To coincide with the International Day in Support of the Victims of Torture on 26th June, Adala UK asks that the Moroccan State implement the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture, which it has already ratified.

Poor conditions, physical violence, abuse, lack of access to healthcare, lack of proper nutrition and inadequate sanitary conditions are a reality in Moroccan detention centres both in occupied Western Sahara and in Morocco. Both national and international law is clear: ‘there is no excuse for the use of torture to degrade, humiliate or treat inhumanely persons in custody of the state’

Morocco has still not put into operation measures to reverse this situation despite having committed to these on various occasions, most notably in the UN Security Council.

AdalaUK, along with numerous other local and international Human Rights organizations, have denounced the situation of those deprived of freedom as one of the most serious Human Rights scandals in Morocco. Added to reports of physical and psychological violence are those of the awful living conditions in the majority of detention centres in the occupied zones of Western Sahara and Morocco. 

Last month AdalaUK published a detailed report on the deplorable situation suffered by those deprived of freedom, the torture they were subjected to during detention and the deaths of inmates due to medical negligence.

The Moroccan State must eradicate cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment; implement measures to put an end to overcrowding; separate prisoners by category; carry out exhaustive and impartial investigations into the deaths of inmates and reports of abuse; put in place a program of medical assistance and improvement of sanitary conditions; count on the support and protection of civil society organizations and Human Rights defense lawyers who work on the rights of inmates, and commit to improving the penal situation.

London: 26-06-2014

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