Ait Melloul, 11 January 2026 (SPS) – Two Sahrawi civilian prisoners, students Salah Eddine Sabbar and Brahim Babait, have begun a 48-hour warning hunger strike, according to a Sahrawi human rights source.
The same source indicated that the hunger strike comes in protest against the degrading treatment and targeting they are subjected to inside Ait Melloul 2 Prison, as well as the discriminatory policy pursued by the Moroccan prison administration.
The two students were sentenced to eight months in prison because of their peaceful political views regarding the Sahrawi people’s cause. Since their arrest, they have been subjected to a series of violations, including physical abuse, destruction of personal property, detention in overcrowded cells with criminal detainees, and incitement against them by prison staff.
Information obtained by the League for the Protection of Sahrawi Prisoners in Moroccan Prisons indicates a deterioration in the health condition of prisoner Brahim Babait, which requires urgent medical care. The two students are still undergoing appeal proceedings against the verdict issued against them.
The League holds the General Delegation for Prison Administration of the Moroccan occupying state fully responsible for the safety of the two prisoners, and calls for their immediate release, the opening of an investigation into the violations, and the guarantee of humane treatment in line with international conventions.
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