Articles for Morocco

Alkarama received a report from the lawyer of Mr. Mohamed Ziane — former Minister of Human Rights, former President of the Rabat Bar Association, and founder and leader of the Moroccan Liberal Party — who has been detained for nearly 30 months in Arjate prison. The report confirms that Mr. Ziane has filed a cassation appeal against Decision No. 8 issued by the Financial Criminal Appeals Chamber of the Rabat Court of Appeal on May 7, 2025, which sentenced him to three years of effective imprisonment.

In the context of the procedure known as the "List of Issues to Address" before the submission of the Kingdom of Morocco’s report to the Human Rights Committee, Alkarama submitted a contribution to UN experts on April 28, 2025, highlighting the persistent violations of the State Party's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (

The Moroccan authorities have proceeded with the release of Belgian-Moroccan detainee Abdelkader Belliraj, who had been sentenced to life imprisonment, pursuant to a royal pardon granted on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, after seventeen years of detention. 

On 14 May 2024, Alkarama submitted to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) the situation of Mr Mohamed ZIAN (81), former Minister of Human Rights and former President of the Rabat Bar, founder of the Moroccan Liberal Party (PLM), who has been imprisoned for 18 months in Al Arjat prison. 

On 15 April 2024, Alkarama submitted its report to the UN Secretary General (UNSG) concerning the situation of Mr Mohamed ZIAN (81), a lawyer sentenced at the end of 2022 to three years in prison following an unfair trial for having publicly criticised the security authorities. 

The United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee has called on the Moroccan authorities to take interim measures in favour of the lawyer, Mohamed ZIAN, who was sentenced at the end of 2022 to three years' imprisonment after an unfair trial and for publicly criticising the authorities. 

Mohamed Attaoui, a Moroccan political detainee and environmental activist, has gone on hunger strike to protest the lack of a decision in a fabricated case. 

Attaoui, a member of the National Authority for the Protection of Public Funds, has been detained at the local prison of Midelt in eastern Morocco since 8 December 2023 amid charges of insulting public officials in what he says is a trumped-up case. He is on hunger strike and demands that his case be examined, decided and immediately released. 

On 22 December 2023, Alkarama submitted to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, the case of Ms Ouahiba KHOURCHECH, a former Moroccan police officer, and her minor daughter, both victims of multiple gender-based violations. 

On 22 August 2023, Alkarama addressed the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to the environment regarding the case of Mr. Mohamed ATTAOUI, a committed human rights activist and environmentalist, victim of reprisals and acts of intimidation by the local and regional authorities of Midelt (Middle Atlas) since he denounced the smuggling of cedar wood in rural communes of the region. 

On 16 May 2023, Alkarama submitted a communication to the UN Special Procedures, including the Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy, informing them of the multiple violations suffered by Ms. Ouahiba Khourchech, a former police officer, and her minor daughter.  

Victim of harassment while on duty