Liberez Belliraj

Joint Letter to Morocco on Candidacy for the Human Rights Council


http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/11/11/joint-letter-morocco-candidacy-human-rights-council-0

We are also concerned that scores, if not hundreds, of Moroccans remain in prison after being convicted of crimes in unfair, politically charged trials. These include 23 Sahrawis, some of whom received life sentences from a military court in the 2013 Gdeim Izik trial, and many of the 29 defendants convicted, along with six political figures later freed, of being part of an alleged terrorist network in the 2009 Belliraj case. In both cases, the courts convicted the defendants of serious crimes absent any real evidence besides their confessions, despite the defendants’ claims that the police had used torture to elicit their signatures on false statements.
We urge Moroccan authorities to either release or promptly grant new trials to the defendants convicted in these two trials, and all other unfair trials. Any new trials should ensure respect for defendants’ rights, including a thorough and impartial examination of any complaints of torture.

As part of the project of judicial reform, Morocco should also revise laws and judicial practices to strengthen safeguards against the admission into evidence of testimony obtained through illegal coercion.