(AI translated) Ahmed El-Sbaoui is a Sahrawi human rights defender who was born in 1978. He is currently serving a life sentence after the appeals court in Salé convicted him in 2017 in connection with the events at the Aqdim Izik camp.

The Sahrawi political prisoner Ahmed El-Sbaoui is known as the honorary president of the Sahrawi Association for the Protection of Political Prisoners in Moroccan jails. This organization aims to defend the rights of Sahrawi political detainees and monitor their conditions in places of detention. Due to his human rights activities, he was arrested and imprisoned in 2002 and 2006, and was later arrested again following the events at Aqdim Izik.

During his trials in the appeals court, Ahmed El-Sbaoui stated that he was arrested on December 8, 2010, while attending a family event in the occupied city of Laayoune. He explained that after his arrest, he was subjected to torture and intimidation during interrogations and was kept blindfolded and handcuffed until he was transferred to the military court in Rabat.

The Sahrawi political prisoner also confirmed in court that the confessions attributed to him were obtained under torture and ill-treatment, and that they were later used as key evidence against him, despite his denial of their contents and his requests for them to be excluded from the case.

On November 8, 2010, Ahmed El-Sbaoui was at the Aqdim Izik camp and testified in court about the dismantling of the camp, describing the violent interference suffered by the camp and its inhabitants during that process.

The Sahrawi human rights defender Ahmed El-Sbaoui has carried out several hunger strikes in Moroccan jails as a protest against what he viewed as ongoing medical neglect, his denial of necessary treatment and healthcare, and his refusal to be transferred to hospitals for examinations and treatment. He also used these hunger strikes to protest what he considered arbitrary and discriminatory practices against him, including restrictions on his basic rights, such as being prevented from receiving parcels sent by his family. In 2023 and 2024, he staged a number of hunger strikes lasting between 24 and 48 hours, demanding that his rights guaranteed under international human rights law and the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules) be respected, and that his right to treatment and healthcare be ensured without discrimination.