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Unfair Trials Based on Confessions to the Police in Morocco

Summary

Recommendations

To the Moroccan Government

To Governments and Institutions that Provide Assistance to Morocco

Methodology

Background

A New Constitution

Enduring Bad Practices

Convictions based Largely on Contested Confessions

Seddik Kebbouri and Co-defendants

Champion Boxer Zakaria Moumni Imprisoned for Fraud

Background to the Case

From Arrest to the Completion of Trial

The “Belliraj” Mass Terrorism Trial

Court Convicts Based on Police Statements Without Investigating Defendant Claims of Torture, Falsification

Background to the “Belliraj” Affair

The Position of Moroccan Authorities Regarding the “Belliraj” Trial

A Credible Complaint of Torture Should Be Investigated Regardless of When It Is Lodged

Illegal Arrest and Detention Procedures, If Substantiated, Add Credence to Torture Claims

Government Claim that There Was No Distinction Among the Detainees

February 20th Youth Protesters in Sidi el-Bernoussi, Casablanca

Pro-Reform Protesters Convicted on Basis of Confessions

Military Court Trial of Sahrawi Activists in the Gdeim Izik case

Background to the Events on Trial

The Military Court’s Failure to Probe the Allegations of Torture

Convictions Based on the Defendants’ Contested Statements to the Police

Denial of Timely Access to Justice

The Gdeim Izik Case

Trial of Seven Sahrawi Activists

Moroccan Responses

Morocco’s Response to Human Rights Watch on Fair Trial Guarantees

Morocco’s 2011 Constitution

The International Law Framework

Acknowledgments

Appendix I: Responses and Statements from Moroccan Authorities

Appendix II: List of Defendants in "Belliraj" Case and the Sentences They Received

Appendix III: List of Defendants in the Gdeim Izik Case

Appendix IV: Police Statements Attributed to Two Defendants in the Gdeim Izik Trial

Appendix V: Medical Report on the Defendants in the Sidi el-Bernoussi Case