Opposition to the awarding of the 2025 Nelson Mandela Prize to Ms. Amina Bouayach

Your Excellencies,

On behalf of Sahrawi civil society and human rights defenders committed to respect for fundamental rights, justice, and self-determination, we express our deep concern about the possible awarding of the 2025 Nelson Mandela Prize to Ms. Amina Bouayach, President of the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) of Morocco. Such a decision would betray the universal values ​​upheld by Nelson Mandela and send a disastrous message to peoples fighting for their legitimate rights. 

Ms. Bouayach publicly supported the Moroccan annexation of Western Sahara, a non-self-governing territory according to the UN, thereby denying the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination, enshrined in United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1514 (XV) of December 14, 1960, on decolonization, the 65th anniversary of which we are celebrating this year. Her statements, aligned with Morocco's official position, contravene the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of October 16, 1975, which rejected any Moroccan territorial sovereignty over Western Sahara. Furthermore, they ignore multiple UN and African Union resolutions, as well as recent rulings by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU, 2024), which reaffirm the illegality of exploiting Sahrawi natural resources without the consent of the Sahrawi people.

In 2019, Ms. Bouayach denied the existence of political prisoners in Morocco, including the Gdeim Izik activists, even though they are recognized as such by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch. These prisoners, victims of unfair trials and torture, symbolize the systematic repression of Sahrawi voices. How could a prize honoring Mandela, a symbol of resistance to oppression, reward such a denial of political suffering? 

Under his leadership, the CNDH maintains offices in El Aaiún(Laayoune) and Dajla (Dakhla) without consulting the Sahrawi people or their legitimate representative, the Polisario Front, thus violating the principle of free and informed consent. These structures are perceived as tools for legitimizing the occupation, while NGO reports continue to document arbitrary arrests, torture, and restrictions on fundamental freedoms (Committee Against Torture, Amnesty International).

Although the CNDH claims to monitor protests and visit prisons, its reports systematically fail to condemn serious violations, as noted by the US State Department (2015). Such complacency is incompatible with the spirit of the Mandela Prize, which recognizes concrete struggles for emancipation. 

Nelson Mandela dedicated his life to the liberation of oppressed peoples. Awarding this prize to a figure whose actions contradict these ideals would amount to a mockery of his memory. Mandela, an international mediator, would never have forgiven the denial of the rights of a people under occupation.

We urge you to reconsider this nomination in light of these indisputable elements. The Nelson Mandela Prize should honor figures whose commitment coincides with the principles of justice, dignity, and freedom—not those who compromise them.

Hoping that your committee will prioritize ethics over political considerations, we remain at your disposal to provide any additional information.

• Association of Families of Sahrawi Prisoners and Disappeared (AFAPREDESA)