Morocco Acknowledges Overcrowding in State Prisons

✏️ BY: Dr. Hana Saada

Algiers- Algeria, May 9, 2024 – In August last year, Morocco surpassed 100,000 prisoners, and the number has been steadily increasing since then. The Moroccan prison authority openly acknowledges prison overcrowding amid complaints of serious human rights violations raised by international organizations without hesitation.

The General Delegation for Prison Administration and Rehabilitation, the Moroccan organization responsible for state prisons, admitted in its annual report that the number of prisoners reached around 102,653 by the end of 2021. This situation prompted senior officials, including former Sahrawi prisoner Mohamed Saleh Tamek, to “sound the alarm bell” to take necessary administrative and judicial actions.

An 18% Increase Over Four Years

The growth in detainees has been immense in recent years: there were 86,384 in 2019, indicating an increase of 18.83%. The Moroccan government agency revealed that an average of 1.74 square meters is allocated per prisoner, confirming the overcrowding in prisons. However, the problem is not new. It was already estimated last year that the number of prisoners would continue to rise, with a projected 7% growth in the next three years, surpassing 104,000 by 2026, a figure the country is nearing according to 2023 data.

The majority of prisoners are still those in pretrial detention, approximately 95%. Among the new prisoners, only 4% are women and 3% are minors. 2% are individuals over 60 years old. Tamek emphasized in the document that this overcrowding persists even after the opening of new prisons and the rehabilitation and modernization of others.

During the past year, up to six escape attempts were recorded, which, according to the prison administration, highlights the challenges faced by the system, “with three attempts made under direct supervision of staff, two attempts in hospital environments for mental illnesses, and one last one observed under law enforcement monitoring.” Up to 6,738 incidents among inmates were registered in 2023, with nearly a thousand cases of drug seizures.

Continuing Suppression

A few weeks ago, Amnesty International condemned the ongoing suppression in Morocco against journalists, human rights defenders, and Sahrawi activists in its annual report. Amnesty International points out that “the courts continued to show intolerance towards freedom of expression by convicting at least six people, including activists, journalists, and lawyers, for expressing their opinions.” Among those whose convictions were confirmed is the lawyer and former Minister of Human Rights, the octogenarian Mohamed Ziane, who was imprisoned after an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Independiente, in which he urged King Mohammed VI to abdicate. On May 17, the Court of Cassation upheld a three-year prison sentence against Ziane on charges of “insulting” officials and public institutions regarding a video posted on YouTube criticizing the security forces commander.

Last February, the Spanish newspaper addressed the situation in Moroccan prisons. Relatives of prisoners, former detainees, and local and international human rights organizations have also drawn attention to the dismal reality of the cells inhabited under King Mohammed VI’s rule. “The conditions in Moroccan prisons are inhumane,” admitted Ali Salem Tamek, the historical Sahrawi activist who has been imprisoned six times in the Alaoui Kingdom’s prisons for defending Western Sahara’s independence, occupied by Morocco since 1976. He adds, “The Moroccan prison administration is one of the punitive mechanisms of the Moroccan dictatorship, which occupies Western Sahara.” At the head of the system being rebelled against is his uncle, Mohamed Salah Tamek, a former member of the Polisario Front who turned into a senior Moroccan official.

Hunger Strikes

Up to 1,158 prisoners went on a hunger strike in 2021, according to the Moroccan Prison Observatory. One of the reasons provided was the state of prison centers. “Prison Insider,” a French non-governmental organization studying prison conditions internationally, warns that overcrowding is one of the long shadows of Moroccan prisons.

“The average space per prisoner is less than 2 square meters. The organization points out that overcrowding is particularly severe in local prisons, where pre-trial detainees and those sentenced to short terms are usually held. According to official data, prisons have only 64,400 beds. In Ain Sebaa prison in Casablanca, over 10,000 detainees compete for 3,800 beds. In a study published in February, the “Prison Insider” website warned of an increase in the number of recorded suicides in state prisons to 29 cases over four years.

Last October, the Moroccan parliament passed a controversial law to alleviate overcrowding by reducing prison days in exchange for money. Justice Minister Abdellatif Ouhabi promised, “We often resort to other means to ease pressure on prisons. With this measure, the state treasury will benefit from additional income,” a measure criticized by its critics for exploiting prisoners in a country ravaged by social collapse. In the past decade, Rabat has opened up to 23 new prisons.

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