Morocco: Ali Aarrass Victim of ill-Treatments Despite Hunger Strike

 Ali Aarrass

On 16 November 2015, Alkarama sent a communication to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture (SRT) to inform him of the recent deterioration in the health of Ali Aarrass − a Belgian-Moroccan citizen accused of "participation in a terrorism network and in arms trafficking" under the Belliraj case − who was extradited from Spain to Morocco in 2010. Mr Aarrass is currently held in the Salé prison in the suburbs of Rabat, where many detainees are subjected to ill-treatment, such as Abderrahim Abourkha, a father of two who was sentenced in the same case by the Rabat court to 10 years in prison, after an unfair trial and on the basis of confessions obtained under torture.

"Only confessions obtained under torture − as noted by the independent doctor accompanying the Special Rapporteur on torture in 2012 − were used by the Moroccan justice to convict Mr. Aarrass," says his Belgian lawyer, Alamat Dounia. "And yet, Mr. Aarrass was declared innocent by Spain, which is the only State to have conducted a survey in accordance with international standards. We therefore call on Morocco to reconsider its position and to take due account of international decisions that have been made," she concludes.

Unjustified extradition to Morocco with severe consequences

Arrested in Spain where he lived in April 2008, Mr. Aarrass was extradited in December 2010 despite the Spanish court's dismissal of the case and the Human Rights Committee's (HRC) injunction to Spain not to extradite him. Secretly detained at the Temara centre, known as the "Moroccan Abu Ghraib", he was severely tortured for 12 days before being convicted of terrorism, on 2 October 2012, to 12 years in prison following an unfair trial in the absence of clear evidence and only on the basis of confessions obtained under torture. Since then, he continues to claim his innocence and to challenge his obviously arbitrary detention.

Following a request presented by Alkarama on 23 October 2012, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) acknowledged, in its Opinion No 2013/25 of 21 October 2013, the arbitrary nature of his detention and was in favour of his immediate release, a decision that the Moroccan authorities still refuse to implement to this day.

Hunger strike and ill-treatment in Salé

Mr. Aarrass has embarked on a hunger strike on several occasions to challenge his detention and denounce the poor conditions in which he is held, the most recent hunger strike having lasted from 25 August to 4 November. In response, he has repeatedly been the subject of retaliatory measures from the prison administration. On 29 September 2015, for instance, several people from outside the prison entered his cell on the pretext of searching it and beat him violently even though he was seriously weakened by his hunger strike.

Against medical advice from the prison doctor, the General Delegation of the prison administration and rehabilitation initially refused his evacuation to hospital, claiming that his hunger strike was a sham, before urgently evacuating him on 27 October 2015 following the further degradation of his condition. Despite the suspension of his hunger strike, his health remains a concern and his family fears that he will be a victim of abuses again.

Alkarama therefore calls on the Moroccan authorities to take all necessary measures to ensure that detention conditions are in compliance with international law standards. As a state party to the UN Convention against Torture (UNCAT) since June 1993, the Moroccan prison authorities must immediately halt any abuses against Ali Aarrass and all those detained in the country, regardless of the reasons for their detention and ensure that such violations do not reoccur.

For more information or an interview, please contact the media team at media@alkarama.org (Dir: +41 22 734 10 08).

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