Paris, 23 April 2025 (SPS) - French lawyer specializing in international law, Ingrid Metton, has once again denounced the arbitrary detention of Sahrawi activists of the Gdeim Izik group by the Makhzen regime, calling on the competent international jurisdictions to intensify their pressure on Rabat to release them without delay.
"As a lawyer, I can affirm that they were all convicted without any evidence," Ms. Metton stated to the media on the sidelines of her participation in the international march for the freedom of Sahrawi detainees in Moroccan prisons, which arrived Tuesday in Béziers (France).
The lawyer noted that "in criminal law, whether in France, Morocco, or elsewhere, to convict individuals, especially for crimes, there must be evidence and it must be proven that the individuals intended to commit the acts," emphasizing that "during the trial of the Sahrawi detainees of Gdeim Izik before the Court of Appeal in Rabat, which lasted six months, there was no evidence."
"I was able to see from the first day that there was no evidence. There were no weapons, there was not the correct number of so-called victims," she further stated, asserting that "the alleged confessions put forward by the Moroccan defense were obtained under torture."
She recalled that "the United Nations Committee Against Torture recognized in its report the use of torture by the Moroccan authorities on Sahrawi detainees," claiming that during the six months of the trial, "all Morocco wanted to do was to construct a narrative to legitimize the extremely violent dismantling of the Gdeim Izik camp to stifle and erase the deaths and injuries on the Sahrawi side and find scapegoats."
According to the lawyer, this is confirmed by the behavior of the president of the Rabat court, who ordered her expulsion from the courtroom because she wanted to present counter-expertise.
"I myself was expelled from the room the day I wanted to provide counter-expertise demonstrating that the Sahrawi activists had been tortured. This truth was so unbearable for the Moroccan justice system that the president preferred to suspend the session and expel me," she recalled.
Emphasizing that this behavior is condemned by international law and all recognized laws in this matter, Ms. Metton called on the competent international jurisdictions to exert pressure on Morocco to reverse its decisions.
Furthermore, addressing the legal status of Western Sahara, the advocate for just causes highlighted that it is considered, according to international law, as an occupied territory, and therefore the rules of international humanitarian law must be applied there.
"Morocco has no authority over this territory. The United Nations currently takes this into account, notably through its Fourth Committee, which deals with special political issues and decolonization," she stated, urging the UN to increase its pressure on Morocco to comply with international legality.
In this regard, the lawyer noted that the international march for the freedom of Sahrawi detainees, initiated by human rights activist Claude Mangin and a group of activists in solidarity with the Sahrawi cause, is likely to advance the struggle for the independence of the Sahrawi people and the recovery of all their legitimate rights.
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