17 November 2010

Morocco: Three young men abducted by government agents in Casablanca

On 27 October 2010 Abdellatif Kouibaat and Badr Kounine were kidnapped in Casablanca. Three days later Azdine Braik was abducted while in the streets of Fès. All three were picked up by plain-clothed security agents and taken to an unknown destination. They have not been seen since.

On 17 November 2010 Alkarama sent an urgent appeal to the Working Group on enforced and involuntary disappearances (WGEID), requesting their intervention with Moroccan authorities, so that the three men are freed immediately or at least given adequate legal protection.

Azdine Braik, a 22 year old shopkeeper with two children from Douar Awlad Al-Hawary in Fez, was walking with his wife in Ayn Smen in Fez when four security agents forced him into their vehicle and took him to an unknown destination.

His wife witnessed the entire scene and immediately went to the nearest police station. She then went to the police headquarters in Fez hoping to find out why her husband had been arrested and what was to become of him. The police claimed to have no information. The family suspects the disappearance to be connected with the arrest his two brothers Mr Abdelali and Mohamed Braik who were arrested and sentenced during the campaign of repression which followed the terrorist attacks in Casablanca on 16 May 2003.

A complaint regarding Azdine Braik's disappearance was filed and the minister of justice has been informed about the case, however to this day the family has received no answer .

Abdellatif Kouibaat, 26, from Casablanca, was disappeared by three plain-clothed security agents on 27 October 2010 along with 21 year-old Badr Kounine. They were then taken to an unknown destination.

Abdellatif Kouibaat's family suspects that his disappeared is connected with the arrest of his brother, Redouane Kouibaat, who was arrested and sentenced following the attacks in Casablanca on 16 May 2003.

Following their disappearances, both families, the Kouibaat and the Kounine, immediately went to the nearest police station to find out what happened, however no information was given.

All three victims have been in police custody longer than legal period of provisional detention and authorities have refused to justify reasons for the arrests or even recognize their detention.

It is worth mentioning that in the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances' (WGEID) mission report of 9 February 2010 (A/HRC/13731/Add.1), written in the context of its visit to Morocco between 22 and 25 June 2009 - the commission noted that "the arrests, disappearances and longterm provisional detentions justified by the fight against terrorism, were taking place in conditions where the victims had no access to a lawyer and families were not being informed."

Mr Braik, Mr Kouibaat and Mr Kounine are undoubtedly victims of enforced disappearance simply due to the fact that they have been given no form of legal protection by the Moroccan government and any information regarding their situation and location has been kept secret from their family and the public.

Morocco - HR Instruments

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)

ICCPR: Ratified on 03.05.1979
Optional Protocol: No

Last State report: Overdue since 07.07.2015
Last concluding observations: 01.12.2004

Convention against Torture (CAT)

CAT: Ratified on 21.06.1993
Optional Protocol: Accessed on 24.11.2014
Art. 20 (Confidential inquiry): Yes
Art. 22 (Individual communications): Yes

Last State report: 30.06.2013
Last concluding observations: 21.12.2011

International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance (CED)

CED: Ratified on 14.05.2013
Art. 33 (Inquiry procedure): Yes

State report: Overdue since 14.06.2015
Last concluding observations: N/A

Universal Periodic Review (UPR)

Last review: 05.2012 (2nd cycle)
Next review: -

National Human Rights Institution (NHRI)

Conseil National des Droits de l'Homme (CNDH) – Status A

Last review: 10.2010
Next review: 11.2015