El Aaiún (Occupied Territories), February 19, 2026 (SPS) – Sahrawi human rights bodies have called for an end to all forms of targeting against Sahrawi media professionals and human rights activists who advocate for the right to self-determination, freedom, and independence in occupied Western Sahara.
They also renewed their call for the establishment of an independent and permanent international mechanism to monitor and report on the human rights situation in Western Sahara.
In a statement, the Sahrawi Association of Victims of Grave Human Rights Violations Committed by the Moroccan State (ASVDH) condemned what Sahrawi journalists and human rights activists are facing in terms of blatant violations of freedom of movement and freedom of opinion and expression.
In this context, ASVDH cited the arbitrary detention by Moroccan occupation forces of Sahrawi journalist Hayat Khattari and her colleague Salha Boutenghiza last Tuesday at a checkpoint south of the occupied city of El Aaiún. The incident was reportedly accompanied by harassment. ASVDH confirmed that the two women and those accompanying them in the vehicle were held for nearly an hour under pressure and threats of having the car confiscated, in what it described as behavior reflecting the continued repression of journalists and human rights defenders.
For its part, the Collective of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders in Western Sahara (CODESA) also condemned, in a statement, the treatment of Sahrawi human rights activists in the occupied part of Western Sahara, particularly in recent times.
CODESA further highlighted what it described as the persistence of the occupation authorities in carrying out systematic violations targeting human rights defenders in the occupied Sahrawi territories, with the aim of intimidating them and discouraging them from exercising their legitimate right to peacefully express their opinions and defend the rights of their people.
CODESA renewed its call to ensure protection for Sahrawi human rights defenders, to end all forms of repression and intimidation, and to respect obligations arising from international human rights law, foremost among them the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.
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