Families Join Hunger Strike for Moroccan Hirak Protesters’ Rights

On its Facebook page, the Thafra association, chaired by Ahmed Zefzafi (father of Nasser Zefzafi), justified this decision by noting that this action comes as the detainees are fighting for their fundamental rights, namely: to gather all the Hirak detainees, to end the restrictions on the right to visit, to have access to health care, telephone communications, newspapers, books and magazines, and to end the mistreatment they are suffering...".

According to the same association, "the initiators of this initiative call on all the vital forces of the country to mobilize for the respect of the conditions of detention, to break the silence, and for the immediate release of the detainees". In solidarity with this movement, four other detainees in the local prison of Guercif are also on strike, according to the president of the Thafra association.

Detained in the Nador prison, Mahmoud Bouhanouch also observed a 48-hour hunger strike in solidarity with the other detainees, it is specified. Faced with the deterioration of his son’s health, in hypoglycemia with 0.58% blood sugar level, the father of the leader confides that the initiators of this initiative will not back down. "They will end up dying in your prisons. As for us, we no longer trust the authorities, because the prison destroys the health of the detainee before releasing him," he says.

For its part, the DGAPR denied the statements of Nasser Zefzafi’s father, which "are devoid of any basis". It also stated that no detainee has gone on a hunger strike, contrary to the allegations of the father of the Hirak leader. "The DGAPR has not been notified in writing and signed by the detainee concerned about his entry into a hunger strike, contrary to the procedures in force," it adds.