ELDH condemns the ongoing pattern of harassment, intimidation, sieges, arbitrary detention and forced transfers targeting Sahrawi human rights defenders in occupied Western Sahara. The organisation is particularly concerned by the increasing use of isolation tactics and movement restrictions aimed at preventing solidarity actions, obstructing human rights monitoring and punishing defenders advocating for the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination.
ELDH is alarmed by reports that since the night of 19 May 2026, Moroccan forces have effectively besieged the home of Sahrawi human rights defender Houssein Mojahid in occupied Laayoune, where Ali Salem Tamek, President of the Collective of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders in Western Sahara (CODESA), an ELDH partner organisation, was staying with his wife and young son. Authorities reportedly surrounded the house, preventing the human right defenders and relatives from entering, and cut off the electricity supply.
It is noteworthy that CODAESAAli Salem Tamek and his family are currently living in the house of Houssein Mojahid, after being forced to leave their previous residence due to sustained pressure by Moroccan occupation authorities on the property owner. The house had been used to host activities organised by CODESA, whose members continue to face restrictions on peaceful assembly, harassment, and obstruction of their human rights work in occupied Western Sahara.
At the same time, CODESA Vice-President Khadijetou El Dweihi has reportedly been subjected to ongoing surveillance and intimidation around her home.
These incidents follow similar reprisals of Human Rights defenders all over occupied Western Sahara. The details will be published soon in the report of a fact-finding mission which has been carried out by ELDH.
These incidents reflect an increasing pattern of preventing human rights defenders who are not originally from Boujdour from entering or remaining in the city, with the apparent aim of isolating local human rights defenders and restricting independent human rights monitoring.
ELDH believes that these incidents demonstrate a pattern of reprisals and collective punishment targeting Sahrawi human rights defenders in occupied Western Sahara.
ELDH calls on the Moroccan authorities to:
- Immediately end all forms of harassment, siege, intimidation and restrictions targeting Sahrawi human rights defenders and their families;
- End the use of arbitrary detention, forced transfers and isolation tactics against Sahrawi human rights defenders;
- Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of all Sahrawi human rights defenders;
- Ensure that human rights defenders in Western Sahara are able to carry out their peaceful and legitimate work without fear of reprisals.
ELDH calls on the European Union
The European Union is bound by its foundational values and legal obligations to ensure that its external actions comply with international law, including respect for human rights and the right to self-determination.
The European Union should strengthen human rights conditionality within its relations with Morocco, including through the establishment of clear benchmarks, monitoring mechanisms, and enforcement measures in cases of non-compliance.