Photo by a Western Sahara human rights defender, used with their permission.
Organisations express concern over the censorship of civil society through the cancellation of a side event co-sponsored by ISHR, Front Line Defenders, Hegoa and the Working Group on Human Rights in Occupied Western Sahara, titled 'Ending the Silence on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders in Western Sahara'.
Schedule to be held on 12 May 2026, at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara Conference Centre (SDKJ-ICC), the side event was organised as part of civil society’s advocacy around the periodic report review scheduled for the 87th session of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR)—a member State of the African Union and party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
In fact, the organisers were informed by the Conference Center late on 11 May that they would not be able to host the side event despite the prior booking, transfer of a deposit and the confirmation of the event room.
This was an unilateral cancellation of this specific side event during the 87th session of the ACHPR by the SDKJ-ICC with a non-notification of the justification of the cancellation to the Commission. Although the ACHPR Secretariat announced the event in the plenary, it did not take place because the SDKJ-ICC abruptly cancelled the room booking, while other events in the same room had not been cancelled, and no alternative room was offered. This appears to be a targeted silencing of Sahrawi human rights defenders.
This cancellation risks undermining the Commission’s commitment to openness, participation, and civic space protection, and compromises the civic space that the ACHPR is committed to uphold as part of its mandate. Any attempts to exert external pressure to undermine the Commission’s independence and silence civil society are unacceptable and must be rejected.
We therefore respectfully request that the Commission take urgent steps to ensure the meaningful participation and safety of Sahrawi human rights defenders during the current session and support the reinstatement of the room booking so that the side event may take place on 14 May in the Conference Centre.
Signatories (updated on a rolling basis):
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