Articles for Morocco

On September 21, 2017, during the 36th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC), the outcome of Morocco’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) was adopted. Ahead of the UPR, Alkarama submitted a shadow report in September 2016, outlining its main concerns and recommendations regarding the human rights situation in the country.

Salaheddine Bassir, a militant and journalist, was arrested in June 2015, tortured and jailed in Laayoune following an unfair trial. The experts of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), said “he is arbitrarily detained” and called on the Moroccan authorities to release him. Today Bassir remains detained in the prison of Aït Melloul under particularly appalling conditions.

Arbitrary arrest and unfair trial

On 5 May 2017, the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), established by the Human Rights Council (HRC), adopted a draft report containing the recommendations made by United Nations Member States to Morocco during the State’s review on 2 May 2017.

On 21 October 2016, Alkarama sent to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) new information about Ali Aarrass, detained since 2008 and sentenced on the sole basis of confessions obtained under torture.

On 23 September 2016, Alkarama submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Committee (HRCtee) its report on the implementation of Morocco's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in view of Morocco's upcoming review on 24 October.

On 22 September 2016, Alkarama submitted its report on Morocco’s human rights situation to the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) in view of its third Universal Periodic Review (UPR), which will be held in May 2017. Despite the authorities’ tangible progress in the protection and promotion of human rights, some practices remain in violation of Morocco’s international obligations.

On 9 March 2016, Alkarama provided a half-a-day intensive training on the role of NGOs in promoting and protecting human rights, to members of the Moroccan National Human Rights Council (CNDH) and civil society actors. The training was organised by Geneva Institute for Human Rights (GIHR), which wanted Alkarama to share its experience in assisting victims of human rights violations in the Arab world.

In a report recently made public, the Sub-Committee on Accreditation (SCA) of the International Coordinating Committee (ICC) of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) submitted its con

Moroccan journalist and human rights defender, Mustapha El Hasnaoui, was recently placed in solitary confinement by the prison administration of Kenitra prison. His family has had no contact with him since 7 January 2016 and is systematically denied the right to visit.

On 4 January 2016, Alkarama seized the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) with the case of Abdelkader Belliraj, a 59-year-old Belgian-Moroccan citizen sentenced by the Moroccan authorities to life imprisonment in 2009 on the sole basis of confessions obtained under torture – which is why his case was dismissed in Belgium in October 2013.