Association of the Families of Sahrawi Prisoners and Disappeared
 | |
| Founded | August 20, 1989, Sahrawi refugee camps, Tindouf, Algeria |
|---|---|
| Type | Non-profit NGO |
| Location |
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Key people | Abdeslam Omar Lahcen, President |
| Website | Arabic, Spanish |
Asociación de FAmiliares de PREsos y DEsaparecidos SAharauis (AFAPREDESA) (Spanish for Association of Families of Sahrawi Prisoners and Disappeared), is an exile-based Sahrawi human rights organization, campaigning against human rights abuses perpetrated by Morocco against Sahrawi people in Western Sahara and even Morocco itself. It focuses especially on the question of the Sahrawi "disappeared", and had campaigned extensively in the past for the release of political prisoner Muhammad Daddach (imprisoned by Morocco between 1975 and 2002). It is the only Sahrawi human rights Non-governmental organization officially recognized by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Due to this, it is banned in the Moroccan government-controlled part of Western Sahara, opering there in clandestinity.
AFAPREDESA has its headquarters at the Sahrawi refugee camps at Tindouf Province, Algeria, where it was founded in August 1989, and a delegation office in Bilbao, Spain.[1]
Since 1998, Abdeslam Omar Lahcen is the elected president of AFAPREDESA.[2]
International membership
Since April 1997 it has the status of observer member in the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights[3] and is also a full member of the International Coalition Against Enforced Disappearances (ICAED),[4] participating in human rights commissions in the United Nations Human Rights Council, the United Nations Human Rights Committee, the European Parliament or the African Union.
The organization cooperates with many international human rights NGO's, like the Federation of Associations of Families of Disappeared (FEDEFAM), Amnesty International, the International Bureau for the Respect of Human Rights in Western Sahara (BIRDHSO), the Spanish Association for Human Rights (APDHE), or the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT).
See also
References
- ↑ Association de Familles des Prisonniers et Disparus SahraouisAfrican Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights
- ↑ WEEKLY NEWS - WEEK 18, 26.04.-02.05.1998 Fifth General Assembly of AFAPREDESA ARSO.org
- ↑ 21st Ordinary Session: 15 - 24 April 1997. Nouakchott, Mauritania Achpr.org
- ↑ MEMBERS OF ICAED ICAED.org