Fears grow for Sahrawi prisoner entering sixth week of hunger strike in Morocco

Fears grow for Sahrawi prisoner entering sixth week of hunger strike in Morocco Submitted by Alex MacDonald on Fri, 07/17/2026 - 09:27 Naama Asfari began his protest to force authorities to comply with UN rulings calling for his release Naama Asfari began his hunger strike on 8 June 2026 (X) Off Rights groups have called for the immediate release of a Sahrawi political prisoner in Morocco as he nears his sixth week of a hunger strike. Naama Asfari started his indefinite hunger strike on 8 June while detained in Kenitra prison, north of the city of Rabat, in an attempt to force Moroccan authorities to comply with UN rulings calling for his release. Asfari has been in prison since 2010 over his involvement in the Gdeim Izik protest camp in Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara, which sought to highlight the ongoing human rights abuses, poverty and discrimination inflicted on the native Sahrawis by the Moroccan authorities.