Front Line is deeply concerned following reports that Yahya Mohamed el Hafed Aaza has resumed his hunger strike and is in a critical condition in hospital.

Further Information

On 21 May 2009,  the day after being promised that he would be released from solitary confinement and that treatment would improve, the prison administration were instructed not to fulfill these promises. Yahya Mohamed el Hafed Aaza was once again put in solitary confinement and denied all rights, including family visits. When his blind 82 year old father and 70 year old mother came to visit him, the prison director allegedly insulted them and threatened to knock them down with his car.

Yahya Mohamed el Hafed Aaza resumed his hunger strike as soon as he was put back in solitary confinement and his health condition has continued to deteriorate rapidly. On 26 May 2009, at 2pm, Yahya Mohamed el Hafed Aaza was taken to Hassan II hospital in Agadir.

He was later taken to the intensive care unit of the hospital and is in a critical condition. The human rights defender is handcuffed to the hospital bed and guarded by six police officers. Yahya Mohamed el Hafed Aaza's mother and wife were permitted to visit briefly but all other visit requests have been denied.

Front Line has learned that on 27 May 2007, the Court of Appeal in Agadir, Morocco, postponed the trial of human rights defender until 24 June 2009. Defence lawyers said that Yahya could not be brought to trial due to his deteriorating health condition, as a result of a continued hunger strike. The lawyers asked the court for an immediate medical examination for Yahya Mohamed el Hafed Aaza and to investigate claims that Yahya was subjected to torture before being transferred to Ayat-Melol prison on 4 April 2009, when he started the hunger strike. The court did not respond to these requests.

Yahya Mohamed el Hafed Aaza is still in solitary confinement and is denied visits from family, lawyers or representatives of human right organisations.

You can access the details of this case at Original Front Line Appeal on behalf of Yahya Mohamed el Hafed Aaza