Doha – Several Moroccan non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have called upon the Moroccan government to take urgent action to save the lives of six Moroccan nationals who were recently sentenced to death by a military court in northern Somalia in late February, according to Middle East Monitor.
The joint statement, issued by the Moroccan Coalition Against the Death Penalty (CMCPM), the Association for Justice for a Fair Trial, the Lawyers Network Against the Death Penalty, and three other bodies, condemned the death sentences and urged Moroccan authorities to intervene and repatriate the citizens.
The six Moroccans were among nine individuals sentenced by the court in Bossaso, Somalia, on February 29, 2024, on terrorism charges related to their alleged involvement with the Islamic State (IS) militant group. The court sentenced the Moroccans to death by firing squad, while an Ethiopian and a Somali defendant received 10-year prison terms each. Another Somali defendant was found not guilty due to insufficient evidence.
According to Col. Ali Ibrahim Osman, the deputy chairman of the court, the foreign militants were accused of training with IS at their base in the Cal-Miskaat Mountains in northeastern Somalia. “They came to Somalia to support ISIS and destroy and shed blood,” Osman told VOA Somali. “Six Moroccans, convicted of being members of Islamic State militants, will face the death penalty,” he added.
Osman further explained to VOA Somali: “After all the court proceedings, including hearings and the presentation of evidence against the men, the court made the sentences. But they can take an appeal within 30 days otherwise the sentence will be carried out. The Moroccans admitted before the court that they were members of ISIS for two years.”
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He identified the Moroccans to VOA Somali as Mohamed Hassan, Ahmed Najwi, Khalid Latha, Mohamed Binu Mohamed Ahmed, Ridwan Abdulkadir Osmany, and Ahmed Hussein Ibrahim.
However, the Moroccan NGOs highlighted that some of the defendants claimed they had come to Somalia in search of work and were unaware of the intentions of those who recruited them. The defendants’ lawyer confirmed that they wished to return to Morocco, stating that they had been misled by the extremist group.
The NGOs expressed their opposition to the death penalty, even in cases involving serious crimes, and emphasized the importance of upholding the defendants’ right to life. They called on the Moroccan government to take swift measures to save the lives of their citizens and ensure their safe return to Morocco.
This case marks the first time that authorities in the semi-autonomous Puntland region of Somalia have charged and sentenced foreigners for joining IS. The Somali branch of IS, formed in 2015 by a group of defectors from the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabab group, is known for extorting locals and carrying out small-scale, sporadic attacks, according to the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence, as reported by the BBC.
Somalia frequently issues the death penalty for crimes related to terrorism, a practice that has been condemned by several local and international human rights groups, including The Coalition of Somali Human Rights Defenders.
In a report released last month, the coalition and other rights groups stated that Somalia had carried out at least 55 executions in 2023, with 23 of those executions carried out by military authorities in Puntland and Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, according to the BBC.
The Moroccan NGOs’ plea for intervention highlights the ongoing concern over the use of the death penalty in terrorism cases and the need for international cooperation in addressing the recruitment and involvement of foreign nationals in extremist groups.
