Articles for Morocco

On 10 November 2015, Alkarama sent an urgent appeal to the Special Rapporteur on Torture (SRT) to inform him of the recent deterioration of Abderrahim Abourkha's health following the torture and ill-treatment he was subjected to during his detention.

On 30 September 2015, Alkarama referred to the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression (FREEDEX) the case of Hicham Mansouri, a 35-year-old journalist arrested on 17 March 2015 and sentenced to 10 months in prison for "complicity of adultery".

On 30 September 2015, Alkarama submitted to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) a communication on the case of shopkeeper Mohamed Nougaoui, sentenced to 20 years in prison following an unfair trial. The 65-year-old father has now been detained for 12 years and is currently in custody at the Toulal 2 prison in Meknès.

Held incommunicado after his arrest for over a month and a half

In its contribution to the Sub-Committee of Accreditation (SCA) of the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotions and Protection of Human Rights (ICC) – in view of the ICC's review of the Moroccan national human rights institution, the National Human Rights Council (CNDH), due in November 2015 – Alkarama has recommended the down

On 15 July 2015, Alkarama sent a communication to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) concerning the case of a 23-year-old salesman arrested in 2004 and sentenced to 15 years in prison on the sole basis of confessions obtained under torture and following an unfair trial. Hamo Hassani is still currently held it the prison of Tiflet, 50 km east of Rabat.

Brutal arrest and incommunicado detention of Hamo Hassani

On 30 June 2015, Alkarama sent a communication to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers (SR IJL), Gabriela Knaul, concerning the case of Judge Mohamed Anbar, unfairly removed from office in October 2014 after having suffered both harassment and persecution by the police while he was still President of the Chamber at the Court of Cassation of Rabat, the highest court of the country.

On 17 June 2015, Alkarama urgently informed the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture (SRT) of the current situation of Abdessamad Bettar, who was tortured and transferred to solitary confinement in the punishment block of the prison of Safi, where he is being held for having begun a hunger strike and demanded his release.

On 23 May 2015, Alkarama sent an urgent appeal to the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) asking it to urgently intervene with the Morocco authorities so they take interim measures to stop the extradition to Saudi Arabia of Abdul Rahman Alhaj Ali – a Syrian asylum seeker who had fled persecutions in his country in 2014 to take refuge in Morocco with his wife and his children – based on a 2007 arrest warrant which had already been executed and is no longer justified.

On 24 November 2014, on the eve of the second Global Human Rights Forum held in Marrakech between 27 and 30 November 2014, Morocco ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT), giving hope to see the country on the road to a genuine implementation of the fundamental rights of persons deprived of liberty.

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.