1. Introduction

One area Adala has focused on over the last two years is the situation of Saharawi political
prisoners in Moroccan prisons. This report is based on direct observations by our members in
the Occupied Territories, interviews with current political prisoners, their lawyers and family
members, ex-political prisoners, as well as several international observers who have attended
trials of Saharawi political prisoners and reports of various human rights organisations1
.
Cases of arbitrary detention, abduction, ill-treatment and torture of Saharawis by the Moroccan
authorities are well-documented by national and international NGOs including Amnesty
International and Human Rights Watch and feature in the reports submitted by Mr. Christopher
Ross, special envoy of the Secretary General the United Nations, as well as the 2013 report of
Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,
Juan E. Méndez .

Morocco does not adhere to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which it ratified on 14 June 1993, nor to the UN Standard
Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners in dealing with Saharawi political prisoners.
Western Sahara is illegally occupied by the Moroccan Kingdom and Saharawi citizens are forced
to carry Moroccan Identity Cards and Passports. This means that the entire judicial process has
no legal basis as Moroccan authorities have no legal jurisdiction over the territory.
Moreover, Saharawi citizens are often abducted and transferred to prisons in the Kingdom of
Morocco. Legal procedures and international requirements were not observed with the over 50…READ FULL REPORT

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