Shaheed El Hafed, July 9, 2026 (SPS) – The National Council issued a statement on Wednesday expressing its deep concern over the serious deterioration in the health condition of Sahrawi civilian prisoner Naama Asfari, who continues his open-ended hunger strike in protest against his continued arbitrary detention and the grave and systematic violations to which he, along with his fellow Sahrawi political prisoners, is subjected.
The Council stated that these abuses violate their fundamental rights as guaranteed under international legal instruments.
It held the Moroccan occupation authorities fully responsible for any further deterioration in the health of Naama Asfari or any of the other hunger-striking prisoners. It called for the immediate and unconditional release of Asfari and all Sahrawi political prisoners, particularly the Gdeim Izik Group detainees, while urging the implementation of relevant United Nations decisions and opinions and respect for the obligations imposed by international law and international humanitarian law.
The Council also called for the immediate provision of independent medical care to Naama Asfari, an end to the policy of solitary confinement and ill-treatment, and for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), United Nations special procedures, and international human rights organizations to be granted access to visit Sahrawi political prisoners and assess their conditions inside Moroccan prisons.
In its concluding remarks, the National Council appealed to the United Nations, the UN Security Council, the African Union, the European Union, the Pan-African Parliament, the European Parliament, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and all international parliamentary and human rights bodies to intervene urgently to save the life of Naama Asfari and exert pressure on the Moroccan occupation authorities to release all Sahrawi political prisoners. The Council stressed that the continued silence of the international community regarding the violations committed against them encourages impunity and undermines the credibility of the international human rights system.
The National Council reaffirmed its full solidarity with Naama Asfari, all Sahrawi political prisoners, and their families, stating that their peaceful struggle for freedom and dignity forms part of the Sahrawi people's legitimate struggle to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and independence of Western Sahara.
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