Dr Fatima Zahra Benali

Morocco, Algeria & Western Sahara Expert — Human Rights, Political Situation & Asylum Cases

Expert at The Human Rights Experts, an international expert witness organisation.

We provide expert witness reports for asylum cases worldwide, covering human rights violations, political persecution, and systemic oppression. Our reports are trusted by lawyers, courts, and immigration authorities, in full compliance with procedural standards and tribunal requirements in the UK (CPR Part 35, Upper Tribunal PD, First-tier Tribunal IAC PD), USA (Federal Rules of Evidence), Canada, and the EU.

Occupation

• Country Witness Expert on North Africa
• Human Rights Specialist
• Legal Researcher and Academic Consultant
• Independent Journalist and Investigative Reporter on Human Rights

Expertise

I provide expert analysis on all five Refugee Convention grounds — political opinion, religion, ethnicity, membership of a particular social group (including LGBT and gender-based cases), and nationality — with a focus on the following countries:

Morocco: Morocco maintains a dual system in which constitutional rights coexist with security apparatus practices that suppress dissent, particularly targeting activists linked to the Hirak Rif protest movement and advocates for constitutional reform. The Amazigh (Berber) population continues to face cultural marginalization despite formal recognition of their language, and sub-Saharan migrants transiting through Morocco encounter violent pushbacks at the Spanish border and discrimination in urban centres. Women face significant obstacles in reporting domestic and sexual violence, compounded by judicial reluctance to enforce protective legislation. Same-sex relations are criminalized under Article 489 of the Penal Code, and LGBT individuals risk imprisonment, social ostracism, and targeted police harassment.

Algeria: Algeria's political environment remains tightly controlled by a security-military establishment that has intensified repression since the 2019 Hirak pro-democracy movement, with journalists, human rights lawyers, and political activists routinely detained under vague charges of threatening state security or national unity. The Kabyle Berber minority faces ongoing linguistic and cultural suppression, and the Ahmadiyya Muslim community has been subjected to arrests and prosecutions for practising their faith. Gender-based violence remains widespread, with inadequate legal protections and societal norms that discourage women from reporting abuse. There are no legal protections for LGBT persons, who face prosecution, imprisonment, and pervasive social hostility.

Western Sahara: The territory of Western Sahara remains under Moroccan administrative control, with Sahrawi pro-independence activists facing systematic persecution, including arbitrary detention, torture in custody, and unfair trials before military courts. Sahrawi human rights defenders and journalists who document conditions in the occupied territory are subject to surveillance, travel bans, and harassment by security forces. Sahrawi women in detention have reported sexual violence, and families of activists face collective punishment. The population in the Tindouf refugee camps in Algeria endures protracted displacement with limited freedom of movement, and conditions in the camps raise concerns about access to education, healthcare, and economic self-sufficiency.

Experience

• Authored more than 120 expert reports on country conditions in Morocco, Algeria, and Western Sahara for immigration tribunals and appellate courts in the UK and the United States
• Delivered expert testimony in politically sensitive asylum cases involving Sahrawi activists, Amazigh rights defenders, and Algerian journalists
• Served as a research consultant for international human rights NGOs conducting investigations into detention conditions and freedom of expression in the Maghreb
• Associate Professor of Political Science and Human Rights, Hassan II University, Casablanca
• Expert member of The Human Rights Experts

Full professional experience is available in the CV. Please email us to receive the detailed expert CV.

Publications

Available upon request and detailed in the expert CV.

Languages

• Arabic (Fluent — native speaker, Moroccan Darija and Modern Standard Arabic)
• French (Fluent)
• English (Fluent)
• Tamazight (Professional)

Religious Groups Expertise

All religious groups

Contact Email

info@thehuman-rights.com