Shaheed El Hafed (Refugee Camps), 8 July 2025 (SPS) – The Sahrawi National Committee for Human Rights (SNCHR) strongly condemned, on Monday, the brutal intervention against Sahrawi students at Agadir University, following their peaceful solidarity sit-in in support of Sahrawi political prisoners held in Moroccan occupation jails.
In a statement, the committee denounced this "violent and savage" crackdown, which targeted Sahrawi students and violated their legitimate right to free expression and peaceful protest. The SNCHR described the repression as a "flagrant violation of university sanctity and a denial of the fundamental rights to freedom of opinion and peaceful assembly—rights guaranteed by international law and human rights conventions."
On June 16, Moroccan security forces surrounded the Faculty of Legal, Economic, and Social Sciences at Agadir University to prevent Sahrawi students from expressing solidarity with their imprisoned colleagues. The authorities did not stop at on-the-ground repression but went further by referring several students to a disciplinary council, risking punitive measures.
The Committee expressed full solidarity with all Sahrawi students who are "victims of repression, torture, and deprivation of their most basic rights." It urged international human rights organizations and humanitarian groups worldwide to pressure Morocco to respect human rights, freedom of expression, and peaceful protest within universities. The SNCHR also demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all Sahrawi political prisoners, the overturning of unjust sentences against them, and disclosure of the fate of over 400 missing Sahrawis.
In closing, the Committee called for opening the occupied territories to international media, observers, and parliamentary delegations to expose the systematic violations against defenseless Sahrawis amid a "media blackout and complicity that prolong the occupation and deepen the suffering of the Sahrawi people in their struggle for freedom and independence."
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