(AI translated) Nahama Asfari is a Sahrawi human rights activist who was born in 1970. He serves as the vice chairman of the Committee for Freedom and Respect for Human Rights in Western Sahara (Coreslus). He holds a degree in public law from Al Qadi Iyad University. Nahama Asfari is known for his continuous human rights activities and his defense of the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination, which has made him the target of harassment and arrest for many years.

The Sahrawi human rights activist Nahama Asfari was politically detained by the Moroccan occupying forces. In 2009, he was imprisoned for four months simply for carrying a keychain with the image of the Sahrawi flag. During the period from 2007 to 2009, he was transferred between several Moroccan prisons, including those in Tantan, Smara, Tiznit, and Marrakesh. He was then kidnapped again on November 7, 2010, on the eve of the dismantling of the Aqdim Izik camp, a time when he is alleged to have committed the criminal acts against him.

The individual in question was detained for five days in an undisclosed location, where he was subjected to torture while in custody. He was blindfolded and handcuffed and forced to sign confessions under coercion. The Moroccan occupying forces’ courts relied on these confessions during his trials. The first trial took place at the Sla Military Court in Morocco on February 13, 2013, and the second trial at the Sla Civil Appeal Court on July 17, 2017. The latter court sentenced him to 30 years in prison, a penalty that many local, regional, and international human rights organizations consider unjust.

The United Nations Committee against Torture, in its decision regarding case number 606/2014, confirmed that the Kingdom of Morocco had violated several articles of the Convention against Torture, specifically articles 1, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16. It noted that Nahama Asfari’s continued detention was based on confessions obtained under torture.

Since his arrest in 2010, this Sahrawi human rights activist has been transferred between several prisons, including the local prisons of Sla 1 and 2, the local prison of Arjat 1, and the Central Prison of Kenitra.

Despite the many years that have passed since his arrest, his case continues to arouse concern among international human rights organizations, which consider the sentence imposed on him to be an example of unfair trials and grave violations of human rights.