Sahrawi political activity in the Moroccan-controlled parts of Western Sahara remains severely restricted, and police crackdowns and forced disappearances were a frequent response to civil protest.

Protests spread by the end of May to other towns in the Western Sahara, such as Smara and Dakhla, and were accompanied by demonstrations by Sahrawi students living in Moroccan cities such as Agadir, Casablanca, Fes, Marrakech and Rabat.

On 30 October 2005, a first fatality was recorded when 31-year-old Hamdi Lembarki died after what human rights organizations assured was police brutality during his arrest, although at first Moroccan authorities attributed his death to an accident.

[5] Among them are the former political prisoner Ali Salem Tamek (who did not partake directly in any demonstrations, but was arrested when returning from abroad), human rights-activist Mohamed Elmoutaoikil, and Aminatou Haidar, a former disappeared.

Investigative missions from European countries have been denied access to the territory, including several high-ranking parliamentary delegations and foreign ambassadors to Morocco.

[13][permanent dead link‍] Several foreign journalists, mainly European, but also al Jazeera correspondents, were expelled after interviewing protesters, and others have been prevented from visiting it.