In 2017, the General Delegation for Prison Administration, in partnership with the Muhammadiyah Association of Scholars and the National Human Rights Council, launched the “reconciliation” program.
Morocco’s Department of Prisons and Reintegration has released 235 prisoners convicted in extremism and terrorism cases under the national “reconciliation” program since its launch in 2017.
The prison administration explained, during a ceremony in Rabat at the end of the 14th session of the program, that 235 prisoners out of a total of 322 beneficiaries of the “reconciliation” program were released, including 170 thanks to a royal pardon, while the prison sentence of 65 others ended.
The prison administration did not mention in its statement the fate of the 87 other prisoners who benefited from the program aimed at rehabilitating those convicted in cases of extremism and terrorism.
The most recent sessions of the program spanned four and a half months and included religious, legal, and psychological training and rehabilitation. The number of program hours reached 232 hours, of which 183 hours were devoted to education and 59 hours to co-curricular activities such as drama, drawing, gardening, and support for reading, writing, and arithmetic skills.
The program was characterized by debate exercises among participants, where extremist discourses were constructed and deconstructed, allowing prisoners to use mechanisms of deconstruction and strengthening the faculty of criticism.
In 2016, Morocco approved a new strategy to improve the conditions of prisoners, ensure their safety, and prepare them for social and economic integration. The following year, the General Delegation for Prison Administration, in partnership with the Muhammadiyah Association of Scholars and the National Council for Human Rights, launched the “reconciliation” program.
The program aims to combat extremism through religious education and psychological support, organize legal workshops, promote a culture of human rights, and provide a political and economic framework, according to authorities.
