The body monitoring Moroccan prisons is denying widespread allegations of torture and mistreatment of Hirak activists, saying the accusations are unfounded and politically motivated.
Rabat – The Moroccan General Delegation of the Penitentiaries and Reinsertion Administration (DGAPR) has denied allegations of torture and human rights abuse in the case of Hirak prisoners. The prison institution said that Hirak Rif activists were not mistreated or tortured and that they are all treated in accordance with the law.
DGAPR specifically torture and ill-treatment accusations from Nasser Zefzafi’s father. It said the allegations “are a despicable maneuver with suspicious goals which will not prevent the administration from continuing its approach to preserve the dignity of all prisoners, regardless of their categories, and respecting their rights in accordance with the law.”
The DGAPR explained that although Nasser Zefzafi and other inmates have stopped their hunger strike, the activist’s father has been insistent on carrying out his maneuver. The suggestion, according to DGAPR, is that the objective behind the father’s actions was not to protest against detention conditions, but to serve a suspicious agenda that “tries to mislead public opinion.”
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The statement pointed out that “the prison administration ensures treating all detainees in accordance with the law, like other inmates, and that they have at no time been subjected to any ill-treatment by the administrations of the institutions where they were formerly or where they are now detained.”
DGAPR added that it has initiated a series of measures in favor of the inmates concerned in the local prisons of Tangier 2 and Ras El Ma in Fez to improve conditions of detention. The success of those measures reportedly led many of the detainees to end their hunger strike.
The prison administration stressed that four of the institutions Hirak Rif activists were transferred to following the confirmation of their sentence are recent and have been built in accordance with international standards.
The new facilities are said to be aimed at humanizing detention as well as preparing inmates for their reintegration after they have served their terms.
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The DGAPR concluded that such “gratuitous and irresponsible” accusations will not discourage it from pursuing its approach to preserve all detainees’ dignity, regardless of category.
The body said it will keep doing its duty in accordance with the provisions of the Moroccan law.
