Demonstrators are attacked as repression increases in the Occupied Territories of Western Sahara
At least 30 people have been injured in peaceable demonstrations in El Aiun on 15thJune 2014, as a result of violent interventions by the Moroccan forces. The protesters attempted to reach Smara Street but were stopped by Moroccan forces blocking the street. Several shops were forced to close and bus stops were out of service.Adala UK members who were present reported that security forces surrounded them, with the assistance of a group of members of the security forces who are known as ‘group of death’ and who threw stones at the demonstrators and beat them.
Eye witnesses told Adala UK that in the nearby Matalaa district, men in civilian clothes, who appeared to be members of the security forces, were beating demonstrators with metal bars and also threw stones at them. Security forces stationed near Maralaa did nothing to protect the demonstrators.
Many victims, including pregnant women and children, suffered serious head injuries. Several demonstrators were also forced to enter cars and driven to remote areas where they were left to walk back home with their injuries.
Adala UK received several testimonies from victims who were attended to at the Ben Lmahdi public hospital in El Aiun, and who were denied copies of the medical reports which detail their injuries, in order to prevent them from seeking justice or compensation.