Polisario Leader Faces Spanish Court on Human Rights Abuse Allegations

Brahim Ghali, 71, will have to answer the accusations against him before the Spanish National Court. He will be heard by the investigating judge in Madrid, Santiago Pedraz Gomez, regarding two complaints, those of a Sahrawi citizen and the Sahrawi Association for the Defense of Human Rights (ASADEH). Admitted urgently to a hospital in Logroño, Spain, on April 18 after contracting Covid-19, the Polisario leader is the target of several complaints. A complaint filed by El Fadel Breika, a dissident of the front naturalized Spanish, for "kidnapping, arbitrary detention and torture" in the Tindouf prisons; one filed by ASADEH and another filed by the Canarian association of victims of terrorism for "genocide, torture, sequestration, rape, kidnapping, disappearances".

The emergency admission of the president of the "Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR)" to a hospital in Logroño has caused new tensions between Spain and Morocco. Tensions that have remained strong following the massive arrival of 8,000 migrants - including 2,000 minors - in Ceuta. Morocco maintains pressure on Spain for Brahim Ghali to answer for his actions before the Spanish justice system. Madrid links the bilateral crisis to the migration issue.

This hearing of Brahim Ghali could bring a beginning of satisfaction to Morocco and the victims, but will not be synonymous with the thawing of the crisis between the kingdom and Spain. On Monday, Rabat, in a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said it had "taken note" of this hearing, but stressed that the "substance of the case" is not linked to the reception of the separatist leader in Spain. It is rather linked to the "hostile intentions of Spain concerning the Sahara".