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Morocco and Western Sahara

Capital city — Rabat

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Country-profile
Year2021
Contributor(s)Observatoire marocain des prisons (OMP) / independent experts

Latest updates

Moroccan law does not allow prisoners to appeal against pre-trial detention.

  • Several journalists and human rights activists were held in remand detention, even though they“they did not commit any offence, did not pose a threat, and presented all assurances that they would appear in court“. For their lawyers, such a practice was proof that “they were being held because of their beliefs.”.

    i
    21/01/2021
    / VOA Afrique

Variation in the number of untried prisoners

increase of 2.86%

This increase took place between 2014 and 2018. There were 31 822 untried prisoners in 2014. 1

  1. Delegation for Prison Administration and Rehabilitation (DGAPR), “Activity report 2018”, 2019, p. 140 (in Arabic). ↩

  • Prison authorities and human rights NGOs expressed concern over the “excessive” use of remand detention. They reminded judges that remand detention should be used only in exceptional circumstances. They invited legislators to “propose alternatives to remand detention”. The excessive use of remand detention added to prison overcrowding.

    i
    2021
    / VOA Afrique

  • In its recent report, the Moroccan Prison Observatory called for criminal justice reform in order to limit remand detention.

    i
    24/12/2021
    / Yabiladi

Number of death sentenced prisoners awaiting execution

76

including two women

i
12/2018
/ Moroccan Observatory of Prisons (OMP), “Rapport 2018, 2019, p. 05.

  • There were 76 individuals sentenced to death by the end of 2020, six more than in 2019. Two of them received pardon from King Mohammed VI. Human rights organisations asked that death penalty be abolished even though executions were no longer conducted in the country.

    i
    10/12/2021
    / Le 360

There are political prisoners or prisoners of conscience (including Sahrawi separatists, politically active young people and Riffians) in Moroccan prisons.1 The law does not provide for imprisonment for these reasons and the government does not recognise the existence of these people. These prisoners are usually convicted for criminal offences on the basis of confessions obtained under duress. They are not subject to a particular prison regime and are often the targets of torture and ill treatment. 2

  1. Amnesty International, “Shadow of Impunity: Torture in Morocco and Western Sahara”, 2015. ↩

  2. Comité contre la torture, “Decision adopted by the Committee under article 22 of the Convention (Décision adoptée par le Comité au titre de l’article 22 de la Convention), concerning communication no. 606/2014”, 2016. ↩

  • The Saharan Minister of Health declared that Moroccan prison authorities “had used chemicals against Saharans in the Kalat M’gouna Moroccan prison.”.

    i
    12/12/2021
    / Sahara Press Service

Total number of prisoners

85,767

i
09/2019
/ DGAPR / World Prison Brief, ICPR

  • The segment of the prison population between the ages of 20 to 30 was 43 % in 2020.

    i
    24/11/2021
    / Hespress

Distance courses are available

yes

Five prisons (Tiflet 2, Khénifra, Oudaya, Toulal 2 et Aïn Sebaa 1) have dedicated e-learning spaces and equipment, as part of a program supported by the UNDP.1

  1. General Delegation for Prison Administration and Rehabilitation “2018 report”, 2019, p. 37 (in Arabic). ↩

  • A learning space was set up at Sala 2 prison for prisoners enrolled at the Mohammed V University (Rabat) wishing to take advantage of distance learning. The Institut international de la Confédération allemande pour l’éducation des adultes supported this initiative as part of a “lifelong learning promotion” project. Similar programs were being planned for this space. The creation of another one was under study for Ain Sebaa 1 prison.

    i
    2021
    / DGAPR, rapport d’activités 2020, p. 50.

Number and percentage of prisoners enrolled in vocational training

11 % (9,225)
i
31/12/2018
/ DGAPR, "Activity report 2018", p. 41.

