Moroccan authorities intensify crackdown on Sahrawi human rights defenders in Western Sahara

Moroccan security forces have escalated a campaign of intimidation against Sahrawi human‑rights activists linked to the Collective of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders (CODESA) in occupied Western Sahara. Since May 2026, the homes of CODESA President Ali Salem Tamek, Vice‑President Khadijetou Douih and other members have been repeatedly besieged, placed under constant surveillance, and subjected to deliberate electricity cuts. Police have blocked entry to family members, forced relocations, and used strategic lawsuits to silence civil‑society work.

The crackdown extends beyond CODESA. Activists such as Houssein Mojahid, student leader Abdelmoula El Hafedh, and relatives of prominent defender Sultana Khaya have faced arbitrary detention, forced transfers, assaults and abductions. Enaâma Asfari, a vice‑president of CORELSO and former “Gdeim Izik” prisoner, has been on an open‑ended hunger strike in Kenitra prison after a 30‑year sentence, drawing further international concern.

International human‑rights organisations, including the International Federation for Human Rights and the World Organisation Against Torture, have condemned the systematic pattern of repression and called on Moroccan authorities to end the reprisals against defenders and their families.