Witness Testifies: Polisario Leader Ordered Torture in Tindouf Camps

Brahim Ghali was the one who gave the orders for torture in the Tindouf camps and was sometimes present when the acts were carried out, the witness who appeared before Judge Pedraz on Tuesday assured. "I have no doubt that I was tortured on the orders of Brahim Ghali because it was absolutely impossible for anything to happen in the camps without his green light," said Ahmed Tarouzi, who accuses the Polisario Front of having kidnapped and tortured him for eleven years.

To read: Spanish Court to Hear Key Witnesses in Polisario Leader’s Human Rights Case

The second witness scheduled to appear on Tuesday, a cellmate of Fadel Breica, the Sahrawi activist of Spanish origin who also filed a complaint against Ghali. The latter, who would have witnessed the torture suffered by Breica in the Tindouf camps in 2019, was unable to appear before the judge due to difficulties in obtaining a visa to enter Spain. For the same reasons, he had missed his appearance on June 29, informs La Razon.

To read: Spanish Court Demands Answers on Polisario Leader’s Controversial Entry

The Sahrawi Association for the Defense of Human Rights (ASADEHD) has also filed a complaint against Ghali and 27 other members of the Polisario Front for the ill-treatment they allegedly inflicted on prisoners of war and Sahrawi citizens, "especially those of Spanish origin".

The reception of Brahim Ghali in a hospital in Logroño under a false identity on April 18 provoked a serious diplomatic crisis with Morocco, which led to a migration crisis that occurred in May with the massive arrival of migrants in Ceuta. The leader of the Polisario Front appeared by videoconference on June 1 before Judge Pedraz, who had not imposed any provisional measures limiting his movements, which allowed Ghali to return to Algeria on June 2 to continue his convalescence.