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Readers' column
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| Behind the BarsThe JSM’s Political Prisoners: A Mark of Disgrace in the Makhzen’s Record of Abuses | |
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| Monir Birouk, 11-22-2006 |
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| Fifteen long years have now elapsed ever since the twelve student members of the Justice and Spirituality Movement were sentenced each to 20 years in prison in a flagrantly unfair trial. Their case still marks time despite the Moroccan regime’s alleged claims to have closed definitely the file of political imprisonment. The biased approach and the discriminatory treatment of the human rights’ issues in Morocco in general, and the case of the JSM’s twelve political prisoners in particular, still give the lie to all the claimed intentions of the regime to turn the notorious appalling page of the past and usher in a new era of democracy and transparency. |
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| To examine the case of the JSM’s political detainees more fairly, it may be helpful to remind the readers of the context within which their detention took place. The collapse of socialism in Eastern Europe and the rise of Islamism in many Muslim countries, namely in neighbouring Algeria at the turn of the 1990’s, in addition to the JSM’s powerful emergence on the Moroccan political scene, were all factors that shaped in a significant way the course of the events in the late 1980’s and the beginning of the 1990’s. At that period, and precisely in 1989, the Moroccan regime launched a nationwide repressive campaign against the movement which culminated in placing the JSM’s Guide-General, Imam Abdessalam Yassine, under house arrest and the imprisonment of five members of the Guidance Council, and many other senior officials… |
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| These factors came into play more significantly in the Moroccan universities where the JSM’s student faction had already gained wide acceptance and was acquiring increasing popularity mainly because of its distinguished and outspoken discourse that translated into organized and effective action. If we add to this, the remarkable presence of the JSM in a number of public activities (demonstrations in support for Iraq in 1990, in the 8th May trials of members of the Guidance Council, the Labour Day demonstrations…), then it may not be hard to understand why the regime authorities were enormously outraged by the JSM's students. Other parties were also upset by the rapidly growing popularity of Aladl wal ihsan, particularly the hard-line Marxist-Leninists whose influence had considerably waned by 1990 in the universities, not only because of their ideology that was no longer appealing, but also because of their gross repeated offences against Islam itself and their mounting aggressions against the Islamists and their sympathizers. In a word, rooting out the JSM’s student faction became, by and large, a joint interest of the enemies of the past: the regime and other political parties . |
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| In the aftermath of the violent confrontations at the University of Fez, the security forces conducted a large-scale campaign of arrests among the members of the movement, particularly in the Eastern part of Morocco. On 1st November 1991, a group of JSM’s students in Oujda were arrested and charged with a concocted accusation: the murder of a student. Not a shred of evidence was there to support this allegation; yet, 12 of them were sentenced each to 20 years in prison in one of the fastest trials in Morocco. |
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| Throughout the period of their detention, the students were exposed to systematic torture. In a recent article, Mr. Hassani, one of the detainees, recounts what happened in the first moments of their detention, “…we spent the first night in the police station kneeling on pointed small stones for 13 successive hours with no first aid given to us (many were severely hit in their heads)”(1) . Throughout the incommunicado period, which reached 136 hours (the legal period being 48 hours, and in exceptional cases 96), the only language of communication was torture. Hassani recollects: “for a whole week, we were systematically subjected to different sorts of torture: hanging upside down, suffocation with dirty sponge, back twisting, sexual molestation, electric shocks, indiscriminate beating in all parts of our bodies, death and rape threats, prevention from sleep and food…”. Abuse and torture did not stop day and night, he says. In the court, the last scene of oppression unfolded, and the hopes for a just and fair trial simply vanished with the absence of the least requirements of a legal proceeding(2). As usual, the last word was left for instructions and directives coming from the high echelons of power. |
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| Nevertheless, the process of oppression did not stop. It continued in prison as well as at the political arena. Behind the bars, life was certainly tough, and required from the students considerable effort and struggle to secure some of their basic rights. Nothing, however, is guaranteed. After 13 years in the Central Prison of Kenitra—a city neighbouring the capital Rabat—during which they could pursue their postgraduate studies, the poor students were abruptly transferred in 2004 to Bourkaize Prison in Fez. And the same old story began again: they were denied most of the things they had struggled for so long to achieve. Once again they had to use their only tool, hunger- strike, in order to obtain some improvement in their detention conditions. (3) |
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| In the political field things were much more disconcerting. A flagrant eample is the case of the JSM’s political prisoners. To begin with, they were excluded from three royal amnesties (in 1994, 1998 and 2004) without any justifications whatsoever. Not to mention, of course, the void promises of close deals which senior officials and members of the Advisory Council of Human Rights delivered on several occasions(4) . Even the so-called Equity and Reconciliation commission, which undertook to settle all the cases of abuse and torture, did not find a place for this case in the regime-tailored proceedings! No wonder, under a despotic regime, everything, from the Constitution down to passport documents , is to be regarded as a gift from the ruler . |
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| For the movement, as its leadership has stressed on many occasions, the case of the detained students is politically motivated. That is obvious from the context in which their detention took place, the unfair proceedings in the court, and the peculiar way in which the case has so far been treated. Thus, the movement stands firm to its position that the twelve students be released immediately and unconditionally. Other options such as begging a royal pardon—an offer which has been turned down more than once—are out of question simply because these students are not guilty. Actually, they are the victims of a dark period which is now commonly referred to as "the years of lead". |
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| Kept as hostages to desperately exert pressure on an Islamic movement that is growing and thriving, the detainees have triumphantly stood the test, knowing that it is a price to pay for voicing the truth. It is true that they have suffered and they have undergone all sorts of hardships; yet, they have never flinched or despaired. Turning their cells into lively spaces for worship and knowledge acquisition, they have managed to learn the Koran by heart and at the same time obtained higher degrees (MAs and PhDs) in different fields of study. No wonder if they feel proud to be among those who bear the message of Justice and Spirituality in hostile, flat surroundings and of hope for change in a despairing, stifling environment. |
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| (1) Mustapha El Hassani, “Systematic Torture in the Detention Period (3)”, January 18th, 2006. www.aljamaa.com (2) These are some examples: The public nature of the trial was violated as the hearing was arbitrarily held in camera, the reports were either fake or signed under torture, a request to conduct an investigation on the case was refused, the court relied solely on the Public Prosecutor’s witnesses (no defence witnesses were summoned)…etc. For more details, read “the Case of the JSM’s Political Prisoners in the light of Human Rights’ Standards” by Said Bouzerda Esq. in www.aljamaa.com(3) See a press release by the political prisoners about the terrible conditions in Burkaize Prison, Fez, 7th October 2004. (4) In 1998, the Council declared that the case of the JSM’s political prisoners will be settled in no more than six months. |
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