AFAPREDESA strongly condemns the extradition of a Saharawi citizen to the Kingdom of Morocco by Spanish government

 

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

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[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/