Moroccan Rights Group Files Torture Complaint Over Hirak Protesters’ Treatment

The institution targeted by this complaint is the National Brigade of the Judicial Police (BNPJ), on a charge concerning "certain acts of torture during the transfers of political detainees from Al Hoceima to Casablanca and during interrogations," reports HuffPost.

The same source notes that Nasser Zefzafi, leader of the Hirak el Rif, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence in Fez, "is willing to testify to it".

In a statement to Huffpost, the President of AMDH, Aziz Rhali, assured the support of his Association to these "Hirak el Rif" detainees, because, he recalls, "certain anomalies" including "allegations of torture raised by detainees are to be taken seriously".

Faced with the alleged silence of the competent authorities, "AMDH has been forced to file a complaint with the Court of Cassation, against the BNPJ but also against some police elements in Al Hoceima," confides Aziz Rhali. It also does not intend to stop at this level.

AMDH, warns its President, is waiting to see how the Moroccan state would react to "the opening of a transparent investigation whose conclusions should be clear on the subject". Failing that, the Association will move to another level by filing a complaint with "the UN human rights bodies in Geneva".