Occupied Aaiun, 17 March 2025 (SPS) - The Association of Families of Sahrawi Prisoners and Disappeared (AFAPREDESA) has "strongly" condemned the expulsion of a delegation of Spanish jurists from Western Sahara on Saturday by the Moroccan occupation authorities, criticizing "the passivity of the international community," which has "abandoned" the Sahrawi people.
"The Association of Families of Sahrawi Prisoners and Disappeared (AFAPREDESA) strongly condemns the expulsion of the technical and legal delegation, mandated by the General Council of the Spanish Bar, which was prevented from entering El Aaiun, the capital of occupied Western Sahara, by the Moroccan authorities," the Association stated in a press release.
The members of the delegation, which included lawyers Dolores Travieso Darias and Flora Moreno Ramos, as well as expert Silvestre Suarez Fernandez, were scheduled to carry out an observation mission between March 15 and 18, 2025. However, they were prevented from disembarking from the plane upon their arrival in El Aaiun.
"We express our full solidarity with the International Association of Jurists for Western Sahara (IAJUWS) and the members of the delegation—jurists Dolores Travieso Darias and Flora Marrero Ramos, as well as technician Silvestre Suarez Fernandez—who were prevented from documenting the grave human rights violations against the Sahrawi people, meeting with the families of the disappeared and political prisoners, and analyzing the plundering of natural resources under Morocco's illegal occupation," the Association added.
For AFAPREDESA, this act constitutes "a new aggression that reflects the systematic policy of the Kingdom of Morocco to silence the truth and perpetuate impunity in the occupied territories."
The Sahrawi Association "deeply" regretted that Spain, as the de jure administering power of Western Sahara, as well as the European Union (EU) and the United Nations, which had been previously informed of this mission, "did not take effective measures to ensure its implementation."
"This inaction (...) represents a betrayal of its obligations under international law and an abandonment of the Sahrawi people, who suffer from arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances, and repression under the Moroccan regime," the Association emphasized.
According to the Association, "the passivity of the international community has allowed Morocco to turn Western Sahara into the most militarized territory on the planet, with over 200,000 soldiers from the Royal Armed Forces (FAR) and at least 100,000 agents from repressive forces (Royal Gendarmerie, Auxiliary Forces, Police, and intelligence services)."
AFAPREDESA also raised the alarm about the increase in war crimes committed by the Moroccan occupier, noting that 127 Sahrawi civilians have been killed by drone strikes in the liberated Sahrawi territories since the ceasefire was broken in November 2020.
Furthermore, the Association denounced Morocco's repeated disregard for United Nations decisions, citing the opinion of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which demands the immediate and unconditional release of Sahrawi political prisoners, and the resolutions of the Committee Against Torture, which condemn the systematic use of torture against Sahrawi detainees.
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