  • More than 800 prisons benefited from training in traditional trades and crafts during 2019-2020. With United Nations support, prison authorities began renovating the thuja unit at Essaouira prison and two carpentry units at Kénitra prison. They also looked into procuring new equipment and machines.

    i
    2021
    / DGAPR, Rapport d’activités 2020, p. 53.

  • More than 8,500 people enrolled in vocational and agricultural programs during 2019/2020. This represented 13% fewer than the previous year. The courses resumed after being suspended for several months because of the COVID crisis.

    i
    2021
    / DGAPR, Rapport d’activités 2020, p. 53.

Vocational training is provided

yes

Training in 43 different disciplines was provided in 2018. These courses were usually in the fields of construction or arts and crafts.
The most popular courses in 2018 were: electrical training, hairdressing, plumbing, fashion design, plastering, glass painting, IT and painting. These trainings were delivered by OFPPT.1
In May 2018 the prison administration opened a vocational training centre in the local El Arjat 2 prison. The centre has a capacity of 170 spaces. Training in various subjects are delivered here (electricity, plumbing, sewing).2

  1. General Delegation for Prison Administration and Rehabilitation (DGAPR), “2018 report”, 2019, p. 150 (in Arabic). ↩

  2. Ibid. p. iv (in Arabic). ↩

  • A national arts and crafts contest was launched in the prisons, in partnership with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Voting for a winner took place online on the prison administration site and on social networks. The 83 works exhibited were produced by 57 people.

    i
    2021
    / DGAPR, Rapport d’activités 2020, p. 55.

Prisoners are allowed to pass diplomas and entry examinations

yes

Prisoners can take the same exams in prison as they could outside. Exams take place in the prison education centre. They are supervised and organised by teachers from the national education sector.

  • The number of prison training centres increased from 15 to 48, and the rate of success was 34%, which is lower than the previous year (47%). According to prison officials, the decrease was due to the suspension of support and remedial classes because of the COVID crisis.

    i
    2021
    / DGAPR, Rapport d’activités 2020, p. 51.

  • Exams were resumed for the 721 prisoners enrolled in the 2019/2020 university session.

    i
    2021
    / DGAPR, Rapport d’activités 2020, p. 51.

The prison service implements measures to fight illiteracy

yes

The Ministry of Religious Endowments and Islamic Affairs and the National Agency for the Eradication of Illiteracy take care of literacy classes.
Almost 17% of prisoners are illiterate (December 2018).1

  1. General Delegation for Prison Administration and Rehabilitation, “2018 report”, 2019, p. 145 (in Arabic). ↩

  • A total of 7,767 people enrolled in literacy programs during the 2019-2020 school year. The courses were offered by different organisations.
    The program offered by the Institut international de la Confédération allemande pour l’éducation des adultes (German Confederation’s International Institute for Adult Education) was deferred by one year due to the COVID crisis.

    i
    2021
    / DGAPR, Rapport d’activités 2020, p. 52.

  • The Agence nationale de lutte contre l’illettrisme (National Literacy Agency) set up a mechanism for consultation, for regional coordination and for the implementation of local programs.

    i
    2021
    / DGAPR, Rapport d’activités 2020, p. 52.

  • Literacy programs were approved for eight new facilities: Kenitra, Arjat 2, Souk el Arbaa, Aït Melloul 1 & 2, Bouizakarn, Centre de Kenitra and Falahi Outita 1.

    i
    2021
    / DGAPR, Rapport d’activités 2020, p. 52.

Prisoners enrolled in educational training

5.4 % (4,529)
i
2017/2018 / DGAPR

This number corresponds to the number of prisoners who, during the school year 2017/2018, were enrolled in educational programmes and formal education. It represents an increase of 15% compared to the previous year.1

  1. General Delegation for Prison Administration and Rehabilitation “2018 report”, 2019, p. 47 (in Arabic) ↩

  • More than 4,060 prisoners were enrolled in “education” programs during the 2019-2020 school year, and 122 in nongovernmental education programs. Then government directives interrupted the holding of classes because of the COVID crisis. Courses were suspended and deferred to the following school year. This included the course on Moroccan dialect and culture, as well as the modern language learning program.

    i
    2021
    / DGARP, Rapport d’activités 2020, p. 50.

