Aminatou Haidar - Post Hunger-strike Work

Post Hunger-strike Work

On 19 January 2010, Haidar returned to Spain to have medical exams in La Paz hospital in Madrid. Haidar has a Spanish residence card since her 2006 release. Haidar was in poor health, as she suffered anaemia and stomach ulcer, consequence of her imprisonment and the 2009 hunger strike. Amnesty International reported that Haidar and her family were under constant surveillance by Moroccan security forces and were being harassed and intimidated by them.

On 7 March, Haidar spoke at a conference at the University of Granada during a European Union-Morocco summit in the same city. Haidar stated that the summit "denied the suffering of the Sahrawis" and that the EU was appeasing the "totalitarian regime" of Morocco, sacrificing human rights in favor of economic interests. On 24 March, Haidar started during a visit to Washington, D.C. that "before reaching a final settlement, a political solution, we must put pressure on Morocco to respect human rights". In meeting with US Department of State officials and US representatives, she urged them to pressure Morocco for Sahrawi rights.

On 15 October, Haidar appeared in a Casablanca court with dozens of Sahrawi activist leaders and twenty foreign observers, during the trial of seven Sahrawi activists (known as "The Casablanca 7"). The "Casablanca 7" had been detained months before after travelling to the Sahrawi refugee camps, and were accused by the Moroccan government of threatening the safety of the state. One of them was Ali Salem Tamek, vice president of Haidar's human rights association CODESA. She said that Moroccan government accusations had no foundation and denounced them as violations of the freedom of expression and of travel of the detained. She also criticized the Spanish government, which she accused of being guilty in the Sahrawi people's situation: "The Spanish government violate international law by denying the Saharawi people their legitimate right to self-determination".

On 29 October 2011, Haidar's son was threatened with sexual violation and a beating that would cause him permanent disability by a couple of Moroccan policemen in El Aaiun, according to CODESA. On 8 July 2012, Sahrawi human rights sources stated that Haidar's children had been physically injured by some Moroccan passengers when they were travelling by bus from Agadir to El Aaiun. Human rights groups as the Sahrawi ASVDH and the North-American Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights condemned the aggression, calling for an investigation.

On 1 November 2012, the same day she met UN Special Commissioner for the Western Sahara Christopher Ross at El Aaiun MINURSO HQ, Haidar denounced that she had been later attacked by Moroccan police during a non-violent protest. A video on You Tube show Haidar being shoved to the ground and threatened, as well as Moroccan policemen vandalizing Haidar's car. Human rights organizations as RFK Center or Front Line Defenders and the Spanish political party UPyD condemned the aggression.