Jadiyetu Mohamed: “Para el Polisario asesinar y violar es como beber un vaso de agua”
The Saharawi resident in Spain, Jadiyetu Mohamed, filed a complaint in 2013 accusing Polisario Front leader Brahim Ghali of rape. After learning that Ghali had been taken in by Spain, according to the government for "humanitarian reasons", Jadiyetu decided to continue her activism to make society aware of the multiple violations by the Polisario.
The Polisario leader is now in hospital receiving medical treatment in a hospital in Logroño. This reception has had negative consequences on diplomatic relations between Spain and Morocco, as Ghali is considered a terrorist by the Alaouite Kingdom. Ghali is not only accused of having committed crimes of torture and murder. He is also alleged to have committed crimes of rape against women who were refugees in the Tindouf camp. Jadiyetu Mohamed was the victim of an alleged rape by the leader and, in an act of courage considering the difficult social context in which she found herself, she decided to speak out and denounced having been a victim of rape. Moreover, Jadiyetu is stateless, which makes it difficult for her case to be prosecuted.
This Tuesday, Brahim Ghali will appear before the Audiencia Nacional after receiving complaints from Saharawi associations accusing him of having committed crimes against humanity. Judge Santiago Pedraz has set 1 June for Ghali to appear at the Audiencia Nacional. In case Ghali is unable to travel to Madrid, Pedraz has asked the dean judge of Logroño to prepare a videoconference for the event.
Jadiyetu spoke to Atalayar and gave us an interview in which we were able to ask her about her case and the controversy surrounding the reception of Brahim Ghali in Spain, as well as the difficult situation faced by Saharawi women in the refugee camps:
Jadiyetu, have you filed a complaint against Ghali?
Yes, my complaint will be discussed tomorrow. I am not the only victim of Brahim Ghali, there are more victims. All this time I have been very hopeful that if Ghali set foot on this land, justice would be done to him because I believe in justice in this country.
How many victims do you think there are?
It's barbaric, the bad thing is that unfortunately they don't have the courage to speak out. If they spoke out, they would see who Ghali really is. Brahim Ghali is the worst thing that can happen to humanity. Ghali is a criminal. What the Polisario does in Tindouf is the same as what Daesh does. There they rape a woman and then the woman goes to prison, a prison that is allowed. Women, if they don't do what they say, they don't listen to you, even to ask for a card. When an old woman goes to ask for humanitarian aid, they don't listen to her, I have seen it with my own eyes. For the Polisario, murder and rape is like drinking a glass of water. There are many victims of Brahim Ghali, there are many victims of the Polisario. They are a "herd".
Why didn't you report him before, do you have family there?
I didn't report him at the time because I was there, I reported him in Spain. I wasn't prepared enough to talk about it. Even today I still find it difficult. It is very difficult for me.
After filing the complaint, what was the procedure followed by the Spanish justice system?
First they told me that the case was closed for lack of evidence. Then I filed another complaint. I did not imagine that Ghali would not be arrested. I don't know what will happen or what I want to imagine.
What is your opinion of Spain taking in Ghali?
Spain has taken in a terrorist. It has treated a terrorist who is a criminal and a murderer. Obviously I don't think it's right, but I believe in the justice system of this country, for me it shouldn't come in. We as victims have the right to act and we have filed a complaint because we know our rights. Now it is time for justice to do its job.
Are you afraid of reprisals from the Polisario?
No. I work now and I have a family that I can count on for support. The support of my Spanish family has been fundamental. I was a child who came to Spain as a foster child in the summer. I called my mother and she told me not to talk about it because if I did we would stay.
However, my second mother who lives in Spain told me to get a visa and come here because we were going to report her. In the first year I had no contact with any of my family, but then I did because they understood that I am fighting for something that is mine. When I left four years ago, Ghali and people from the Polisario came to tell me to drop the complaint and that in exchange they would give me money or a job, but I flatly refused. My parents have a confrontation every time I go to see my family, my house is under 24-hour surveillance, they keep threatening my relatives.
Do you know any other Sahrawi women to whom the same thing has happened as you?
Yes, many. There this subject is taboo, they don't talk about it because if you say you have been raped you will be mistreated by society. You are beaten, you can be raped once, twice, three times and you don't see any support from society because it is not allowed to help this type of women and the shame is that they don't dare to speak out.
Are there no such complaints because they don't take the step to denounce?
No, they don't dare. It's a pity, I think they should speak out and they will realise that a woman has to live her life, she has to live a life equal to that of a man. There are some women in Saharawi society who don't understand this because with their failed politics, with their macho and arrogant politics, they make women soft. For example, why is the issue of women who have been raped, become pregnant and go to prison never discussed? Where do these children go? It is an issue that is never talked about.
Is there a specific prison for women who have been raped?
Yes. If women become pregnant after rape, sometimes the mothers call the authorities saying that their daughter has become pregnant and she is not married. Afterwards the woman is never heard from again. Sometimes out of "mercy", there are relatives who offer to marry them so that they don't go to jail.
Do you know what life in the camps is like now? Would they want to have Moroccan sovereignty?
Yes, most of them would want that. Most of them want that. That camp is guarded 24 hours a day, since Ghali took over COVID they have everyone in cages. Unfortunately people are already very used to that life, they don't see beyond it.
Do you know how many Saharawis leave with terrorist groups in the Sahel?
For a few years now there has been a movement there like the Daesh movement. The last time I was there, there was a movement with which they have been building many mosques and now in every area there is a mosque and an imam, that wasn't there before either. There is a conflictive movement there and future terrorists are going to come out of it, for sure.
Do you know why the Spanish justice system has shelved your case, and how confident are you that Ghali can be prosecuted for rape?
I don't know why it was shelved. Now the offender is here and I am not the only one who has been raped. I believe in justice in Spain, but there must also be policies in favour of these victims. We have to uncover the true face of the Polisario, so that people know who they really are.
