There are currently six imprisoned Saharawis on hunger strike for 26 days in Moroccan jails protesting against their detention without trial among those who have faced intimidation after visiting refugee camps in Algeria.

The NGO Amnesty International has already called on the Moroccan authorities to end the ongoing harassment and threats of Sahrawi activists, after visiting the refugee camps administered by the Polisario Front, which calls for the independence of Western Sahara and has set up a self-proclaimed government-in-exile. The arrestment occurred on October 2009 at Mohammed V airport in Casablanca when they returned from visiting the Tindouf camps in Algeria.

Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International's director for the Middle East and North Africa programme, declared that they’re considered “prisoners of conscience imprisoned for the peaceful exercise of freedom of expression, and we are urging the Moroccan authorities to release them immediately and unconditionally."

“The six - Ahmed Alansari, Brahim Dahane, Yahdih Ettarouzi, Rachid Sghir, Ali Salem Tamek, and Saleh Labihi, who joined the hunger strike last Monday – are in Salé Prison, near Rabat, far from their homes in Western Sahara. The five who have been on hunger strike for longest are now reported to be too weak to leave their cells for family visits”, the NGO stated.

Gathered in Madrid, some EL deputies debated the Western Sahara conflict and called on the liberation of Saharawi political prisoners, respect for human rights and self-determination for the people of Western Sahara.

Spanish MEP Willy Meyer condemned today in Madrid the Spanish government" for its silence on Western Sahara issue. "Since the undignified granting of advanced status to Morocco in its relations with the EU, that country continues to infringe human rights standards and international law" said.

Portuguese MEP Miguel Portas called for a referendum in Western Sahara on self-determination. " Morocco's intransigence and unwillingness to compromise is a result of the EU's schizophrenic policy on the issue and the gap between its actions and discourse" he alleged.

The activist Haidar was also in Madrid’s meeting explaining the consequences of the last 30 years: "The Western Sahara conflict has had dramatic costs for human rights since the invasion by Morocco in 1975. This invasion was followed by a policy of systematic oppression of the Saharawi people involving torture and disappearances".