Following the abductions of the Sahrawi political prisoners of the Gdeim Izik group, carried out by the prison administration, the latter were dispersed in different prisons within Morocco without their families being informed.
After communicating with some of these detainees, the magnitude of the suffering is clear. The situation of our children is tragic due to mistreatment and the political desire for revenge, contrary to all international rules and conventions that guarantee their dignity and their rights. The situation of Saharawi political prisoners can be summarized as follows:
- Abuse with insults and defamation during and after the transfer, in particular the detainees Abdallahi Toubali, Brahim Ismaili in Tiflet 1 and Tiflet 2, and Sidahmed Lemjeyid and Mohamed Bani in Ait Melloul prison.
- All prisoners are held in isolated cells that do not meet the minimum hygiene requirements. Some are full of worms and rats and the proximity of prisoners of common crime leads to polluting emissions (cannabis and tobacco). All their belongings that they brought from the previous prison were confiscated, like blankets, clothes, books and medicines.
- They do not have access to the medical treatment required by their state of health, in particular Sidahmed Lemjeyid and Brahim Ismaili.
- The right of free access to detainees is not guaranteed; the right to visit the mother of political prisoner Mohamed Mbarek Lefkir in Ait Melloul prison has been denied.
In the light of these disastrous and provocative situations, some of them have made a series of protests against this state of affairs to demand all rights guaranteed by international covenants and conventions as political detainees.
After collecting the data the families of the detainees, inform that the decisions of the prisoners are the following:
- The Group detained at Kenitra Central Prison made a two-day hunger strike starting at Tuesday, September 19, 2017
- The two groups held in the local prisons in Tifelt 1 and Tifelt 2: Brahim Ismaili went on an open hunger strike, Abdallahi Toubali started a 24-hour warning strike Monday and scheduled another two days next Wednesday, while the detainees El Bachir Khadda, Cheik Banga and Hassan Dah declared their entry on hunger strike.
- The group of Ait Melloul prison: Saharawi political detainee Sidahmed Lemjeyid started an open hunger strike.
The families of the Sahrawi political prisoners of the Gdeim Izik group follow with great concern the political decisions taken by the Moroccan authorities against the Saharawi detainees, which constitute new evidence of the will to revenge against their struggle for self-determination.
They declare the Moroccan State responsible for the dangers to which detainees are exposed, both in terms of their physical and psychological health, due to ill-treatment in Moroccan prisons.
The families publicly declare that they will take all possible forms of struggle to defend and support Saharawi political prisoners.
On this basis, the Committee of the Families calls on the world’s conscience to express active solidarity, intensifying actions so that the suffering of our children is known throughout the world and pressuring the Moroccan state to cease its repressive policy towards the people Saharawi.
We also call on the Sahrawi people to engage in this battle led by detainees and their families against the arrogant fury of the Moroccan state.
Committee of Saharawi political prisoner families: Gdeim Izik Group