* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International *

8 November 2001
MDE 29/010/2001
197/01

The Moroccan authorities took the important step yesterday
evening of releasing 56 political prisoners, including prisoners
of conscience, following a royal pardon earlier in the day.

"The release of the prisoners is a positive move,"
Amnesty International said today. "We urge the Moroccan
authorities to take the next step in addressing, as a matter of
urgency, the outstanding cases of political prisoners still
detained after conviction in unfair trials in previous years."

Among those released yesterday evening was the
longest-serving prisoner of conscience in Morocco, Mohamed
Daddach, a Sahrawi who was arrested in 1979 and was serving a
life sentence for having tried to desert from the Moroccan
security forces into which he had reportedly been forcibly
enlisted.

Three Sahrawi prisoners of conscience sentenced following
a trial in 2000 to four years' imprisonment also benefited from
the royal pardon. Brahim Laghzal, Cheikh Khaya and Laarbi
Massoudi had been convicted solely for the peaceful expression of
their political beliefs. They were charged with "threatening
state security" in connection with alleged links with the
Polisario Front, a movement which calls for an independent state
in Western Sahara (see background). Salek Bahaha ould Mahmoud,
who was sentenced to four years' imprisonment on a similar charge
in a separate trial in 2000, was also released.

The other releases concerned people who had been
imprisoned in a number of trials since 1999 in connection with
demonstrations in the cities of Laayoune and Marrakech. These
included protesters arrested and imprisoned following
demonstrations in Laayoune in September 1999 which were violently
suppressed by the security forces. Their sentencing to prison
terms of up to 15 years for, among other things, destruction of
property and looting followed unfair trials. Allegations that
dozens of the protesters had been tortured in detention were not
investigated by the courts during the trials.

Amnesty International urges the Moroccan authorities to
take further steps to resolve the outstanding cases of political
prisoners in the country. In particular, the organization calls
on the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release
prisoner of conscience Mustapha Adib, a Moroccan Air Force
captain who is currently serving a two-and-a-half-year prison
sentence detained for the non-violent expression of his beliefs
on charges of indiscipline and dishonouring the army following an
unfair trial in 2000. The trial followed the publication of an
article in a French newspaper which quoted him as denouncing
corruption in the Moroccan armed forces.

Some 30 political prisoners sentenced after unfair trials
since the 1970s should also be released unless they are
immediately retried in full compliance with international
standards for fair trial.

Amnesty International urges the Moroccan government to
ensure that its ongoing revision of existing legislation
culminates in changes in domestic law which guarantee compliance
with the country's obligations under international human rights
treaties. In particular, all provisions that permit the
imprisonment of prisoners of conscience must be removed and
further safeguards for fair trials introduced.

Background
Western Sahara is the subject of a territorial dispute between
Morocco, which annexed the territory in 1975 and claims
sovereignty there, and the Frente Popular para la Liberacion de
Saguia el-Hamra y Rio de Oro, Popular Front for the Liberation of
Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro (known as the Polisario Front),
which calls for an independent state in the territory.

A UN Settlement Plan was agreed to in 1988 by both the
Moroccan authorities and the Polisario Front and was approved by
the UN Security Council in 1991. After more than a decade of
conflict both parties agreed that a referendum in which the
Sahrawi population would be asked to choose between independence
and integration into Morocco would be organized and conducted by
the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).
The referendum was originally set for 1992, but has been
repeatedly postponed.

****************************************************************
You may repost this message onto other sources provided the main
text is not altered in any way and both the header crediting
Amnesty International and this footer remain intact. Only the
list subscription message may be removed.
****************************************************************
To subscribe to amnesty-L, send a message to
with "subscribe amnesty-L" in the message body. To unsubscribe,
send a message to with "unsubscribe amnesty-L"
in the message body. If you have problem signing off, contact
. handles
only messages concerning list administration. Past and current Amnesty
news services can be found at .
Visit for information about Amnesty International
and for other AI publications. Contact [email protected] [2] if you
need to get in touch with the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International.