(AI translated) Mohamed Al-Tahliil is a human rights activist who has been arrested and prosecuted due to his activism and his stance on the issue of Western Sahara. Born in 1981, he serves as the chairman of the Boujdour branch of the Sahrawi Association of Victims of Serious Human Rights Violations Committed by the Moroccan State. He has been actively involved in documenting these violations and defending their victims.

Mohamed Al-Tahliil’s human rights activities did not go unnoticed; he had previously been imprisoned twice, once in 2005 and again in 2007, both in connection with his human rights work. On December 4, 2010, he was arrested along with Beshir Khada and Hassan Dah, and subsequently faced a unfair legal process that resulted in a sentence of 20 years in prison handed down by the Court of Appeal in Salé, Morocco, in 2017.

During his trial, Mohamed Al-Tahliil firmly denied any involvement in the Akdim Izik camp, asserting to the Court of Appeal that he had never been there at all and that he was not even present on November 8, the date when the Moroccan occupation forces alleged he had committed criminal acts.

His statements did not merely deny the charges against him; he also revealed harsh conditions that he claimed he suffered during his period of detention and investigation. He reported being tortured and abused, including within the court facilities, and claimed that the confessions used by the Moroccan occupation forces against him were signed under duress, while he was blindfolded and undergoing torture.