Aminatou Haidar

Aminatou Haidar, a prominent advocate for Western Sahara’s independence from Morocco, leads the human rights group CODESA. Throughout her activism, she has faced threats, imprisonment, and torture. In 1987, she disappeared after protesting Moroccan occupation, remaining jailed without trial until 1991. Haidar was imprisoned again in 2005 during a protest, leading her to stage a hunger strike for better detainee conditions and torture investigations. In 2009, her refusal to declare Moroccan nationality when returning from Spain resulted in her expulsion and another hunger strike at Spain’s Lanzarote Airport, drawing global attention and support from Amnesty International and various celebrities. The strike, which nearly cost her life, ended after international pressure led Morocco to allow her return, marking a significant human rights victory.

Dubbed the “Sahrawi Gandhi,” Haidar continues her non-violent fight for Sahrawi rights, earning accolades including the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award and the Civil Courage Prize.