ICRC detention visits: ex-detainees share their experiences

... the ICRC acted as an "umbilical cord" between prisoners and their families,
bringing messages and parcels during their twice-yearly visits

Morocco - Ali Najab, 25 years in detention

Imagine being detained for 25 years: this was the fate of Ali Najab, a former pilot in the Moroccan air force captured by the Polisario Front in 1978. In a letter to the ICRC's President at the end of 2003, Najab expressed his gratitude to the ICRC and its staff who visited him during this period.

ICRC delegates based at the regional delegation in Tunis visited Ali Najab in the Western Sahara where the Polisario Front held him captive at Tindouf detention centre.

In his letter, Najab thanks ICRC delegates for gradually improving conditions in the camp. He says the ICRC acted as an "umbilical cord" between prisoners and their families, bringing messages and parcels during their twice-yearly visits. The days when the ICRC came, says Najab, came to be viewed as holidays by the detainees.

He praises the ICRC delegates for being both compassionate and professional and says that, thanks to the ICRC, the detainees regained their dignity as human beings. He says ICRC staff were always appreciated as a source of hope.

Najab, writing shortly before the dawn of the New Year, ends his letter to the ICRC hoping that the organization's work will always be "crowned with success."

Text of Ali Najab's letter to the ICRC President

Dear Mr Kellenberger,
My name is Ali Najab and I am a fighter pilot with the grade of captain in the Moroccan air force. I was recently repatriated from Tindouf, where I spent 25 years in the hands of the Polisario....But rest assured, the purpose of this letter is not to discuss politics but to pay tribute to the organization over which you preside.

The ICRC’s regional delegation for North Africa in Tunis regularly visited us in Tindouf and it has continued to visit the remaining prisoners to this day. I would like to say how deeply grateful I am to your delegates for their dedication and abnegation. Their trips to Tindouf were not always easy.

Despite the enormous difficulties they faced – and I speak as an eye witness – they were always able to alleviate the situation and, thanks to the tact and patience they showed, assist us, comfort us and act as an umbilical cord between prisoners and our families by means of Red Cross messages...It wasn’t easy for them to bring in parcels, but they managed to do so despite all the obstacles in the way.

Thanks to the understanding they had of our concerns, they were often able to satisfy our slightest whims. They always showed compassion while at the same time remaining professional. Their visits, which took place twice a year, were always joyous occasions for us.

We were aware if our situation had gradually improved, it was thanks to their sustained efforts. It was thanks to the ICRC that we had recovered our human dignity. But words will never be strong enough to express the gratitude we feel towards your organization.

Please be so kind, therefore, as tell your delegates on our behalf how much we admire and respect them. It was thanks to the ICRC that we were given shelters with roofs.....It was the ICRC that always gave us hope.

Since we are on the threshold of a new year, allow me to extend my best wishes to you and all your staff members and to express the hope that the noble work you carry out the world over will always be crowned with success.

Sincerely yours,

Ali Najab

Lebanon

Peru