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Rabat – Morocco’s Ambassador to the UN Nations Office in Geneva, Omar Zniber, denied all allegations and claims the UN Special Rapporteur, Mary Lawlor, included in her recent statement.
On Thursday, the ambassador addressed a letter to the Special Rapporteur, expressing Morocco’s “great surprise and amazement” following the publication of the statement.
In the document, the Special Rapporteur denounced Morocco for “targeting human rights defenders” and “journalists.”
The rapporteur listed Naama Asfari, who received a 30-year sentence in prison for her involvement in the Gdeim Izik incident in November 2010.
In 2010, Polisario members murdered a group of 11 Moroccan security officers during clashes with Sahrawi protesters.
In response to the Rapporteur’s claims, Zinber said that the language used in the content of the statement “does not fit at all with the framework of dialogue and mutual respect discussed and agreed upon, in particular during the last working session held on April 30, 2021.”
He said that the individuals mentioned in the statement by the Special Rapporteurs are all found guilty by Moroccan courts for “serious crimes committed, including the assassination of representatives of the forces of law and order.”
He emphasized that the conviction was pronounced by an independent judiciary in the presence of international observers, who recognized the validity of the procedure that led to the sentences.
He said that the Moroccan mission submitted written documents containing answers from the authorities, which the Rapporteur acknowledged and interacted with.
“You will understand that the content of your statement, referring to so-called associations for the liberation of colonialism or political activists whose action you consider peaceful, benefits the separatists, and strengthens them in their continuous provocations, for the sole purpose of making propaganda and harassment, including vis-à-vis a number of special procedures, including yours,” Zinber argued.
