Asociación de FAmiliares de PREsos y DEsaparecidos SAharauis (AFAPREDESA) ( Spanish for ''Association of Families of Sahrawi Prisoners and Disappeared''), is an exile-based Sahrawi human rights organization, campaigning against

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

abuses perpetrated by

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

against Sahrawi people in

Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the r ...

and even Morocco itself. It focuses especially on the question of the Sahrawi "disappeared", and had campaigned extensively in the past for the release of

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...

Muhammad Daddach (imprisoned by Morocco between 1975 and 2002). It is the only Sahrawi human rights

Non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

officially recognized by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Due to this, it is banned in the Moroccan government-controlled part of Western Sahara, operating there clandestinely. Abdeslam Omar AFAPREDESA

AFAPREDESA has its headquarters at the Sahrawi refugee camps at Tindouf Province,

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, where it was founded in August 1989, and a delegation office in

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Since 1998, Abdeslam Omar Lahcen is the elected president of AFAPREDESA.

Background

After Spain withdrew from its colony in 1975, Morocco initiated an antinationalist campaign in Western Sahara. This involved removing Politario members and their families and some of these people "disappeared" and have never been seen or heard of since. Reliable sources put their number as around a few hundred persons, but it is difficult to quantify this, as some whole families were among the victims. The

International Federation of Human Rights Leagues The International Federation for Human Rights (french: Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l'homme; FIDH) is a non-governmental federation for human rights organizations. Founded in 1922, FIDH is the third oldest international h ...

thinks the figure may be as high as 1500, which would represent 1% of the total population of the country in 1974. AFAPREDESA has registered approximately 890 "disappeared" since 1975. Some 50 people died in custody, 310 have been released and the remaining 530 are unaccounted for.

International membership

Since April 1997, it has the status of observer member in the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights and is also a full member of the International Coalition Against Enforced Disappearances (ICAED),MEMBERS OF ICAED
ICAED.org participating in human rights commissions in the United Nations Human Rights Council, the

United Nations Human Rights Committee The United Nations Human Rights Committee is a treaty body composed of 18 experts, established by a 1966 human rights treaty, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Committee meets for three four-week sessions per y ...

, the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

or the

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...

. The organization cooperates with many international human rights NGO's, like the Federation of Associations of Families of Disappeared (FEDEFAM),

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

, the

International Bureau for the Respect of Human Rights in Western Sahara BIRDHSO (french: Bureau International pour le Respect des Droits de l'Homme au Sahara Occidental; es, Oficina Internacional para el Respeto de los Derechos Humanos en el Sahara Occidental; en, International Bureau for the Respect of Human Rights ...

(BIRDHSO), the Spanish Association for Human Rights (APDHE), or the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT).

References

{{reflist Human rights organizations based in Western Sahara Human rights organisations based in Algeria

Background

International membership

See also

References