Paris, March 31, 2025 (SPS) – Several human rights activists began a "March for Freedom" on Sunday from Ivry City Hall (France) to demand the release of Sahrawi political prisoners held in Moroccan jails.
This marks the first stage of a 3,000-kilometer journey that will take them all the way to Morocco, advocating for French human rights activist Claude Mangin's right to visit her husband, Naama Asfari—sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2013—and calling for the freedom of all Sahrawis held in arbitrary detention.
In the morning, participants gathered on the esplanade of Ivry City Hall for speeches and discussions on the Sahrawi cause and the plight of Sahrawi political prisoners in Moroccan prisons.
They then set off from Ivry City Hall toward Vitry City Hall, the first leg of a long march that will traverse various French and Spanish cities before reaching Kenitra Prison in Morocco, where Naama Asfari is imprisoned.
According to the Association of Friends of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (AARASD), the march will continue from March 30 until June to "meet as many people of goodwill as possible, share the Sahrawi story, and shed light on their little-known struggle."
"We march to demand the release of all Sahrawi activists detained simply for claiming their UN-recognized right to self-determination. Above all, we must never forget that in 2023, the UN declared their detention arbitrary—meaning their immediate release is an obligation," the AARASD emphasized.
The march aims to raise international awareness and pressure Morocco to comply with international law by freeing Sahrawi political prisoners.
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