Swiss Support Committee for the Saharawi People
Gdeim Izik prisoners, Mohamed Lamine Haddi’s hunger strike and the ICRC’s responsibilities
International Committee of the Red Cross
Mr. President Peter Maurer
Avenue de la Paix 19
1202 Geneva
Bern, 12 March 2021
Mr President Ladies and Gentlemen
Since November 2010, since Moroccan security forces violently dispersed a peaceful Saharawi protest camp near Gdeim Izik, a group of Saharawi civilians have been imprisoned in Morocco. Their prison sentences were rendered in dubious trials, without any legal basis, without tangible evidence and solely on the basis of confessions made under torture – according to the assessment of internationally renowned trial observers.
We are sure that these facts are also known to the ICRC.
Today, prisoners in Gdeim Izik are dispersed in several Moroccan prisons, far from their families, while, according to the Geneva conventions, prisoners must be kept in their territory so that their relatives can visit them. In addition, Saharawi prisoners complain about poor food and catastrophic situations of accommodation, lack of medical care and hygiene, persecutions of all kinds, such as the prohibition of contact with family or access to reading.
Despite all these allegations, which have been repeatedly supported by evidence, the ICRC did not consider it necessary to visit these prisoners.
Since January 13, 2021, that is, more than 50 days ago, Mohamed Lamine Haddi, one of the prisoners of Gdeim Izik in the prison of Tiflit (Morocco), started a hunger strike because he cannot and does not want to endure the unjust punishment prison terms and poor conditions of detention. He was left without medical assistance, but is chased and insulted by the guards even during the hunger strike.
His mother, who traveled 1300 km from Western Sahara to visit her son, was denied access.
And the height of cynicism: Morocco is praised by international organizations for its “advances in respect for human rights”!
During all the years that Polisario kept Moroccan fighters in prison, they received regular visits from ICRC representatives.
Why does the ICRC not pay the same attention to Saharawi prisoners in Moroccan prisons who live in dire conditions?
In November 2020, the ICRC established a regional office in Morocco, and a few days ago, an ICRC delegation visited the territory of occupied Western Sahara, accompanied by representatives of the Moroccan Red Crescent, an organization which, incidentally, has no legitimacy to act. in the Non-Autonomous Territory of Western Sahara.
During this visit, did thr ICRC delegates ask about the fate of Gdeim Izik prisoners and, more particularly, about the state of health of Mohamed Lamine Haddi?
Beautiful phrases can be read on the official ICRC website (www.icrc.org: excerpts from the text):
“As part of its mission, the ICRC works to comply with the law. We urge authorities and other actors to respect their legal obligations under IHL and international human rights law. “
“Through the Geneva Conventions, the ICRC was mandated to visit prisoners of war and civilians detained in times of conflict. “
“We are committed to preventing acts of torture and other forms of ill-treatment; preventing disappearances and clarifying the fate of missing persons; improve conditions of detention (for example, in relation to food, water and health services); restore and maintain contacts with the family; ensure that judicial guarantees are respected. “
But what is the ICRC doing for the Saharawi prisoners in Gdeim Izik?
We are deeply shocked by the unequal treatment of detainees and ashamed of this way of working by the ICRC, which has two measures to judge the situation of detainees.
In doing so, the ICRC does not fulfill the basic principle of its mission and, in particular, the expectations of the population in Switzerland and elsewhere as a humanitarian organization!
We ask the ICRC to:
• to immediately visit Mohamed Lamine Haddi in Tiflet prison and provide him with medical care,
• urge the Moroccan authorities to guarantee correct conditions of detention for Saharawi prisoners in Moroccan prisons,
• Demand from Moroccan authorities that Saharawi prisoners be transferred to institutions in the territory of Western Sahara to facilitate family visits.
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, our best regards
Elisabeth Bäschlin, President of SUKS (Swiss Support Committee for the Saharawi People)
