Elkouria Amidane
| Elkouria "Rabab" Amidane | |
|---|---|
 Rabab during ISFIT2009 | |
| Born |
29 September 1985 El Aaiun, Western Sahara |
| Residence | Sweden |
| Ethnicity | Sahrawi |
| Occupation | Human rights defender |
| Years active | 2005–2011 |
| Organization | Collective of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders |
| Awards |
Student Peace Prize (2009) Ordfront Democracy Prize (2011) |
Elkouria Amidane (born 29 September 1985) is a Sahrawi student and human rights activist. Elkouria Amidane has over the years conducted non-violent struggle for Western Sahara self-determination and demonstrated for Saharawi student's rights.
Early life
Amidane went to primary school in her hometown of El Aaiun, where all the professors were Moroccan. She denounced that Sahrawi students were discriminated in school, as they are recognized by their native language, Hassānīya. Elkouria had to travel to Morocco for higher education, because, there are no universities in Western Sahara.[1]
Involvement in human rights defense
In 2005, the outburst of the Independence Intifada, her younger brother El Wali Amidane was arrested by the Moroccan police together with dozens of human rights defenders. The sentences were up to one year imprisonment. In 2006, El Wali Amidane was arrested again and was sentenced to 5 years of prison.
Both Amidane and her family has been imprisoned and tortured due to their political activism. Frequently reported the abuse and dettention of Amidane's family members, and the Moroccan police raid to their home.[2]
Amidane aims to tell the world about Moroccan mistreatment of the Saharawi people.[1] With help from international human rights organizations, she spread videos and photos documenting Moroccan human rights violations on the Sahrawi population, that had been used by NGOs like Amnesty International.
On 4 February 2009, Elkouria Amidane was awarded the Student Peace Prize for her work for human rights and the Saharawi people.[1][3]
On 21 October 2011, Elkouria Amidane was awarded the Ordfront Democracy Prize at the Swedish parliament.[4]