Santiago de Chile, October 1, 2026 (SPS)- The President of Chile’s United Workers’ Confederation (CUT), José Manuel Díaz, reaffirmed the organization’s support for the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination and independence and expressed solidarity with the nine Sahrawi political prisoners on hunger strike in Moroccan prisons.
During a meeting Wednesday at the CUT headquarters in Santiago with Sahrawi diplomat Hafed Alla Sheddad Brahim, Díaz expressed the confederation’s support for the Sahrawi people in accordance with international law and relevant UN resolutions.
The meeting, attended by members of the Chilean Association of Friendship with the Sahrawi Republic, also addressed the situation of Sahrawi political prisoners, particularly the nine Gdeim Izik prisoners who began an open-ended hunger strike on September 23.
The CUT expressed concern over reports of degrading detention conditions, inadequate medical care and isolation, including the separation of prisoners from their families. It called on Moroccan authorities to ensure the safety of the hunger strikers, provide appropriate medical care and respect international standards governing the treatment of detainees.
The Chilean trade union confederation also recalled UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Opinion No. 23/2023 concerning Sahrawi activist and prisoner Naâma Asfari, which found his detention and criminal conviction to be arbitrary.
The CUT called for respect for the fundamental rights of Sahrawi political prisoners and supported their demand to be transferred to prisons closer to their families. It also reaffirmed its support for the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination and independence and expressed solidarity with the prisoners and their families.
The meeting marked a further step in solidarity between the Chilean trade union movement and the Sahrawi cause, building on cooperation between the CUT and the General Union of Sahrawi Workers.
