Morocco: Visit of the Special Rapporteur on Torture from 14-22 September 2012

14 Sep 2012
The Special Rapporteur of the United Nations on Torture, Mr. Juan E. Méndez, will visit Morocco from 14-22 September 2012. Alkarama was pleased to see Morocco invite the UN expert to visit the country, in particular to visit places of detention and to hold a dialogue with the authorities regarding these locations. Our organization, however, denounces the pressure exerted on human rights defenders and victims by the authorities since the announcement of this visit. These practices are in contradiction to the will expressed by the authorities to fight against the most serious human rights violations.
To prepare for his visit, our organizations suggested to Mr. Méndez a number of victims of torture - in detention or not – their families, lawyers and other human rights defense organizations which he could meet with.

In addition, there are numerous detainees who have expressed their desire to meet with Mr. Méndez, notably the group of detainees in the so-called "Café Argana" affair who have been recently transferred from Zaki prison to Salé's Moul Lbargui à Safi prison.

These detainees, many of whom were subjected to torture, accused of terrorism and sentenced in unfair trials on the sole basis of confessions extracted as a result of this torture, had undertaken a hunger strike to protest against their unexplained transfer to other prisons outside the reach of the Special Rapporteur's visit. One of the detainees of the group affirmed that they "were clearly being prevented from meeting with the Special Rapporteur to attest to the torture they suffered."

The authorities of the General Delegation of the Penitentiary Administration – under the direct authority of the the King – seemed to accept the visit by the Special Rapporteur to the Toulal prison in Meknes and Zaki in Salé only after having transferred a number of detainees away from these centers. Since spring 2011, these prisoners had undertaken hunger strikes to denounce the torture they had suffered, their sentences based on their confessions obtained under torture, and to demand a review of their cases.

Finally, we are particularly concerned with the summoning of several human rights defenders by the Moroccan intelligence services who interrogated them about the subject of their upcoming meeting with the Special Rapporteur. "This type of practice clearly intends to intimidate and pressure the human rights activists and creates a tense atmosphere for this visit," said Rachid Mesli, Director of Alkarama's Legal Department.

The Special Rapporteur will make his observations and preliminary recommendations at a press conference on 22 September in Rabat and will present his final report to the Human Rights Council in 2013.
Morocco
Torture