Rabat – Morocco continues to step up efforts to address security threats as part of its vigilant counterterrorism approach.
On Thursday, the General Delegation for Prison Administration and Reintegration (DGAPR) announced the launch of a program aimed at preventing violent extremism and terrorism through peer education.
Directed at prisoners involved in criminal cases, the program is a collaboration with the “Moussalaha” Reconciliation Center.
The two institutions launched the program during an event held at the National Training Center in Tifelt, within the Rabat-Sale-Kenitra region.
In a statement shared with Morocco World News (MWN), the reconciliation center said that the program aims to strengthen and protect a stable environment in the prisons and promote values of tolerance while preventing violent extremism and terrorism.
In 2017, under King Mohammed VI’s leadership, Morocco launched the “Moussalaha” (reconciliation) program. Official data from 2024 said Morocco’s Moussalaha rehabilitation program aided a total of 322 inmates since its inception.
The initiative reflects a multidimensional policy aimed at reintegrating prisoners into society and upgrading security institutions. It relies on a threefold approach focusing on the individual, religion, and the broader society.
Throughout the program, inmates take part in training sessions to educate them on the authentic precepts of Islam, understanding it as a religion of moderation, grounded in openness, and tolerance.
Many former terror suspects have applied to join the program.
The Moussalaha Center’s new program in collaboration with DGAPR seeks to enable 48 employees from 8 prison institutions to acquire theoretical, methodological, and practical knowledge in the field of violent extremism and terrorism through three training sessions.
The project will also include training and education operations for former inmates involved in extremism and terrorism, and graduates of the reconciliation program that were released through royal pardon.
“This program is supervised and supported by a group of expert professors and specialists, and its various components will be implemented throughout this year,” a statement on the initiative said.
The latest 14th edition launched at a Sale local prison last February, saw 21 more detainees join the cohort.
