Brahim Dahane

Brahim Dahane is a Sahrawi human rights activist and President of the ASVDH, a banned human rights organization. Born in 1965, he lives in El Aaiun, in the parts of Western Sahara controlled by Morocco, where he is the manager of an Internet café. [http://www.amnestyusa.org/regions/middleeast/document.do?id=ENGMDE290082005]

At the age of 22, he participated in demonstrations to welcome the United Nation's MINURSO mission to El Aaiun. After the demonstrations, he was abducted by Moroccan security forces and held in secret detention centres for four years, when he was released along with approximately 300 other Sahrawi "disappeared". According to Amnesty International,:"The Moroccan authorities have never provided a formal reason for his arrest and "disappearance", but it is believed that he was targeted for peacefully demanding the right of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination." [http://www.amnestyusa.org/regions/middleeast/document.do?id=ENGMDE290082005]

On May 7, 2005, he founded the ASVDH, and became its first president. After protesting police brutality during the presently ongoing anti-occupation protests that broke out in El Aaiun in May 2005, Dahane was detained on October 30, 2005, by Moroccan security personnel. He was later charged with "belonging to an illegal organization", namely ASVDH. This was condemned by Amnesty, [http://www.amnestyusa.org/regions/middleeast/document.do?id=ENGMDE290082005] Human Rights Watch [http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/12/09/morocc12181_txt.htm] and other international human rights organizations, who campaigned for Dahane's release. [http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE290072006?open&of=ENG-2MD] As part of a general royal pardon, Dahane and other members of ASVDH were set free on April 22, 2006. [http://web.amnesty.org/appeals/index/mar-010306-wwa-eng]

External links

* [http://www.asvdh.net ASVDH] - official website
* [http://living.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=591282006 Unflagging campaign for my brothers freedom] - article in The Scotsman on Aicha Dahane, sister of Brahim Dahane, and her campaign for her brother's release.

See also

* Ali Salem Tamek
* Aminatou Haidar
* Muhammad Daddach
* Mohamed Elmoutaoikil
* Human rights in Western Sahara