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statements after subjecting them to beatings.” 181 On October 8, 2007, when they
appeared in court to face charges of contempt of court, they entered chanting
slogans in favor of Sahrawi self-determination and the Polisario Front, according to
Amnesty International. 182
Er-Raddad said she spent six months in the hospital because of her burns. She has
since reopened her shop but has not regained her clientele.
Human Rights Watch also interviewed police major Mohamed Lakraâ, who said that
on May 17, 2006 a group of persons on Qods Street in the Maâtallah neighborhood
of El-Ayoun attacked him and his partner with rocks and Molotov cocktails. Lakraâ,
who was born in 1969, said a bottle struck him on the head, causing him to faint and
leaving a visible scar above his left eye. Lakraâ said the assailants fled into the
alleys. He described them as “a group of about ten, who looked to be about 18 to 20
years old, all wearing masks. They seemed to be from the area, since they knew
which way to run. They were shouting slogans when they surprised us, things like
“La badil, la badil ‘an taqrir al-masir” [Self-determination is the only option]. 183
Law enforcement authorities have the right and responsibility to prevent and punish
violent acts committed against persons and property, regardless of the identity of
the perpetrators. However, the authorities must not use these incidents of violence
as a pretext to impose sweeping restrictions on the right of people to gather in public
or to protest peacefully. Yet that is what they have done repeatedly, forbidding
demonstrations by Sahrawi activists or sending police to disperse them with force,
even when the gatherings were peaceful and orderly.
181 Amnesty International, “Morocco/Western Sahara: Sahrawi human rights defenders sentenced to year in prison,” AI Index:
MDE 29/004/2007, March 8, 2007, www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE29/004/2007/en/dom-MDE290042007en.html
(accessed October 15, 2008).
182 Amnesty International, “Morocco/ Western Sahara: Sahrawi human rights defenders face yet another prison sentence,” AI
Index: MDE 29/011/2007, October 11, 2007, www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE29/011/2007/en/dom-
MDE290112007en.html (accessed October 15, 2008).
183 Human Rights Watch interview with Mohamed Lakraâ, El-Ayoun, November 6, 2007.
Human Rights in Western Sahara and Tindouf 96