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Morocco’s Refusal to Listen
A crackdown on protests in Morocco’s ethnic-Berber Rif region is putting the country’s stability at risk. Rather than address protesters’ legitimate grievances, the kingdom responded by rounding up members of the Hirak Chaabi, or Popular Movement, as well as journalists. It has also sent in legions of tear gas- and baton-wielding security forces to the city of Al Hoceima to quell dissent.
The protests began after Mouhcine Fikri, a fishmonger, was crushed to death last October while trying to retrieve fish from a trash compactor where authorities had tossed his confiscated stock. His death unleashed building anger over economic deprivation and humiliation suffered by the Berbers in this historically neglected region.
Protests have since spread across rural Morocco, where many feel the powerful coterie of those who enjoy royal patronage corruptly profits at the expense of the people.
At the end of July, King Mohammed VI granted pardons to more than 40 protesters. But hundreds remain in custody, including a leading Rif activist, Nasser Zefzafi. As Rachida Kaddouri, a civil servant whose husband was arrested in May, pleaded: “What is most important is that my husband be released. He didn’t do anything wrong.
He only defended the rights of his countrymen.” She has reason to worry. Human Rights Watch cites the use of torture and forced confessions that violate Morocco’s 2011 Constitution. These allegations must be investigated, those responsible held to account and convictions obtained by force thrown out.
The kingdom has also cracked down on the news media. Hamid El Mahdaoui, editor of the Badil.info news site, was arrested in Al Hoceima in July and sentenced to a fine and three months’ imprisonment. Six people reporting for social media and other online outlets have been held without charge since May, according to Reporters Without Borders. Attempting to suppress news reporting only further tarnishes the kingdom’s reputation.
Many in the Rif region say all they want is for King Mohammed VI to acknowledge the legitimacy of their grievances, to ensure that authorities respect constitutional rights and for promised investment to reach their communities, which lack jobs, universities, libraries and hospitals.
To the government’s credit, an oncology unit has been opened in Al Hoceima and civil service jobs have been promised. That good start should be followed by more of the vital services local citizens lack, a withdrawal of security forces and respect for the constitutional rights that are the best guarantee of Morocco’s long-term stability.
New York Times
A crackdown on protests in Morocco’s ethnic-Berber Rif region is putting the country’s stability at risk. Rather than address protesters’ legitimate grievances, the kingdom responded by rounding up members of the Hirak Chaabi, or Popular Movement, as well as journalists. It has also sent in legions of tear gas- and baton-wielding security forces to the city of Al Hoceima to quell dissent.
The protests began after Mouhcine Fikri, a fishmonger, was crushed to death last October while trying to retrieve fish from a trash compactor where authorities had tossed his confiscated stock. His death unleashed building anger over economic deprivation and humiliation suffered by the Berbers in this historically neglected region.
Protests have since spread across rural Morocco, where many feel the powerful coterie of those who enjoy royal patronage corruptly profits at the expense of the people.
At the end of July, King Mohammed VI granted pardons to more than 40 protesters. But hundreds remain in custody, including a leading Rif activist, Nasser Zefzafi. As Rachida Kaddouri, a civil servant whose husband was arrested in May, pleaded: “What is most important is that my husband be released. He didn’t do anything wrong.
He only defended the rights of his countrymen.” She has reason to worry. Human Rights Watch cites the use of torture and forced confessions that violate Morocco’s 2011 Constitution. These allegations must be investigated, those responsible held to account and convictions obtained by force thrown out.
The kingdom has also cracked down on the news media. Hamid El Mahdaoui, editor of the Badil.info news site, was arrested in Al Hoceima in July and sentenced to a fine and three months’ imprisonment. Six people reporting for social media and other online outlets have been held without charge since May, according to Reporters Without Borders. Attempting to suppress news reporting only further tarnishes the kingdom’s reputation.
Many in the Rif region say all they want is for King Mohammed VI to acknowledge the legitimacy of their grievances, to ensure that authorities respect constitutional rights and for promised investment to reach their communities, which lack jobs, universities, libraries and hospitals.
To the government’s credit, an oncology unit has been opened in Al Hoceima and civil service jobs have been promised. That good start should be followed by more of the vital services local citizens lack, a withdrawal of security forces and respect for the constitutional rights that are the best guarantee of Morocco’s long-term stability.
New York Times
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