Morocco: Resurgence of disappearances - Adnan Kakhbat is the latest victim
On 29 March 2010, Adnan Zakhbat was abducted by four plain clothed security officers outside Zahra Mosque and taken to an unknown destination. He has since disappeared. Following his disappearance, the Moroccan authorities have refused to acknowledge his arrest and his family has been left without any recourse in their efforts to locate him.
Adnan Zakhbat, 27, lives in Berrechid, a small town 70km south of Casablanca and is a married father of two.
WGEID's 2009 mission to Morocco
The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) carried out an official mission to Morocco between 22 and 25 June 2009 at the invitation of the Moroccan authorities. The aim of the visit was to gather information in order to clarify several unresolved cases of disappearances; as well as a further investigating the general situation of disappearances in the country and to update on the work of the Equity and Reconciliation Commission (IER), a Moroccan human rights and truth commission created in 2004 by King Mohamed VI as a means of reconciliation for the victims of human rights abuses and atrocities in Morocco.
The Working Group's mission was not a failure: their report released on 8 March 2010 identified a number of unacceptable practices, including the forcible removal of individuals and their deprivation, for long periods of time, of contact with the outside world, especially their families.
The UN experts urged the Moroccan authorities to take all necessary measures to prevent such acts from further spreading to the point of becoming commonplace; however, the calls of the experts have not been answered.
Alkarama considers enforced disappearances to be one of the most serious human rights violations and urges the Moroccan authorities to put an end to this crime against humanity, which has no justification, even under the pretext of the fight against terrorism.
It should also be noted that the UN's Committee against Torture expressed its concerns at the end of 2003, during Morocco's periodic review, particularly regarding the custody time limit, which was extended to 12 days by a 5 June 2003 Act. This period has been termed "excessive" by various many human rights NGOs.
Experts from the UN committee had also, after consideration, recommended that the Moroccan authorities "keep the period of custody to a minimum and ensure that the detainees have prompt access to a lawyer, a doctor and a member of their family."
Alkarama send Adnan Zakhbat's case as an urgent appeal to the WGEID on 16 April 2010, requesting their intervention with the Moroccan authorities, in order that they he be placed under protection of the law.
Alkarama is deeply concerned with the upsurge of abductions and enforced disappearances currently plaguing Morocco. Our organisation calls upon the Morocco authorities to respect its international commitments to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified on 3 May 1979; and the Convention against Torture, which it ratified on 21 June 1993.