Rome (Italy) 20 September 2024 (SPS)– The Civil Court of Rome ruled in favor of Mohamed Dahani, a Sahrawi human rights activist, granting him international protection in Italy after years of suffering systematic violations of his rights by the Moroccan occupying state. He faced arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and torture due to his activism for the freedom and independence of the Sahrawi people.

Amnesty International’s Italy issued a statement in this regard, in which Deborah Del Pistoia stated that this decision “finally brings justice to a human rights defender who has suffered severe consequences in Morocco for his peaceful activism and has been unjustly accused of posing a threat to Italy”.

With this preliminary ruling from the Italian court, the Italian judiciary confirmed the reality of the Moroccan regime as an illegal occupying state in Western Sahara, acknowledging that Moroccan authorities systematically commit human rights violations in the areas under its military occupation.

In this same Press Release of AI, Mohamed Dahani expressed his happiness with the ruling, stating that he “waited fifteen years” for this recognition and protection from the Moroccan occupation that has pursued him for years.

He highlighted the importance of his case in supporting the freedom of the Sahrawi people and noted that this experience represents to him a new understanding of the meaning of international protection.

The Italian court overturned a decision by the Italian regional committee that had rejected Dihani’s application for international protection in May 2023. Dihni, it should be recalled lived in Italy from 2002 until 2008 before he left to visit his family in occupied Western Sahara where he was arrested by Moroccan authorities.

The court clarified that Dihani’s complaints regarding torture and persecution were credible and documented by international organizations, detailing in its ruling the serious violations he suffered from at the hands of the Moroccan occupying authorities.

The ruling confirmed that Morocco is not a safe country for Dihani, given the real danger he faces if he returns, and this confirmed the current repressive situation against human rights activists in Western Sahara. The court based its decision on evidence linking Dihani’s human rights activities to government retaliation against him as an occupying state.

Lawyers Cleo Maria Feoli and Andrea Dini Modigliani criticized the regional committee’s decision, asserting that it reflects serious procedural and substantive violations of the rights of defenders to international protection when it is established that they are in danger, as was the case with Dihani.

The background of the case dates back to 2010 when Dihani was subjected to arbitrary detention in Tmara secret detention center and Sale Prison Morocco. After years of attempts, he managed to return to Italy in 2022 to apply for protection, having lived there since childhood until he left in 2008 to visit his family, where he was subsequently prevented from traveling by the occupying authorities who later arrested him. For five years

The court’s ruling emphasized the impropriety of including Dihani as a dangerous criminal or terrorist in the Schengen Information System database based on false information provided by Moroccan security agencies, which are the primary perpetrators of the violations he has suffered. Consequently, European authorities should not have relied on information from an occupying state.

In conclusion, Amnesty International called on Italian authorities to foster a conducive environment for human rights defenders, warning of the ongoing risks they face due to their work under repressive regimes. (SPS)