Moroccan authorities are using indirect and underhanded measures to silence activists and independent journalists, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. These measures aim to preserve the image of a “moderate” country respectful of the rights that Morocco is trying to give itself, while it is becoming more and more repressive.
In the 143-page report, titled “‘One Way or Another, They’ll Get You’: Handbook of Repressive Techniques in Morocco Human Rights Watch documents a series of techniques that, when used in combination, form an ecosystem of repression aimed not only at muzzling critical voices, but also at scaring away all potential critics of the state. These techniques include unfair trials resulting in lengthy prison sentences for criminal charges unrelated to the work or political positions of the targeted individuals, harassment and smear campaigns in state-aligned media, and the targeting of family members of opponents. Critics of the state have also been subjected to video and digital surveillance and, in some cases, physical intimidation and assaults that the police have not thoroughly investigated.
“Authorities are employing a whole manual of underhanded techniques to crack down on opponents while striving to keep Morocco’s image as a rights-respecting country intact,” said Lama Fakih, director of the Middle East and North Africa from Human Rights Watch. “The international community should open its eyes, see the repression for what it is, and demand that it stop.”
Human Rights Watch documented the multifaceted repression of eight individuals and two media institutions, involving 12 trials and the targeting of multiple related individuals. For its investigation, Human Rights Watch interviewed 89 people inside and outside Morocco, including victims of police or judicial harassment, family members and close friends, human rights defenders human beings, social and political activists, lawyers, journalists and trial witnesses. Human Rights Watch also attended 19 trial hearings of various opponents in Casablanca and Rabat, reviewed hundreds of pages of court records and other official documents, and closely monitored state-aligned media for more than two years.
Since King Mohammed VI ascended the throne of Morocco in 1999, Human Rights Watch has documented dozens of convictions of journalists and activists on charges related to their public positions, in violation of their right to freedom of expression. expression. Such lawsuits continue to be filed to this day. At the same time, authorities have developed a different approach for known opponents, prosecuting them for crimes unrelated to their public positions such as money laundering, espionage, rape and sexual assault, and even human trafficking. Human being.
Such criminal allegations are serious and should be investigated without discrimination, and those responsible should be brought to justice in fair trials for all parties, Human Rights Watch said. The report assesses whether the conduct of such trials, when the defendants are opponents, respects international standards governing the right to a fair trial.
In the trials reviewed, Human Rights Watch found that opponents, their family members, and people associated with them were convicted on either charges that inherently violate internationally recognized human rights, or, when charges were legitimate, based on proceedings that violated numerous fair trial guarantees. Procedural issues included prolonged pretrial detention without individualized justification, authorities’ refusal to provide defendants with their court records for extended periods of time, courts’ refusal to let the defense examine or cross-examine key witnesses, and sentencing. defendants imprisoned in their absence because the police had failed to bring them to court.
In their aggressive quest to “take down” opponents, including on serious charges, authorities have violated the rights of their families, partners, and friends, and even those of those whom authorities claim are their victims.
A court, for example, condemned Afaf Bernani, a former employee of Akhbar Al Yaoum , the last opposition daily in Morocco, for “defamation of the police”. Bernani had accused the police of having falsified an interrogation report in which she appeared to claim to have been sexually assaulted by Taoufik Bouachrine, her former boss and director of the newspaper. Bernani has strongly denied ever making such an accusation. Bouachrine was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2019 on multiple sexual assault charges. Bernani has since fled Morocco.
Investigations by Amnesty International and the journalistic consortium Forbidden Stories have revealed that the Moroccan authorities were behind the hacking of the smartphones of several journalists and human rights defenders, alongside possibly thousands of others, by through Pegasus spyware between 2019 and 2021. Once it has infected a smartphone, Pegasus allows state-connected parties unfettered access to all content on the device.
Economist and human rights defender Fouad Abdelmoumni, one of the Pegasus targets investigated by Human Rights Watch, was also subject to video surveillance. Unidentified parties had threatened him with reprisals if he did not moderate his criticism of the authorities. After Abdelmoumni overruled these threats, secretly filmed video clips showing him in a private setting, in intimate situations with his fiancée, were sent to her family. In Morocco, sex outside marriage is punishable by imprisonment and remains a cause of social stigma, especially for women.
Whether or not they ended up in court or in jail, the people whose cases have been reviewed by Human Rights Watch have all been the subject of fierce smear campaigns on a certain constellation of websites. A group of 110 independent Moroccan journalists had called the websites in question, which are alleged to have links to Moroccan police and intelligence services, “libel media”.
These websites frequently publish articles about critics of the state riddled with insults and personal information, including bank and real estate statements, screenshots of private email conversations, allegations of sexual relations or threats of exposing them, as well as intimate biographical details about family members, friends, and supporters of those targeted.
Moroccan critics of the authorities told Human Rights Watch that the mere prospect of being targeted by such media deterred them from speaking out. “There is a climate of inquisition,” said Hicham Mansouri, a journalist who was granted asylum in France after spending 10 months in prison in Morocco for adultery. “Sex, drugs, alcohol… if they don’t find anything, they fabricate charges [against you].”
Other techniques documented in the report include physical surveillance and targeting of family members. Hajar Raissouni, a journalist convicted of extramarital sex with her fiancé and illegal abortion, said police questioned her about two of her uncles who are known, opponents. Officers also provided details about her relationship with her fiancé, including the dates and times she walked her dog — and even the dog’s name.
The techniques documented by Human Rights Watch violate Morocco’s international human rights obligations, including the right to privacy, the right to freedom of expression and association, and the right to due process and a fair trial for those accused of crimes.
“What seem at first sight to be trivial cases of law enforcement, or scattered acts of harassment and media vilification, turn out, when considered as a whole, to be a veritable ‘manual’ of techniques aimed at crush all opposition in Morocco”, concluded Lama Fakih. “Morocco’s international partners should recognize these practices for what they are and challenge Morocco about them, loud and clear.”
