Officials said that Maarouf died after medical complications, as he had suffered from several kidney stones over the past few years. These complications, however, did not lead authorities to react and give Maarouf the appropriate care he needed, despite doctors asked for his medical supervision after he had undergone surgery in 2012. To the contrary, authorities let Maarouf's health deteriorate, leading eventually to his death.

Maarouf used to be detained in Nouakchott central prison. On 23 May 2011 though, he was abducted along with 13 other prisoners and brought to an unknown location. The pressure from the families and the international community was first unsuccessful but the Mauritanian authorities finally admitted they were secretly detaining them, justifying it under vague security reasons.

Out of the 13 other detained, three of them have been recently transferred again to Nouakchott central prison. Indeed, their health condition had dangerously worsened because of their harsh and inhumane conditions of detention. No information could be gathered on the situation of the remaining ones detained in Salah Eddine, leaving their family in a climate of anxiety. All the more so that testimonies coming from former prisoners report acts of torture and ill-treatment in this military base, in addition to appalling condition of detention.

Thus, Alkarama called upon the intervention of the competent United Nations bodies for the Mauritanian authorities to be requested that they end the violation of their international obligations and especially the practice of secret detention and that an impartial investigation be conducted about the victim's death.