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Chahid El Hafed, January 21, 2026
The Association of Families of Sahrawi Prisoners and Disappeared (AFAPREDESA) expresses its strongest condemnation of the arbitrary, illegal, and discriminatory decision by the Moroccan occupation authorities to prohibit the emblematic human rights defender Aminatou Haidar, President of the Sahrawi Instance Against the Moroccan Occupation (ISACOM), from leaving the territory of Western Sahara.
The prominent Sahrawi activist, awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 2019 — known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize” — was scheduled to travel from Villa Cisneros Airport (Dakhla) to Madrid for urgent medical examinations, given her fragile health resulting from the severe aftereffects of past torture and forced disappearances. She was traveling accompanied by her daughter, who was also prevented from leaving the territory.
After nearly all passengers had passed through security checks, Aminatou Haidar was detained after passing through the scanner without incident. She was held for approximately 30 minutes until a female officer ordered her to accompany her for an additional search, without providing any explanation for this exceptional measure. The Sahrawi defender refused firmly and categorically, understanding it to be a selective and discriminatory action targeted exclusively at her.
This selective ban, which flagrantly violates the fundamental right to freedom of movement and access to healthcare, is part of the systematic strategy of repression, isolation, and collective punishment that Morocco applies against peaceful Sahrawi defenders in the occupied territories. It not only prevents the exercise of basic rights but also directly endangers the health of an internationally recognized figure for her non-violent struggle in favor of the self-determination of the Sahrawi people.
It should be recalled that Aminatou Haidar was abducted on November 21, 1987, in El Aaiún, at the age of 20, by Moroccan agents directly responsible, such as Brahim Bensami, Larbi Hariz, and others, in the context of repression prior to a United Nations and Organization of African Unity technical mission. She suffered forced disappearance for three years and seven months, subjected to inhuman torture: beatings, simulated executions, asphyxiation with chemical substances, electric shocks, total isolation with a permanent blindfold, deprivation of food and water, sexual threats, and humiliation. These practices, ordered by high-ranking Moroccan officials, caused her serious chronic illnesses — rheumatic, digestive, and allergic problems, severe hemorrhoids, joint damage, and permanent psychological sequelae — that persist to this day and require specialized medical care, often inaccessible in the occupied territories.
The travel ban is not an isolated incident but part of a strategy of isolation and collective punishment against the Sahrawi people who defend their inalienable right to self-determination, recognized by the United Nations. Morocco instrumentalizes administrative controls and “security” measures to restrict the mobility of activists, preventing access to medical care, international meetings, or denunciations in global forums.
AFAPREDESA demands:
- The immediate cessation of the arbitrary travel ban imposed on Aminatou Haidar, allowing her free movement and urgent access to the medical treatment required by her fragile health condition.
- An end to all forms of harassment, surveillance, and repression against Sahrawi human rights defenders.
- The investigation and prosecution of those responsible for torture and forced disappearances, including those charged in the genocide complaint before the Spanish Audiencia Nacional.
- Full respect for the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination, through the holding of the pending referendum under UN auspices.
- Effective international protection, urging the international community, the United Nations, the African Union, and especially Spain — as the de jure administering power of Western Sahara — to assume their historical and legal responsibilities to end the illegal occupation and systematic violations.
AFAPREDESA reiterates its unwavering solidarity with Aminatou Haidar, a symbol of peaceful resistance and Sahrawi dignity, and with all victims of Moroccan repression. We will not cease in our struggle for justice, truth, and integral reparation for all victims of war crimes and grave human rights violations committed by the Moroccan occupation forces.
Freedom for Sahrawi political prisoners.
Justice for the victims of forced disappearances and torture.
Self-determination referendum NOW.
AFAPREDESA
Association of Families of Sahrawi Prisoners and Disappeared