FENRPOF .- During yesterday’s meeting the FENPROF’s National Council expressed its solidarity with the activist Isabel Lourenço and the cause of the Saharawi People
“Solidarity with the activist Isabel Lourenço and the Saharawi People’s cause (full text).
The Moroccan authorities expelled from Western Sahara, on December 10, International Human Rights Day, the Portuguese citizen Isabel Lourenço.
Isabel Lourenço is aactivist and human rights defender in the territory of Western Sahara. She has been following and reporting for several years on the situation, the latest of which was published by the Center for African Studies at the University of Porto, of which she is a researcher. She was also an international observer accredited by Fundación Sahara Occidental in various trials of Saharawi citizens, and participated in the work of the 4th UN Commission and various initiatives of the European Parliament.
Isabel Lourenço was arrested on arrival at El Aiún by unidentified police, never hiding the purpose of her trip: visiting relatives of Saharawi political prisoners convicted by Moroccan courts, in particular the relatives of 19-year-old Mansour El Moussaui and his 34-year-old cousin Mahfouda Lefkir, sentenced to six months in prison and a fine of 2,000 Dirhams (about 187 Euros), for shouting in court against Moroccan occupation of the Sahara and denouncing the injustice of condemning her young cousin.
With the expulsion of Isabel Lourenço, there are 43 foreigners expelled by the Moroccan authorities during the current year. It is an act of the utmost gravity and deserving of the strongest disapproval. The National Teachers Federation (FENPROF) publicly expresses its solidarity with this human rights activist and demands that the Portuguese Government guarantee its security and fundamental rights, unequivocally condemning the decision of the Government of Morocco.
Lisbon, December 14, 2019
The National Council of FENPROF”
