human rights defender

Hassan Eddah

© Front Line Defenders

Urgent support needed

(AI translated) His immediate release.

Organization affiliation

  • Sahrawi Association for Victims of Gross Human Rights Violations Committed by the Moroccan State

HRD's year of birth

1987

HRD's Gender

Man

Type of HRD

  • Journalist/Blogger
  • NGO member

HRD's thematic area of engagement

  • Civil and political rights
  • Economic, social and cultural rights

HRD's geographical origin

Urban

Current Status

In prison (sentenced)

HRD's bio and work

(AI translated) Hassan Daha, born in 1987, is a Sahrawi human rights activist and journalist for the “Rashid TV” channel. He is also associated with the Sahrawi Association of Victims of Serious Human Rights Violations Committed by the Moroccan State. In 2010, he was subjected to political imprisonment and spent ten months in jail due to his political opinions. He participated in the Akdim Izik camp as a correspondent for the official television channel of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, “Rashid TV.” On December 4, 2010, he was arrested along with Mohammed Al-Tahilil and Bashir Al-Khada. In 2017, the appeals court in Salé sentenced him to 25 years in prison as part of the Akdim Izik case. During the trials, Hassan Daha claimed that he was tortured while detained in the occupied city of Laayoune and at the gendarmerie headquarters. He stated that the statements attributed to him were signed under coercion and torture, and that the Moroccan occupying forces later filled in the blank spaces in those documents. On the other hand, he denied being at the Akdim Izik camp on November 8, 2010, claiming that he had left the camp a day prior. He also testified that on November 7, 2010, Moroccan military and paramilitary forces imposed a siege on the camp, preventing people from entering or leaving. Since his arrest in 2010, Hassan Daha has undertaken several hunger strikes to protest his conditions of detention and what he considers to be violations of his basic rights in Moroccan prisons. Notable among these strikes were his open hunger strike in October 2018 at the Kenitra prison, protesting his isolation and the denial of his right to continue his university studies. In April 2022, he went on another open hunger strike alongside Sahrawi political prisoner Hassan Al-Zawi to demand being transferred to prisons closer to the Western Sahara and to have his basic rights respected. In October 2023, he initiated another open hunger strike, protesting what he described as discriminatory and racist treatment, as well as the denial of necessary resources for his education. Throughout 2025 and 2026, Hassan Daha continued to use warning hunger strikes to denounce the poor treatment, lack of medical care, and restrictions on his rights within the prison system.

Detained since

Dec 4, 2010

Charge(s)

  • Creating disturbances
  • Damage to public property
  • Membership in an illegal organisation
  • Subversion

Sentence

(AI translated) The sentence was handed down to be 25 years in prison.

Geolocation of detention

Country or area of detention

Region of detention

  • Africa: Northern Africa

Location of detention - City/Town

القنيطرة

Location of detention - Facility

السجن المركزي القنيطرة


Alternative mailing address

المؤسسة: السجن المركزي بالقنيطرة/ المغرب.

Allegations / reports of ill-treatment

(AI translated) The Central Prison in Qannatra was isolated from the outside world for a period of 20 days.

Recent case update / evolution

(AI translated) On April 11, 2025, surveillance was conducted at the residence of the Saharan political prisoner “Hassan Al-Dah” in order to prevent the holding of a solidarity event in his support, as well as in support of other Saharan political prisoners.

Any other relevant documents

(AI translated) https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=23226

https://docs.un.org/A/HRC/WGAD/2023/23

https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde29/3721/2016/en/

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