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Join on Telegram Fez – The human rights committee of the Movement of Unity and Reform (MUR), a grassroots youth movement affiliated with Morocco’s former ruling Islamist party PJD, has urged the Moroccan government not to comply with China’s request to extradite Uyghur activist Yidiresi Aishan (or Idris Hassan).
Joining the public outcry initiated by both Moroccan and international advocacy groups, MUR’s human rights committee released a statement on December 20 in response to the Moroccan Court of Cassation‘s ruling in favor of extraditing Hasan.
“We join our voice to those calling on the Moroccan authorities not to expel Yidiresi Aishan,” said MUR’s statement.
The committee cited reports that several humanitarian and human rights organizations have issued statements against Morocco’s decision to deport the reportedly oppressed activist to China.
Referencing recent cases that have brought attention to the existence of blatant, cruel, and mass human rights violations in the Xinjiang province in northwest China, the statement from the PJD’s ideological umbrella said that “Yidiresi Aishan -Idris Hasan- should not be extradited to China because of the danger to his life.”
The statement insisted that “if this Uyghur Muslim is extradited to China, he will either be tortured and imprisoned for a long period or sentenced to death.”
UMR highlighted that Morocco’s Court of Cassation had earlier issued several decisions to deny extradition requests, particularly in the case of “political crimes, on the basis of a request of a political nature” or “is linked to racial and religious considerations, political opinions, and membership in a religious minority.”
The movement concluded its plea to the Moroccan government is “in light of the international treaties to which Morocco is a signatory, in accordance with international humanitarian law and the Fourth Geneva Convention (…) and given his status as a father of three children.”
