Daily Times

Eighteen Western Sahara independence activists jailed for the 2010 killing of 11 Moroccan police officers have filed a complaint against Rabat to UN experts on arbitrary detention, supporters said Friday. “The Gdeim Izik prisoners are filing a complaint against Morocco with the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, alleging acts of torture and political repression,” a statement from the Geneva Support Group for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights in Western Sahara said. Gdeim Izik was a Sahrawi camp near the disputed territory’s main city Laayoune where clashes broke out in November 2010 in which 11 Moroccan security personnel were killed. The activists are among 23 Sahrawis sentenced to prison terms ranging from two years to life over the deaths. “Sahrawis who fight for self-determination are subjected to discriminatory practices and have been handed long prison sentences on the basis of confessions marred by torture,” the statement said.