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Ichi Aboulhasssan out of Western Sahara: no country for this old man

The cheese stands alone

Ichi Aboulhassan, one of Morocco's chief torturers, has been moved out of Western Sahara. The information comes from a Western Saharan human rights activist. This transfer is great news for Sahrawis but bad news for the Moroccan people. Before I tell you why, here are some of Ichi's greatest hits (literally):
  • Commanding the Urban Security Group (GUS), a leading instrument in the occupation
  • Dragging Aminatou Haidar from her emergency room bed
  • Torturing Sahrawi political prisoners in September 2005
  • Leading a GUS force that threw Sahrawi Sidi Mohammed Ould Taleb from the roof of a building.
Aboulhassan has been transferred to Bensliman, near Casablanca. It's good that such a vicious man can no longer reach the Sahrawis. Still, his material gains he earned with his Western Saharan brutality--he came poor and left wealthy, his new post is closer to power--means torture in Morocco, as in my own country, has become a lucrative career path.