Geneva (UN Human Rights Council) 10 September 2025 (SPS)— South Africa’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Ms. Tsholofelo Tsheole, delivered a closing statement today at a side event on Sahrawi political prisoners, denouncing Morocco’s use of arbitrary detention as a tool of repression.
The event, titled “No Defence Allowed: The Crime of Being Sahrawi”, was held at the Palais des Nations and organized by Front Line Defenders, the International Service for Human Rights, and the Rafto Foundation, with the support of the Permanent Mission of South Africa.
In her address, Tsheole drew a direct line between Morocco’s treatment of Sahrawi prisoners and South Africa’s own apartheid history. She described arbitrary detention as “not just a human rights violation — it is an instrument to dismantle all forms of peaceful resistance and instill a climate of fear.”
Citing testimonies and UN reports, Tsheole condemned the widespread use of arrests without warrants, incommunicado detention, torture, and trials without access to independent legal counsel.
She noted that findings by UN human rights mechanisms, including the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Committee Against Torture, continue to be “willfully ignored” by Moroccan authorities.
The South African diplomat stressed that the ongoing abuses cannot be separated from the denial of the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination, a principle enshrined in international law.
She recalled that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has not been permitted to visit Western Sahara for nine consecutive years, despite repeated calls for access.
“This human tragedy will continue, unless and until we bring a decisive end to the ongoing unlawful occupation of Western Sahara,” Tsheole said, urging the Human Rights Council to resist “selectivity and double standards” in its response to the crisis.
Marking the 50th anniversary of the International Court of Justice’s 1975 advisory opinion affirming the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination, Tsheole called on the international community not to “let the Sahrawi down.”
Participants included Professor Mads Andenas, former chair of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, alongside Sahrawi human rights defenders Ibrahim Moussayih, Hassana Abba, and Mahfoud Bechri. The session was moderated by Tone Sørfonn Moe, with opening remarks by Priyal Sepaha. It concluded with remarks from Ms. Tsheole and veteran Sahrawi human rights defender El Ghalia Djimi. (SPS)
090/500/60 (SPS)
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