7 9) In 2011, Morocco prohibited enforced disappearance under Article 23 of its Constitution, acceded to the UN Convention on Enforced Disappearance and accepted the competence of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance for inquiries in 2013. It is now proposing to ban enforced disappearance in the Penal Code through Draft Law 10.16. However, Morocco has yet to adequately investigate the existence of a secret detention centre in Temara, near the capital Rabat, where dozens of persons accused of and other serious offences said they were “terrorism” detained incommunicado and tortured between 2002 and 2011, including after extraordinary rendition to Morocco by the United States government. Morocco’s courts have yet to hold accountable officials suspected to be responsible for gross human rights violations including torture and enforced disappearance in Morocco and Western Sahara during the of “years lead” between 1956 and 1999. Furthermore, some suspected perpetrators continued to remain in position as members and, in some cases, high-ranking officials, of the security forces. In spite of a transitional justice process launched in 2004, the fate of many victims of enforced disappearance during this period remains unknown. The Equity and Reconciliation Commission fell short of identifying individuals suspected of criminal responsibility for grave human rights violations between 1956 and 1999, and the transitional justice body disappointingly did not call for individuals suspected of responsibility to be held accountable. However, it recommended a national strategy to combat impunity, which has yet to be introduced. In the case of Mehdi Ben Barka, abducted and forcibly disappeared in Paris on 29 October 1965, investigations opened in France on his case have stalled because of lack of access to classified information held by the French authorities, as well as to witnesses and suspects in Morocco, and to the (Point Fixe 3), a former secret “PF3” detention centre located in the capital Rabat suspected to contain some of his bodily remains. The Moroccan authorities have yet to make an official enquiry into his fate. The Moroccan authorities also have yet to open investigations following the discovery of several sites with human remains in Western Sahara. In 2013, a team of forensic experts exhumed bodies of eight Sahrawis, including children, who disappeared in 1976, and discovered evidence that they were extrajudicially executed by Moroccan armed forces and executed by firearms on the spot, before being buried in two shallow graves. Amnesty International recommends that the Moroccan authorities:
7 9) In 2011, Morocco prohibited enforced disappearance under Article 23 of its Constitution, acceded to the UN Convention on Enforced Disappearance and accepted the competence of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance for inquiries in 2013. It is now proposing to ban enforced disappearance in the Penal Code through Draft Law 10.16. However, Morocco has yet to adequately investigate the existence of a secret detention centre in Temara, near the capital Rabat, where dozens of persons accused of “terrorism” and other serious offences said they were detained incommunicado and tortured between 2002 and 2011, including after extraordinary rendition to Morocco by the United States government. Morocco’s courts have yet to hold accountable officials suspected to be responsible for gross human rights violations including torture and enforced disappearance in Morocco and Western Sahara during the “years of lead” between 1956 and 1999. Furthermore, some suspected perpetrators continued to remain in position as members and, in some cases, high-ranking officials, of the security forces. In spite of a transitional justice process launched in 2004, the fate of many victims of enforced disappearance during this period remains unknown. The Equity and Reconciliation Commission fell short of identifying individuals suspected of criminal responsibility for grave human rights violations between 1956 and 1999, and the transitional justice body disappointingly did not call for individuals suspected of responsibility to be held accountable. However, it recommended a national strategy to combat impunity, which has yet to be introduced. In the case of Mehdi Ben Barka, abducted and forcibly disappeared in Paris on 29 October 1965, investigations opened in France on his case have stalled because of lack of access to classified information held by the French authorities, as well as to witnesses and suspects in Morocco, and to the “PF3” (Point Fixe 3), a former secret detention centre located in the capital Rabat suspected to contain some of his bodily remains. The Moroccan authorities have yet to make an official enquiry into his fate. The Moroccan authorities also have yet to open investigations following the discovery of several sites with human remains in Western Sahara. In 2013, a team of forensic experts exhumed bodies of eight Sahrawis, including children, who disappeared in 1976, and discovered evidence that they were extrajudicially executed by Moroccan armed forces and executed by firearms on the spot, before being buried in two shallow graves. Amnesty International recommends that the Moroccan authorities:
INT_CCPR_CSS_MAR_25239_E.docx