The medical team is usually made up of one general practitioner (full time or for regular visits), nurses and sometimes, a dentist and a psychologist.
General medical care (such as tests and biological analysis), hospitalisation, dentistry, and psychological treatment are delivered inside the prison.
Many prisons do not have a permanent doctor. The prison administration has agreements with public and private doctors. The doctors have to regularly visit the prisons to ensure medical coverage.1

  1. DGAPR, “2018 activity report”, 2019, p. 89 (in Arabic). ↩

  • Three health units were built in Jeddah, Borkan and Larrache prisons, and one dental clinic in Midelt Prison. A stand-alone X-Ray unit was installed in Ain Sebaa Prison to detect tuberculosis. A “remote medical consultation” platform was also launched to provide greater medical care coverage.

    i
    2020
    / DGAPR

Number of medical staff (FTE)

740

i
31/12/2018
/ DGAPR

This number includes all medical professionals, in particular nurses, doctors and psychologists.
In December 2018, the ratio of medical staff to prisoners was one doctor for 891 prisoners, and one dentist for 1351 prisoners. On the same date, the number of staff specialising in psychology was 39.1 One psychiatrist (FTE) is listed for all prisons.

  1. DGAPR, “2018 activity report”, 2019, pp. 88-99 (in Arabic) ↩

  • The doctor/prisoner ratio improved from one general practitioner for 899 prisoners in 2019 to one general practitioner for 825 prisoners in 2020. Prison officials reported one dentist for 1,118 prisoners in 2020 compared to one for 1,167 in 2019.

    i
    2020
    / DGAPR

  • The year 2020 saw the building of new health units and the renovation of old ones, the upgrading of equipment and the purchase of ambulances. Medical teams were expanded with the hiring of 12 general practitioners, five dental surgeons and 19 additional nurses. They are also assisted by 19 volunteer doctors.
    Most prisons do not have a “permanent doctor”.

    i
    2020
    / DGAPR

Number of deaths attributed to suicide

Data not disclosed

The number of deaths attributed to suicide is not included in the official statistics.

  • An inmate at Dakhla Prison took his own life by hanging himself with a rope made from his clothes and a blanket. A rescue attempt was made by prison staff, but he died on his way to the accident and emergency department. Prison officials said the prisoner was seeing a psychiatrist and was undergoing treatment.

    i
    03/01/2021
    / Le 360

Variation in the number of prisoners

11.7 % increase

between 2014 and 2018

i
DGAPR, "2018 Activities Report", p. 32.

  • decline

    The number of incarcerated people has been in decline since 2019. Prison officials attribute this to the suspension of court appearances and a decrease in criminal activity, as well as the pardons granted during the pandemic.

    i
    2020
    / DGAPR

The prison director, in agreement with the doctor or local authorities, has to take measures to prevent and to fight against contagious and epidemic diseases. The measures put in place are specifically, quarantining and disinfecting rooms, belongings and bedding (penitentiary law, article 127).
The prison administration organises campaigns on prevention and awareness of contagious and epidemic diseases. They mainly concerned AIDs, tuberculosis, syphilis, diabetes and included vaccination campaigns. The administration does not share the content nor the details of these campaigns.

Prisoners suffering from contagious diseases are assigned to separate rooms in the hospital or infirmary, or in a separate area of a wing. (Morrocan penitentiary framework, DGAPR 2016-2020 strategy, law 3).

