chargement...
Contrary to claims by media outlets close to the Polisario, Alice Jill Edwards, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, will not be visiting either Rabat or Laâyoune from June 8 to 19. Morocco has chosen to postpone the visit until the mandate of the Australian expert expires in July 2026, a source close to the matter told Yabiladi.
In late March, Alice Jill Edwards announced that she would travel to the kingdom. She even contacted several Moroccan NGOs to gather information on the state of freedoms and human rights in the country. The mission, however, will ultimately not take place.
At the time, the Moroccan government had requested that the visit be postponed, arguing that Monday, March 23, 2026, is a public holiday for all state administrations and local authorities because of Eid al-Fitr. «This has made it difficult to reschedule important meetings. I will continue to work with the government to set new dates», Edwards said at the time.
As a reminder, the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Argentina’s Juan Méndez, visited Morocco in September 2012, including a stop in the Sahara. That mission led to the presentation, on March 4, 2013, in Geneva, of a report that was particularly critical of the kingdom.
