Expulsion of a Portuguese human rights activist from Morocco

Subject: Expulsion of a Portuguese human rights activist from Morocco

On 10 December, the Moroccan police prevented a Portuguese human rights activist, from landing in Laâyoune, in the territory of Western Sahara occupied by Morocco. She had a valid passport and authorisation to travel, her stated purpose being to contact the relatives of Sahrawi prisoners and then to visit the prisons in which Mansour El Moussaui and Mahfouda Lefkir are being held.

She was forcibly taken into Moroccan territory, from whence she was expelled (after her mobile phone and computer had been disactivated, leaving her incommunicado).

The Moroccan authorities routinely impose restrictions on visits or any form of contact with Sahrawi activists in the occupied territories. This is in breach of the various human rights agreements signed by Morocco, the mandatory provisions of its agreements with the EU and the various UN resolutions calling for settlement of the conflict with Western Sahara.

In view of this:

1. Is the Commission aware of this unlawful situation? Has it carried out any investigations into the treatment of this Portuguese national?

2. Following its repeated human rights violations, is the Commission considering suspension of the agreements it has signed with the Kingdom of Morocco in view of the human rights clauses contained therein?

Answer given by High Representative/Vice-President Borrell on behalf of the European Commission (24 April 2020)

The EU is aware of the case raised by the Honourable Member and has followed up on related developments, notably through its Delegation in Morocco.

Human rights are essential components of the EU's foreign policy and of its dialogue with partner countries like Morocco, as notably reflected in the provisions of the EU-Morocco Association agreement (1) and in the Joint Political Declaration (2) adopted by the EU and the Kingdom of Morocco on the occasion of their latest Association Council on 27 June 2019, during which human rights issues were also discussed. EU trade policy is also conducted in the context and in line with the principles of the Union’s external action.

According to the United Nations, which the EU fully supports, Western Sahara is a non-self governing territory, the final status of which will be determined by the outcome of the ongoing United Nations ‐led process.

⋅1∙ https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX:22000A0318(01)

⋅2∙ https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2019/06/27/joint-declaration-by-the-european-union-and-the-

kingdom-of-morocco-for-the-fourteenth-meeting-of-the-association-council/