  • Approximately 133,000 trials had been held virtually to reduce the risk of transmission of the coronavirus. The opposition criticised this system and declared that defendants were not given a fair trial.

    i
    28/04/2021
    / Morocco World News

  • Prisoners in Rabat were among the first ones eligible for their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. They were to receive the second dose 28 days after the initial injection. As of 25 March, about 77% of incarcerated people over age 60 had been vaccinated in 85% of prisons, while the rest was still waiting. On 27 May, 4,400 prisoners had been vaccinated, of a total of 11,500 eligible, as well as all prison staff. The vaccination drive then targeted prisoners over age 45 and those with chronic illnesses that could lead to complications.

    i
    27/05/2021
    / Africa News

It is not guaranteed that prisoners can maintain family ties during their time in solitary confinement. Isolated prisoners are not allowed visits. The prisoners can write letters but only to their family. Prisoners in solitary confinement maintain their right to freely communicate with their lawyer.

  • Ali Aarrass is being held in isolation in Tiflet 2. His sister, Farida Aarrass, has given an account of a visit to Ali in 2017.

The prison service is required to ensure that prisoners sentenced to death maintain family ties. However, these people are isolated and rarely receive visits. The main reasons for this are the geographical distance from the central prisons and the “dishonour” felt by families. A sense of abandonment is widespread among prisoners sentenced to death.

Following their visit in September 2012, the UN Special Rapporteur reported that living conditions on death row in Morocco are classed as cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.

  • Prison Insider has published the account of Khadija Amrir, condemned to death in 1995 and freed on 2 August 2016, following a succession of royal pardons for good conduct.

    “They would tell me that if I ever got transferred, it would be because I was going to be executed. I couldn’t get a wink of sleep. I accepted my fate, but I was terrified of being put to death. I was able to stay in touch with my father on a regular basis. When I was sentenced to death, he got divorced from my step-mother. He wanted to see me free before he died - it was his dream, and it came true. He died 40 days after I was freed, at the age of 103”.

    i
    01/02/2017
    / Prison Insider

Variation in the capacity of the prison facilities

increase

The total surface area of Moroccan prison facilities surpassed 158,505 m² in December 2018 to 159,505 m2 in September 2019. The Public Minister Officer reported 5,800 additional beds between 2018 and 2019. In 2019, the DGAPR inaugurated new prisons in the cities of Tantan and Berkane. Prison construction in d’Oujda, Asilah, Larache, and El Jadida two is ongoing.
In 2019, the DGAPR announced the construction on a new prison in Dakhla, with a capacity of 600 beds.

  • The prison administration made the decision to close the prison near Oujda in order to protect the safely of prisoners and personnel during the Covid-19 pandemic. It has started to transfer prisoners to other nearby facilities. A new prison is in the process of being built near Oujda.

    i
    09/05/2020
    / Hespress

The prison service does not provide special protection for LGBTI prisoners. These people are in a highly vulnerable position within prisons. They are often the target of attacks.

  • Prison Insider has published the account of Sama, a trans woman serving a sentence in the Boulmharez prison because of her gender identity.

    “And he slapped me hard. I felt my head spin with the third slap. I was scared. So, I signed a statement without even reading it. I later realised that he wrote that I admitted to homosexual relations, which are punishable by the Moroccan law. I was transferred to Boulmharez prison and locked up, again with only male prisoners…”

    i
    06/07/2019
    / Prison Insider

The duration for placement in solitary confinement is limited

yes, 45 days

Isolation in solitary confinement can not exceed 45 days. (Penitentiary law, article 54).

Every decision which relates to extending solitary confinement past one month is a matter for the head of the prison service. The warden and prison doctor’s recommendations are taken into consideration. (Penetentiary Law, article 32).

The president of the disciplinary commission can decide to place a prisoner in solitary confinement as a precautionary measure. This type of confinement cannot last more than 48 hours. It is permitted “on the condition that this is the only way to stop misbehaviour or to maintain order in the prison” (Penitentiary law, article 58).

Minors cannot be placed in solitary confinement.

