Brahim Dahane

Born in 1965 in El Aaiun, in the part of Western Sahara controlled by Morocco, where he operated an Internet café{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde29/008/2005/en/ |title=Sahrawi human rights defenders under attack |date=29 August 2005 |publisher=Amnesty International |accessdate=19 July 2012}} which he had to close due to Moroccan government harassment.[http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2013/0124/In-remote-Western-Sahara-prized-phosphate-drives-controversial-investments/%28page%29/2 In remote Western Sahara, prized phosphate drives controversial investments] The Christian Science Monitor, 24 January 2013

At the age of 22, in 1987 he participated in the demonstrations to welcome the United Nations' MINURSO mission to El Aaiun. After the demonstrations, he was abducted by Moroccan security forces and held in secret detention centres for four years, when he was released along with approximately 300 other Sahrawi who had been subject to forced disappearance. According to Amnesty International,

{{cquote|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.|30px|30px|"Sahrawi human rights defenders under attack". Amnesty International USA. 29-08-2005.}}

In 1994, Dahane and three colleagues began to explore filing a case against Morocco for human rights violations. The committee for the Per Anger Prize described the event as "the first step towards organising and coordinating human rights activists in Western Sahara."{{cite web | title = Per Anger Prize. Prize 2009 | url = http://www.levandehistoria.se/english/peranger/2009 | publisher = Living History Forum | date = 18 November 2009 | accessdate = 27 August 2010 | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110108115818/http://www.levandehistoria.se/english/peranger/2009 | archivedate = 8 January 2011 }}

On 7 May 2005, he founded the ASVDH, and became its first president. After protesting police brutality during the anti-occupation protests that broke out in El Aaiun in May 2005, Dahane was detained on 30 October 2005 by Moroccan security personnel. For two days, he was questioned on his relations with international human rights associations and foreign diplomats. He was later charged with "belonging to an illegal organization", namely ASVDH. This was condemned by Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch,{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/legacy/english/docs/2005/12/09/morocc12181_txt.htm |title=Letter to King Mohammed VI on the Trial of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders in the Western Sahara |author=Sarah Leah Whitson |date=9 December 2005 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |accessdate=19 July 2012}} both of which campaigned for Dahane's release. As part of a general royal pardon, Dahane and other members of ASVDH were set free on 22 April 2006.{{cite web |url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/type,ANNUALREPORT,IFHR,MAR,48747cf32c,0.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130416042324/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/type,ANNUALREPORT,IFHR,MAR,48747cf32c,0.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 April 2013 |title=Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2006 - Morocco |date=14 March 2007 |publisher=International Federation for Human Rights |accessdate=19 July 2012 }}

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. Agence Maghreb Arab Presse, Morocco's state-owned news agency, stated that the defendants "would have been in contact with parties hostile to Morocco, and perpetrate an attack against the best interests of the nation". The seven, widely known as the "Casablanca 7" were incarcerated in Salé. In March 2010, he and five of the other activists began a month-long hunger strike in protest of being imprisoned without trial, causing doctors to express concern for their safety.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/apr/16/western-sahara |title=A hunger for justice in Western Sahara |author=Stefan Simamowitz |date=16 April 2010 |work=The Guardian |accessdate=19 July 2012}}

The detention of the seven activists was protested by numerous human rights groups. The Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights stated that it was monitoring the situation and urged the Moroccan government to "fulfill its obligations to respect for human rights under international law". Front Line Defenders began a letter-writing campaign for the activists to be released "immediately and unconditionally".{{cite web |url=http://www.europapress.es/epsocial/derechos-humanos-00457/noticia-organizaciones-internacionales-ddhh-condenan-detencion-siete-activistas-saharauis-casablanca-20091013092846.html |title=Organizaciones internacionales de DDHH condenan la detención de siete activistas saharauis en Casablanca |date=13 October 2009 |publisher=Europa Press |accessdate=19 July 2012}} Human Rights Watch stated, "In the past Morocco has unjustly imprisoned these and many other Sahrawis for their nonviolent political and human rights activism ... And after almost a year behind bars, the world is still waiting for evidence that would justify their detention this time around".{{cite web | title = Morocco: Release or try Sahrawi activists held 10 months. | url = https://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/08/02/morocco-release-or-try-sahrawi-activists-held-10-months | publisher = Human Rights Watch | date = 2 August 2010 | accessdate = 27 August 2010}} Amnesty International lobbied for their release, describing the detention as "politically motivated"{{cite news |agency=EFE |url=http://www.abc.es/agencias/noticia.asp?noticia=552758 |title=AI pide a Rabat la inmediata puesta en libertad de tres activistas saharauis |date=14 October 2010 |publisher=ABC |language=Spanish |accessdate=19 July 2012}} and naming them prisoners of conscience. The Olof Palme International Center also spoke out against the arrests and called on the Swedish government to condemn them as well.

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."{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/04/08/morocco-sahrawi-activists-detained-18-months-await-verdict |title=Morocco: Sahrawi Activists, Detained 18 Months, Await Verdict|date=9 April 2011 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |accessdate=19 July 2012}} 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.{{cite news | title = Morocco court frees Sahara activists after two years | url = https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jgpTNsJ8R-HVeC2aOFuadaGBbKyg?docId=CNG.ca9c5f5db26ce94dd8519e902b92fae7.7d1 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110423015207/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jgpTNsJ8R-HVeC2aOFuadaGBbKyg?docId=CNG.ca9c5f5db26ce94dd8519e902b92fae7.7d1 | url-status = dead | archive-date = April 23, 2011 | agency = Agence France-Presse | date = 14 April 2011 | accessdate = 27 August 2011 }}

Brahim Dahane, won the Per Anger Award for human rights in 2009. He was nominated to the prize by the International Commission of Jurists. He was awarded "in recognition of having demonstrated unwavering personal courage, employed peaceful means and risked his life in the struggle for human rights during the conflict between Morocco and the POLISARIO over Western Sahara". The prize came with a cash award of 150,000 SEK (14,500 euro) and a silver sphere with the weight of a human heart. As he was imprisoned by the Moroccan regime, his sister Aicha Dahane had to travel to Sweden to accept the award on behalf of her brother.[http://www.fishelsewhere.eu/a169x1052 Sister of imprisoned HR laureate spoke out against EU fisheries] Fishelsewhere.eu, 18 November 2009

• Ali Salem Tamek
• Aminatou Haidar
• Human rights in Western Sahara
• Mohamed Elmoutaoikil
• Mohammed Daddach

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060718042449/http://www.asvdh.net/ ASVDH] {{in lang|ar|en|es|fr}} - Sahrawi Association of Victims of Grave Human Rights Violations Committed by the Moroccan State official website
• [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/nov/10/western-sahara-morocco-human-rights-abuses Morocco must answer for human rights abuses in Western Sahara] - Brahim Dahane article in The Guardian about the Gdeim Izik prisoners in Morocco

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Category:1965 births

Category:2000s missing person cases

Category:Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Morocco

Category:Enforced disappearances in Morocco

Category:Living people

Category:Missing person cases in Morocco

Category:People from Laayoune

Category:Sahrawi democracy activists

Category:Sahrawi human rights activists

Category:Sahrawi prisoners and detainees

Category:Sahrawi Sunni Muslims