Morocco: Al Shatbi Brothers Arbitrary Detained Since 2002
On 30 October 2014, Alkarama sent a communication to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) regarding the case of two brothers, Mohammed and Kamal Al Shatbi, arbitrarily deprived of their freedom since their respective arrests without warrant on 25 and 27 September 2002.
Mohamed, 41, and Kamal, 33, were both put in incommunicado detention at the Temara centre, later closed by the authorities, where they were tortured for 50 days, in order to push them to confess imaginary crimes.
Transferred to the Maarif police station, where were held for a whole week, they were then forced, under the threat of being tortured again, to sign the minutes of their hearing without being allowed to read them.
The two brothers' trial was carried out in a tense media context unfavourable to them as it took place in the aftermath of the 16 May 2003 Casablanca bombings which had prompted a broad disapproval movement in Morocco.
Mohamed and Kamal Al Shatbi were eventually convicted on terrorism charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison following a speedy trial, which they never were able to appeal since the criminal procedure code then into force did not allow for such recourse.
Since their arrest, they have kept on claiming their innocence and ask for a review of their conviction by going on hunger strikes, some of which lasted over a month and causing them serious damage to their health.
Alkarama alerted the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) to investigate the case of the Al Shatbi bothers so as they consider their rights to benefit from a fair trial, rights which they were deprived of. The Moroccan authorities should be aware of the prohibition of the arbitrary deprivation of liberty enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Morocco has undertaken to implement on 3 May 1979.
Alkarama would like to remind the authorities of the Kingdom of Morocco of the latest recommendations of the Working Group, as well as the ones made by the Committee against Torture (CAT), concerning the review of unfair trials held in the wake of 11 the September 2001 attacks. The UN experts had notably asked Morocco to take all necessary measures to ensure that no conviction be handed down on the sole basis of confessions obtained under torture.
Morocco has also been invited to consider these criminal convictions solely on this type of confessions, thereby putting an end to the suffering of numerous victims accused and sentenced to lengthy prison terms because of their political or religious beliefs, on the pretext of fighting terrorism.
For more information or an interview, please contact the media team at media@alkarama.org (Dir: +41 22 734 1007 Ext: 810)