A Moroccan Human Rights Council (CNDH) leaked document outlined the existence of physical evidence the Rif protest detainees have been tortured.
In a later statement the CNDH denied the torture conclusion but didn’t deny the existence of such evidence. The CNDH is an advisory government body.
The detainees were arrested in the Rif region in the north of Morocco for their role in peaceful protest which have been on going for 7 months now. The detainees, mostly in their twenties and thirties, were transported for over 2000 km to Casablanca.
An example of the arrested protesters is Silya Ziani, a 23 years old singer and artist who was cuffed, blinded and transported in a van during the whole way. Her lawyers have reported that physical and psychological abuses during long interrogation sessions have driven her to the edge of mental breakdown.
The families of the detainees have been suffering the long distance travel and the continuous harassment of the Moroccan authorities which don’t allow them to speak to the jailed family members in their native language Tamazight. [ads2]
