Sahrawi Association of Victims of Serious Human Rights Violations: Statement
For the second consecutive year, the Moroccan occupation authorities have persisted in closing the headquarters of the Sahrawi Association of Victims of Serious Human Rights Violations Committed by the Moroccan State (ASVDH), located in occupied Laayoune/Western Sahara, and denying its members access. This closure, implemented by the occupation following a forceful intervention against them on 2 July 2022, preceded by the refusal to recognize the association`s new executive board and its registration in April 2022 and to close its bank account in May 2022.
These illegal measures, as well as the defamation and conspiracies that follow them, carried out against the oldest human rights association in the occupied part of Western Sahara, aim to subjugate it and prevent it from continuing its monitoring and documentation of human rights crimes committed by Moroccan repressive forces against Sahrawi defenders and citizens who claim their legitimate rights, including the right to freedom and independence. These crimes, which constitute serious violations of international human rights conventions and covenants, remain unpunished.
The Sahrawi Association (ASVDH), in issuing this press release, recalls the closure of its headquarters and the obstruction of its operations, which constitutes a serious violation of an inherent, inalienable, and indivisible human right. It expresses its deep dissatisfaction with the continued negligence of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the international mechanisms and human rights institutions affiliated with the UN organization, which negligence is due to the lack of any repression against these illegal acts to end this blockade and the persistence of other crimes, including arson, the systematic destruction of Sahrawi homes and property, their forced deportation, and the confiscation of their land.
The association also announces the following:
– Its unconditional solidarity with all victims of crimes against human rights.
– Its sincere thanks to the Sahrawi National Committee for Human Rights, which was the first to support the association and denounce the abominable acts of the Moroccan authorities to which the ASVDH is exposed, as well as to all the free Sahrawi voices who have expressed their empathy.
– Its deep gratitude to the international organizations working in the field of human rights, which have honorably supported our ASVDH association in its ordeal, the aim of which is to promote and protect the human rights and freedoms of individuals and groups.
– It calls on all institutions and bodies, both human rights and national and international media, to condemn the systematic ban to which the Sahrawi association ASVDH is subjected, as long as silence favorably serves the occupation and its repressive apparatus.
– Its condemnation of the current international blockade imposed on it, regardless of who is responsible, and the attempt to prevent it from making its voice heard in international bodies, particularly at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, and its denunciation of the heinous roles played by certain human rights and diplomatic organizations.
– Calling on the United Nations and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to play a more effective role in lifting the military, security, and media blackout imposed on the occupied part of Western Sahara and to force the Moroccan occupying state to end its persistent crimes against the defenseless Sahrawi people, and to work to expand the powers of the MINURSO mission to include human rights monitoring and reporting in Western Sahara, since it is the only mission without this authority.
Executive Office of the Sahrawi Association (ASVDH)
Occupied Laayoune, Western Sahara
Original Declaration (translated from French by HLRN)
Photo: Members of the Executive Board of the Sahrawi Association Sahraouie of Gross Human Rights Victims committed by the Moroccan state (ASVDH). Source : La Patrie News.
