Brahim Dahane
Brahim Dahane | |
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إبراهيم دحان | |
Per Anger Award (2009) |
Brahim Dahane (
Biography
Born in 1965 in
1987–1991 disappearance
At the age of 22, in 1987 he participated in the demonstrations to welcome the
He was arrested in 1987 and was held without charge or trial in secret detention centres until being released in 1991. The Moroccan authorities have never provided a formal reason for his arrest and "disappearance", but it is believed that he was targeted for peacefully demanding the right of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination.
— "Sahrawi human rights defenders under attack". Amnesty International USA. 29-08-2005.[2]
In 1994, Dahane and three colleagues began to explore filing a case against Morocco for human rights violations. The committee for the
2005–2006 detention
On 7 May 2005, he founded the
2009–11 imprisonment
On 8 October 2009, Dahane was arrested with other six Sahrawi human rights activists in the Casablanca Airport, when they returned from visiting family members in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria. The Moroccan authorities accused them of "harming state security", and transferred the case to a military court.
The detention of the seven activists was protested by numerous human rights groups. The
By 2011, four of the seven were provisionally freed, but Dahane continued to be detained. Prosecutors accused him and the others of receiving money from Algeria "for unlawful purposes". The defendants responded that they had taken money only for travel expenses and had gone to Algeria "for humanitarian and purely human rights reasons."[10] The trial was postponed several times, causing Dahane to ultimately be held for two and a half years without trial. Dahane and fellow detainees Ali Salem Tamek and Ahmed Nasiri were freed on 23 April 2011, just before they were set to begin another hunger strike to protest the conditions of their imprisonment.[11]
Per Anger Award
Brahim Dahane, won the
See also
- Ali Salem Tamek
- Aminatou Haidar
- Human rights in Western Sahara
- Mohamed Elmoutaoikil
- Mohammed Daddach
References
- ^ a b c "Per Anger Prize. Prize 2009". Living History Forum. 18 November 2009. Archived from the original on 8 January 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
- ^ a b c "Sahrawi human rights defenders under attack". Amnesty International. 29 August 2005. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
- ^ In remote Western Sahara, prized phosphate drives controversial investments The Christian Science Monitor, 24 January 2013
- ^ Sarah Leah Whitson (9 December 2005). "Letter to King Mohammed VI on the Trial of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders in the Western Sahara". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
- ^ "Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2006 - Morocco". International Federation for Human Rights. 14 March 2007. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
- ^ a b c "Morocco: Release or try Sahrawi activists held 10 months". Human Rights Watch. 2 August 2010. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
- ^ a b c "Organizaciones internacionales de DDHH condenan la detención de siete activistas saharauis en Casablanca". Europa Press. 13 October 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
- ^ a b Stefan Simamowitz (16 April 2010). "A hunger for justice in Western Sahara". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
- ^ "AI pide a Rabat la inmediata puesta en libertad de tres activistas saharauis" (in Spanish). ABC. EFE. 14 October 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
- ^ "Morocco: Sahrawi Activists, Detained 18 Months, Await Verdict". Human Rights Watch. 9 April 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
- ^ "Morocco court frees Sahara activists after two years". Agence France-Presse. 14 April 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ Sister of imprisoned HR laureate spoke out against EU fisheries Fishelsewhere.eu, 18 November 2009
External links
- ASVDH (in Arabic, English, Spanish, and French) - Sahrawi Association of Victims of Grave Human Rights Violations Committed by the Moroccan State official website
- Morocco must answer for human rights abuses in Western Sahara - Brahim Dahane article in The Guardian about the Gdeim Izik prisoners in Morocco