Babouzeid
Mohamad Said Labbihi

Background and Work

Babouzeid Mohamad Said Labbihi is a Sahrawi human rights defender and the director of the Sahrawi Collective of Human Rights Defenders (CODESA), an organisation that documents abuses committed by Moroccan security forces in Western Sahara and advocates for the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination. Western Sahara remains a disputed territory, claimed by Morocco and by the Polisario Front on behalf of the Sahrawi people. Human rights defenders working in the territory face systematic repression.

CODESA operates in a legal grey zone. It is not formally recognised by Moroccan authorities, and its members work under constant surveillance. Babouzeid's role as director places him at the centre of efforts to monitor forced disappearances, torture, and arbitrary detention in the region. His documentation work feeds into international advocacy and periodic United Nations reporting on the territory's status.

Kidnapping, Torture, and Employment Blacklisting

Babouzeid reported that on 10 May 2021 he was kidnapped by security intelligence officers along with two other Sahrawi activists. They were tortured and later abandoned in an unknown field. The details of the torture have not been fully disclosed, but the incident was part of a broader pattern of abductions targeting CODESA members during that period.

Following the kidnapping, Babouzeid was blacklisted from formal employment. Employers in Laayoune who might have considered hiring him received visits from security officers instructing them not to employ him because of his involvement with CODESA. The blacklisting extends to other members of the organisation and serves as both economic pressure and social isolation.

The January 2022 Traffic Stop

On 5 January 2022, at approximately 1:00 PM, Babouzeid was stopped by traffic officers while driving in Laayoune. His young son was in the car. Although he complied with the officers' instructions, they insulted him and his child. They then forcibly and aggressively confiscated his car keys, causing visible distress to the boy.

When Babouzeid protested their behaviour, the officers threatened to charge him with assaulting public officials. He was held at the roadside for about three hours; officers questioned him for about an hour and demanded his vehicle registration documents. He was eventually charged with a traffic violation and fined 400 Moroccan dirhams, approximately 38 euros. He was released only after friends and family arrived at the scene and applied pressure on the officers.

The incident bears the hallmarks of judicial harassment rather than routine traffic enforcement. The disproportionate detention, the threats of fabricated assault charges, and the targeting of a known human rights defender all point to a calculated act of intimidation.

Escalating Repression Against CODESA

Harassment of CODESA members escalated in 2021 following the organisation's decision to open new branches in the cities of Guelmim, Tantan, and Assa-Zag, expanding its documentation capacity beyond Laayoune. Members of the new branches and their families have been intimidated and threatened with employment blacklisting if they continue their affiliation with the organisation.

Women members of CODESA have reported being sexually assaulted by security forces. These assaults serve a dual purpose: to intimidate the women themselves and to discourage other women from joining or remaining active in human rights work. The use of sexual violence as a tool of repression against women defenders is documented across multiple contexts in the region, but reporting and accountability remain rare.

Current Situation

No information about his situation after January 2022 has been published. At that time he reported that he could not find formal employment and that the harassment continued. The targeting he experiences is emblematic of the broader repression faced by Sahrawi defenders who document abuses and assert the right to self-determination in Western Sahara.