Adala UK writes to UK MEPs
Adala UK has written to all UK Members of the European Parliament to highlight the recent case of the death of Saharawi political prisoner Hasana El Wali and ask them to take action on the regular abuses of human rights by the Moroccan authorities in Western Sahara. You can read the full letter here:
We are writing to you from Adala UK, a UK-based NGO, campaigning for human rights in Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara. For over two years, we have been highlighting numerous cases of human rights violations in Western Sahara, perpetrated by the Moroccan authorities.
Most recently we reported on the case of Hasana El Wali, a Saharawi activist and political prisoner, who died in prison in the occupied city of Dakhla on 28th September 2014. Hasana had spent several weeks in a critical condition following his subjection to torture by the Moroccan prison officials. He was denied access to medical care and it can therefore be assumed that his death was the result of medical negligence. Moreover, Hasana was buried on 4th October without informing his family and in an unknown location. The Moroccan authorities had previously refused to conduct an independent autopsy of his body to determine the cause of death.
Last May, Adala UK published a report on medical negligence suffered by Saharawi political prisoners in Moroccan prisons: https://adalauk.org/2014/05/24/adalauk-report-on-the-health-of-saharawi-political-prisoners-in-moroccan-prisons-6/
We regularly report other incidents of human rights violations, such as the violent repression of peaceful demonstrations, arbitrary detentions, torture and attacks on minors. These can also be found on our blog www.adalauk.org.
The European Parliament is an important trading partner for Morocco, which is not least manifested through the Fisheries Partnership Agreement which guarantees EU member states the right to conduct fishing activities in Moroccan fishing zones. Aside from the fact that this includes areas off the coast of Western Sahara, which Morocco is illegally occupying and there has no sovereignty over, article 2 of this treaty stipulates that:
‘Respect for the democratic principles and fundamental human rights established by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights shall inspire the domestic and external policies of the Community and of Morocco and shall constitute an essential element of this Agreement.’
Clearly, Morocco disregards the Saharawi population’s most basic human rights on a daily basis and sadly, the tragic death of Hasana El Wali is only one example of this. We therefore urge you to use your influence to make known the issue of human rights violations that occur on a daily basis in Western Sahara and to ensure that the European Union holds its economic and political partner, the Kingdom of Morocco, to account for these.
We look forward to hearing from you with regards to your actions in this matter.