Morocco - Latest Press Releases

Morocco: UN Body Calls for Release of Rachid Ghribi Laroussi

MOR - News | 20 November 2015

On 4 September 2015, during its 73rd session, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) adopted an Opinion in which it acknowledges the arbitrary nature of the deprivation of liberty of Rachid Ghribi Laroussi. Arrested in June 2003 as part of the vast campaign of repression that followed the Casablanca bombings on 16 May 2003, Mr Laroussi was sentenced to 20 years in prison following an unfair trial which relied exclusively on confessions extracted under torture.

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

MOR - News | 19 November 2015

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.

Morocco: Abderrahim Abourkha Tortured in Detention

MOR - News | 18 November 2015

On 10 November 2015, Alkarama sent an urgent appeal to the Special Rapporteur on Torture (SRT) to inform him of the recent deterioration of Abderrahim Abourkha's health following the torture and ill-treatment he was subjected to during his detention. Currently bdetained in solitary confinement at the Salé prison in the Rabat suburb, where many detainees allege to have been tortured or subjected to ill-treatment by prison guards with complete impunity.

Morocco: Journalist Hicham Mansouri, Detained for More than 6 Months For "Complicity of Adultery"

MOR - News | 09 October 2015

On 30 September 2015, Alkarama referred to the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression (FREEDEX) the case of Hicham Mansouri, a 35-year-old journalist arrested on 17 March 2015 and sentenced to 10 months in prison for "complicity of adultery".

Morocco: Mohamed Nougaoui detained for 12 years following an unfair trial

MOR - News | 08 October 2015

On 30 September 2015, Alkarama submitted to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) a communication on the case of shopkeeper Mohamed Nougaoui, sentenced to 20 years in prison following an unfair trial. The 65-year-old father has now been detained for 12 years and is currently in custody at the Toulal 2 prison in Meknès.

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