The UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (UN CED) will examine during its 27th session, scheduled to start today, the issue of enforced disappearances in Western Sahara and “will thus place Morocco under examination for the first time”, the Working Group on Human Rights in Occupied Western Sahara said yesterday in a statement.
“The hearings will begin on September 24 and will continue until the following day, September 25. During its examination, UNCED will assess the information submitted by both the Moroccan state and civil society,” the same source said. Noting that since its invasion of Western Sahara in 1975, “Morocco has systematically used enforced disappearances as a tool of repression and to suppress the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination,” the Working Group on Human Rights in Western Sahara noted that “Morocco has not been held accountable and that the perpetrators of enforced disappearances continue to occupy key positions within the Moroccan army and government, perpetuating a culture of impunity and fostering a state of fear and terror.”
The Group recalled, in this regard, that prior to the review of Morocco, the Sahrawi civil society that it represents, while being supported by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, submitted a 114-page report to the UN CED describing the issue of enforced disappearances in Western Sahara. “In submitting the report, Sahrawi civil society denounced the impunity granted to Morocco, demanding the creation of a new independent body to examine the violations committed by Morocco as the occupying power in Western Sahara,” it said, recalling that “it also met with experts from the UN CED to express its concern and denounce the impunity granted to Morocco.”
The Group noted that “during the meeting, Ghalia Djimi, a former victim of enforced disappearance, explained to the Committee how enforced disappearances have persisted in Western Sahara for decades, targeting Sahrawi activists, civilians and their families,” stressing that Ms. Djimi “described the lasting impact that enforced disappearances have had on the Sahrawi people, noting how the uncertainty surrounding the fate of the disappeared creates a climate of fear and intimidation.” “The families of the disappeared remain in a state of perpetual uncertainty, unable to grieve or move forward due to the lack of information about their loved ones,” the Group regretted.
The issue of enforced disappearances in Western Sahara is part of a broader pattern of human rights violations perpetrated by the Moroccan authorities, including arbitrary detention, torture, restrictions on freedom of expression and the repression of peaceful protests. Alarmed by the lack of human rights monitoring and the ban on the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) access to the territory since 2015, as denounced by the UN Secretary-General (A/79/229), the Working Group published its first annual report in June 2024, entitled “Voices Breaking Free from Repression”.
The report calls on the OHCHR, Volker Turk, to take urgent action and send a technical mission to Western Sahara.