  • Human Rights Watch has condemned the abusive isolation of Abdelqader Belliraj. The Belgo-Moroccan has been in prison since 2009, and has been sentenced to life imprisonment under Moroccan law for terrorist acts. According to Belliraj, his sentence was essentially based on a forced confession under torture. His wife, Rachida Hatti, reports that since 2016 he has been locked in his cell for 23 hours out of 24, and denied all contact with his fellow inmates. The prison administration refutes these allegations, claiming that ‘the prisoner, currently in custody in Toulal 2, has been placed in a cell which meets all the necessary health requirements (light, ventilation, etc), and he also exercises his right to a daily walk of one hour, during which he does sporting activities’.
    Human Rights Watch has also condemned the abusive isolation of other prisoners, notably Taoufik Bouachrine and Nasser Zefzafi. The prison administration also denies these allegations.

    i
    17/01/2020
    / Human Rights Watch

Doctors are not trained to identify signs of torture. Exams are not independent and impartial.

  • [Latest news]
    Victims of ill-treatment in custody meet difficulties in assembling necessary evidence to make a complaint. They are in custody almost all the time in order to let injuries fade away. They are then placed in pre-trial imprisonment where it is impossible for them to consult an independent doctor. Amnesty International reports cases where, while the victims had access to a hospital, they refused to issue a certificate. Admissions and releases have not been written in the registers.

    i
    2015
    / Amnesty International, "L'ombre de l'impunité – La torture au Maroc et au Sahara Occidental", p. 72. (In French)

All allegations and suspicions of ill-treatment inflicted on prisoners are logged

no

Some allegations of ill-treatment are recorded when grievances are addressed to prison administration management or human rights associations.

  • [Latest news]
    In 2015, Amnesty International noted the indifference of magistrates when facing allegations of torture and ill-treatment, even when the prisoners present with apparent signs of violence. The association notes that the magistrates do not honour their obligation to investigate and order an independent medical-legal exam at any hint of abuse. The rare exams led do not conform with international standards.

    i
    2015
    / Amnesty International, "L'ombre de l'impunité – La torture au Maroc et au Sahara Occidental" (In French)

All inmates are admitted to prison with a valid commitment order

no

The 1999 penitentiary law provides for it in article 15. The 2011 Moroccan Constitution defines arbitrary or secrete detentions such as “extremely serious crimes” in article 23.
However, such cases are suspended. In particular, for individuals pursued for acts of terrorism or menaces against national security. They are generally arrested without this being mentioned. They are detained in private areas and are sometimes interrogated under torture.
Arbitrary detention could result from surpassing the maximum duration of pre-trial imprisonment (one year). Such irregularities have been recorded. 1

In 2014, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) statedthe lack of assistance against arbitrary imprisonment.

  1. United Nations Council for Human Rights, “Working Group Report on Arbitrary Detention- Morocco Mission”, 2014, p. 8. ↩

  • [Latest news]
    The United Nation’s working group for arbitrary detention reported in 2014 that they are “detained for weeks without being presented to a judge and without judicial supervision” The group clarifies: “their families are not informed about their imprisonment until they are transferred to police premises to sign confessions. “In a number of cases, victims are driven to a police office, where an initial investigation, dated the day of the transfer to the office to avoid passing the deadline of police custody, is open”

    i
    2014
    / Human Rights Council, United Nations, “Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention - Mission to Morocco", p. 08.

Torture, violence, and ill-treatment allegations are signaled by the Moroccan NGOs and prisoners themselves to the Executive Officer.

  • [Latest news]
    In 2014, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention highlighted ill-treatment and torture cases. These cases took place in detention centres or during arbitrary detention. They mainly concern people sentenced for terrorism, members of Islamic groups, or incarcerated prisoners following actions in favor of Western Sahara’s independence.

    i
    2014
    / Human Rights Council, United Nations, “Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention - Mission to Morocco", p. 8.