New York (United Nations), 21 July 2026 (SPS) - Member of the National Secretariat, Representative of the Frente POLISARIO at the United Nations and Coordinator with MINURSO, Dr Sidi Mohamed Omar, addressed today a letter to Ambassador Zénon MukongoNgay, Permanent Representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the United Nations and current President of the UN Security Council. In the letter, he conveyed the Frente POLISARIO’surgent demand for immediate measures to protect the life of Enaâma Asfari, Sahrawi human rights defender and political prisoner, who has been on an indefinite hunger strike since 8 June 2026 at Kenitra prison in Morocco.
The following is the full text of the letter:
New York, 21 July 2026
H.E. Ambassador Zénon Mukongo Ngay
Permanent Representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the United Nations
President of the Security Council
Your Excellency,
I am writing to you with a sense of urgency and deep concern to draw your attention and the attention of the Security Council to the critical situation of Mr. Enaâma Asfari, Sahrawi human rights defender and political prisoner, who has been on an indefinite hunger strike since 8 June 2026 at Kenitra prison in Morocco.
His strike (the Battle of Dignity) is a direct protest against his conditions of detention and the refusal of the Moroccan occupying authorities to implement UN decisions regarding his case and the cases of other Gdeim Izik political prisoners. His actions have prompted international calls advocating for his release, as well as the freedom of other Sahrawi political prisoners.
On 22 June 2026, Mr. Asfari was moved to the prison infirmary due to his declining health. According to his family, he has lostapproximately ten kilograms since beginning his hunger strike, and his life is in imminent danger with each passing day.
He is determined to maintain his hunger strike until his demands are met, including securing his immediate release along with other Sahrawi political prisoners and ending the punitive and degrading conditions they endure in detention. On 17 July 2026, Mr. Asfari’s family reported that all communication with him had ceased on 13 July and expressed grave fears for his life and physical integrity.
The Frente POLISARIO strongly urges the Security Council to take immediate measures to protect Mr. Asfari’s life and physical integrity and holds the Moroccan occupying authorities fully responsible for his fate and the fate of other Sahrawi political prisoners. He must be immediately granted unhindered access to independent, expert medical treatment of his choosing, alongside private communication with his family and legal representative.
The escalation by the Moroccan occupying authorities of their repressive measures against Sahrawi activists and human rights defenders in Occupied Western Sahara comes at a time when the United Nations is seeking to revive the peace process. These actions are signs of bad faith; they severely damage trust and render negotiation nearly impossible. They are also incompatible with the Security Council’s call to avoid any act that jeopardizes the political process.
Mr. Asfari, who is also the Vice President of the Committee for the Respect for Freedoms and Human Rights in Western Sahara, was arrested on 7 November 2010 on the eve of the brutal dismantling of the Gdeim Izik Peaceful Protest Camp by the Moroccan security forces. In a trial that was a mockery of justice, in 2017 he was sentenced by the Moroccan Salé Court of Appeals to 30 years’ imprisonment, confirming the same sentence handed down by a Moroccan military court in February 2013.
Mr. Asfari’s case appears repeatedly in the UN Secretary-General’s annual reports on reprisals (A/HRC/39/41, para. 57 and Annex I, para. 77; A/HRC/42/30, Annex II, para. 73). Multiple UN bodies—including the UN Committee Against Torture (Communication No. 606/2014)) and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD/2023/23)— as well as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have found his detention arbitrary and concluded that his “confessions” were extracted through torture. They also called for the Gdeim Izik political prisoners to be released, and effective remedies be provided in accordance with international law. However, the Moroccan occupying authorities have consistently refused to implement any of these measures.
During his imprisonment, Mr. Asfari has suffered serious abuses, including torture and ill-treatment, denial of basic nutrition and medical care, isolation and punitive confinement, and sever restriction of family contact. His wife, Mrs. Claude Mangin-Asfari, has been barred from visiting him since January 2019.
It is noteworthy that Gdeim Izik political prisoners and other Sahrawi activists face systematic human rights abuses in Moroccan prisons, including denial of medical care, solitary confinement, and detention in prisons hundreds of kilometres away from their families in Occupied Western Sahara. As the UN Secretary-General pointed out in his latest report on Western Sahara “human rights violations against the Gdeim Izik prisoners, who remained held in prisons outside Western Sahara, continued to adversely affect their physical and mental health.” (S/2025/612, para. 72).
These daily abuses are perpetrated with total impunity under the veil of a military siege and a strict media blackout in Occupied Western Sahara, a territory the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has been barred from visiting since 2015 (S/2025/612, para. 69). To protest against their detention conditions and denial of their basic rights, Sahrawi political prisoners are repeatedly forced to resort to hunger strikes, as currently demonstrated by Mr. Asfari’s ongoing hunger strike.
The Frente POLISARIO again urges relevant UN organs to ensure the immediate and unconditional release of all Sahrawi political prisoners, including Gdeim Izik Group. Furthermore, it calls upon the UN to hold the Moroccan occupying authorities accountable for their ongoing gross violations against Sahrawi civilians, human rights defenders, and activists.
As reaffirmed repeatedly by the UN General Assembly, the United Nations has a special responsibility toward the people of Western Sahara as a Territory awaiting full decolonization. It is imperative that the United Nations operationalise this responsibility by establishing an independent UN mechanism to protect human rights in the Territory, thus bringing MINURSO in line with other modern peacekeeping operations.
I would be most grateful if you would bring the present letter to the attention of the members of the Security Council.
Please accept, Your Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.
Dr Sidi M. Omar
Ambassador, Representative of the Frente POLISARIO at the United Nations and Coordinator with MINURSO
CC:
H.E. Mr. Staffan de Mistura
Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Western Sahara
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