The case of Ms. Naziha el-Khalidi was included in the 2019 report of the Secretary- General (A/HRC/42/30, Annex I, para. 74) on allegations of interrogation following action of special procedures mandate holders on her case. 58 On 4 June 2019, mandate holders expressed their concern about the interrogation of Ms. el-Khalidi following their first communication (MAR 2/2019). On 5 August 2019, the Government refuted the allegations that the questioning by police was an act of reprisals against Ms. el-Khalidi, rather indicating it was part of an investigation into the reported ill-treatment during her arrest, which had come to their attention through the first communication by mandate holders. 59 91. It has been reported to OHCHR that on 8 July 2019, Ms. el-Khalidi was convicted in absentia by the Court of First Instance of Laayoun for practicing journalism without accreditation (article 381 of the Penal Code). The sentence included a fine of 4,000 Moroccan dirhams (about USD 400) and the confiscation of her mobile phone seized by the police during her 2018 arrest. During the reporting period, Ms. el-Khalidi has been the subject of a vilification campaign through sexist and gender-biased posts on social media from an account known to target Sahrawi human rights defenders and journalists, and her close relatives receive notifications of these postings on their cell phones. Some posts have allegedly included intimate photos and private messages taken from her seized mobile phone. 92. On 17 July 2020, the Government responded in detail to the note verbale in connection to the present report. The Government reiterated the information provided to the Committee against Torture pertaining to Mr. Asfari, including that which was presented during the August 2019 meeting between the Permanent Representative and Committee. The Government stated that Mr. Asfari and his wife are not subject to acts of reprisal and provided information about the conditions of detention of Mr. Asfari. The Government categorically refuted the allegations that Ms. el-Khalidi was the subject of an online smear campaign, and informed that she has not brought any complaints about such allegations to national administrative or judicial instances.

96. The case of Ms. Naziha el-Khalidi was included in the 2020 and 2019 reports of the Secretary-General204 on allegations of interrogation following action of special procedures mandate holders on her case. She was further convicted for practicing journalism without accreditation, and reportedly subject to an online vilification campaign through sexist and gender-biased posts on social media. On 7 January 2021, special procedures mandate holders addressed allegations of death threats against Ms. el-Khalidi on social media following her posting of information on 3 October 2020 about alleged repression against Sahrawi activists (MAR 5/2020). Mandate holders noted an example of a death threat on social media which stated there was an alleged order from the King which implied that she would be attacked and killed. On 21 and 22 November 2020, police and military officers reportedly surrounded Ms. el-Khalidi’s home and adjacent streets in Laayoune preventing anyone from entering or leaving when she and her fiancé were preparing for their wedding. Law enforcement officers reportedly justified the measures as necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19, even though the ceremony reportedly respected the required physical distances (MAR 5/2020).
97. On 19 April 2021, the Government responded, noting that the home of Ms. el-Khalidi was surrounded on 21 and 22 November 2020 while she was preparing for her wedding. It stated that a delegation of administrative authorities and law enforcement visited the homes of Ms. el-Khalidi and her husband to sensitize them on preventive sanitary measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 (Decision n° 5916 of 12 November 2020). The Government rejected allegations that military officers surrounded Ms. el-Khalidi’s home and adjacent streets which prevented anyone from entering or leaving.205