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PUSL.- Ghali Bouhalla, a Saharawi human rights defender was abducted on Thursday 11th February afternoon at his workplace by a group of Special Comando Forces of the Moroccan occupation authorities in El Aaiun, Western Sahara. Mr. Bouhalla was working in a mosque that needed some reparations, when the Comando Forces abducted him.
The Mother of Mr. Bouhalla called his cellphone to give him a message but a colleague of her son answered, and informed her that he had be taken by the occupation forces, but that he had left his cellphone with him before the abduction.
Around 20 to 30 minutes later, special commando forces, accompanied by regular police agents and Mr. Bouhalla arrived at the family house. It was around 19h00 local time. The Comando agents had black masks over their faces. Between Comando and Police there where around 25 agents.
They surrounded the house and the mother of Mr. Bouhalla shouted out of the window that they had abducted her son and that she would not open the door, and that she was alone in the house with her daughter Ms. Maryam Hamadi (also known human rights activist that has participated since November in several online conferences denouncing the human rights abuses in occupied Western Sahara).
The special forces had already a battering ram in their hands to break open the main door of the house.
They broke the door and started a violent raid inside the house breaking all doors, and making an unspecified search.
No warrant or other document were shown to the family at any time, nor did they explain why they were searching or which accusations were brought against Mr. Bouhalla.
Mr. Bouhallas brother, Hamza , was in the street and filmed part of the attack, the house was surrounded and he had to flee from the police agents that ran after him. Maryam Hamadi could hear them scream “tiri, tiri” (shoot him , shoot him!).
Mr. Ghali Bouhalla was pushed inside the house with a black cloth mask over his head and his hand handcuffed behind his back. Mr. Bouhalla shouted slogans for the rights of the Saharawi People, that Polisario Front was the legitimate representative of the Saharawi People, and told his mother and sister not be afraid and have courage.
Ms. Maryam Hamadi was filming with her cellphone the moment the police saw it, they demanded her phone, she denied to give it , but eventually they took it from her by force.
They also took the phone of the mother of Mr. Bouhalla.
During the search of the house the Commando group found a Saharawi Flag. They removed the black mask from Mr. Bouhallas head and covered it with the flag , choking him and beating him brutally. His mother tried to put herself between her son and the attacking agents, but she was pushed aside.
Ms. Maryam Hamadi and her mother went to the open window and started screaming what was happening so that the neighbours could hear it, the agents pushed them away from the window and slapped their faces repeatedly, throwing them to the ground.
Three police agents stood around the two women, while the Comando forces took Mr. Bouhalla with the flag over his had outside into their cars. The three police officers were the last to leave the house.
The whereabouts of Mr. Bouhalla are unknown for the moment.
Mr. Bouhalla is an ex-political prisoner, that was arrested and tortured in 2011 for possessing a saharawi flag and released in July 2014. In 2015 during the visit of the Mission of United Nations Human Rights Office , he participated in a peaceful demonstration denouncing the human rights violation and was victim of police brutality.
