working Group E/CN.4/1997/4/Add.1:
https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G96/143/36/PDF/G9614336.pdf?OpenElement
[5] The case was
the subject of a parliamentary interpellation to Mr. JM Albares, Minister of
Foreign Affairs by the spokesperson of the PNV, Aitor Esteban, about the siege
and the attacks and persistent violations against the human rights defender
Sultana Jaya. and his family since November 19. , 2020. See also the reports
and communications of AFAPREDESA on this case: See the report on the situation
of Sultana Sid Brahim Jaya and her family of October 13, 2021 http://afapredesa.blogspot.com/2021/10/informe-situacion-de-sultana-sid-brahim.html
as
well as the communications of November 8, 2021 and November 15, 2021
http://afapredesa.blogspot.com/2021/11/new-attacks-against-sultana-sid-brahim.html
http://afapredesa.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-moroccan-occupiers-barbaric.html
[6] Voir, entre
autres: El Oasis de la Memoria: Memoria histórica y Violaciones de Derechos en
el Sáhara Occidental. Travail d’investigation de Carlos Martín Beristain et Eloisa González Hidalgo. Les rapports
d’Amnistie International sur le Maroc et le Sahara Occidental https://www.amnesty.org/es/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/morocco-and-western-sahara/
