International Platform for Defense and Support of Moroccan Sahara Condemns Spain’s Hosting of So-called Brahim Ghali

The academicians, lawyers, journalists, and associative stakeholders, members of the International Platform for Defense and Support of the Moroccan Sahara, strongly denounce the hosting of the so-called Brahim Ghali, chief of a mercenary group, by the Spanish government on its territory, under a fake identity and with a diplomatic passport provided by the Algerian government in defiance of its own laws and international law. The members of the Platform, who number 3,000 representing 155 countries, recall that the so-called Ghali is the leader of an armed separatist and terrorist group whose raison d’être is to undermine the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Morocco, a sovereign state, and to serve Algeria’s hegemonic agenda. They underline that the transport of the so-called Ghali by an Algerian medical plane, with an Algerian crew, and the granting of an Algerian diplomatic passport under the fake name of “Mohammed Benbattouch” to this individual constitute new undeniable proof of the responsibility of Algeria in the regional dispute over the Sahara, as the sponsor of the “polisario”. The Platform recalls that this individual is prosecuted by the Spanish justice for crimes against humanity committed in the Tindouf camps, on the Algerian territory, including crimes of genocide, torture, enforced disappearance, sexual violence and rape, and that an arrest warrant was issued against him by the Spanish authorities in 2008. The prosecution of individuals guilty of crimes against humanity is a peremptory norm of international law, from which no derogation is allowed, say the members of the Platform, while refusing the diplomacy of “double standards” where geopolitical interests outweigh the law. The Platform, which firmly supports all initiatives carried out to bring Brahim Ghali to justice for his crimes, expresses its disapproval of the attitude of the Government of the Kingdom of Spain, which violates not only its own laws but also international law by allowing a perpetrator of crimes against humanity to access its territory in total impunity. Humanitarian considerations cannot justify such actions, which violate international law and the principles of justice as universally accepted, the members of the Platform stress, while expressing their full support for the victims of the abuses of the so-called Ghali.

The members of the Platform call on the Spanish Government to assume its responsibilities by proceeding to the immediate arrest of the so-called Ghali, with a view to bringing him to justice. They believe that health care provided to this individual cannot justify the fact that he has not been brought to justice. The Platform also urges all Member States of the United Nations and the European Union to express their support to the investigations and legal proceedings against the so-called Ghali, in accordance with their international obligations, and reiterates its appeal to the international community to put an end to the situation of lawlessness which prevails in the Tindouf camps, due to the illegal delegation of authority by Algeria to the “polisario”, in defiance of international humanitarian law. Finally, the members of the Platform express their full solidarity with the populations held against their will in the Tindouf camps, as well as with all the victims of human rights violations in Algeria.