The European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights (ELDH) expresses its profound concern over reports regarding the critical health condition of Sahrawi human rights defender and political prisoner Naama Asfari, who has reportedly been on an open-ended hunger strike since 8 June 2026 at Kenitra Prison in Morocco.
This escalatory move comes after he has exhausted all legitimate means of protest, in the face of the Moroccan prison administration’s complete disregard for his legitimate demands.
Prisoner Asfari began this open-ended hunger strike on June 8, 2026, after the occupation administration had responded to several previous warning strikes with a policy of turning a deaf ear, using disregard as a means to evade its legal and moral responsibilities—an approach that is repeated with all detainees from the Gdeim Izik group within Moroccan prisons.
ELDH recalls that the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, in Opinion No. 23/2023, concluded that Mr. Asfari’s deprivation of liberty is arbitrary and called for his immediate release. The continued failure to implement this opinion raises serious concerns regarding respect for international human rights obligations and the rule of law.
International law requires that all persons deprived of their liberty be treated with humanity and dignity and receive timely and adequate medical care. The authorities responsible for Mr. Asfari’s detention bear the responsibility to safeguard his life, physical integrity, and access to appropriate medical treatment.
ELDH therefore calls upon the Moroccan authorities to:
- Ensure without delay that Naama Asfari receives independent and adequate medical care;
- Guarantee access to his family and legal representatives, as well as independent monitoring of his conditions of detention;
- Fully implement the recommendations of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, including his immediate release.
ELDH also urges the United Nations, the European Union, the African Union, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and all relevant international human rights mechanisms to take urgent action to protect Mr. Asfari’s fundamental rights and to ensure compliance with international human rights law.
At a time when the credibility of the international legal order depends on the consistent implementation of United Nations human rights decisions, ELDH reiterates that the protection of the life, dignity, and fundamental rights of all detainees is an obligation that admits no exception.