afrol News, 25 June - At the Témara detention centre close to the Moroccan capital, alleged "Islamists" are systematically exposed to torture and ill-treatment, according to a new report. Many of the presumed "Islamists" have not even been properly sentenced and are at the centre based on loose suspicions, human rights group allege. Also the UN is concerned.

- Morocco's failure to take action on persistent allegations of torture and ill-treatment in the Témara and other detention centres undermines the country's recent progress in the field of human rights, Amnesty International said in a report published yesterday.

The report - "Torture in the 'anti-terrorism' campaign: the case of Témara detention centre" - reveals what Amnesty calls "the systematic practice of torture and ill-treatment of suspects" held at one of Morocco's main detention centres, which is located near the capital Rabat.

The scores of people allegedly tortured are among hundreds of Islamists or presumed Islamists whom the authorities have been arresting since 2002 on suspicion of belonging to "criminal gangs" or involvement in violent acts, like the bombings in Casablanca in May 2003.

- Amnesty International's research is based on testimonies from former detainees, families, human rights activists and lawyers, the group says. "The report reveals a series of breaches of Moroccan law and international human rights standards at the Témara centre," according to a press statement released yesterday.

The Témara centre is operated by Morocco's internal intelligence service, the Directorate for the Surveillance of the Territory (Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire, DST), which according to the report is in breach with the law. "Its personnel are neither agents nor officers of the judicial police and are not authorized under Moroccan law to arrest, detain or question suspects," the human rights group says.

- Those detained have been held in secret, sometimes for months, and have been denied access to their families or to the outside world, according to the group. "Detainees have been blindfolded and handcuffed during interrogation. Some have been stripped or suspended from the ceiling in contorted positions. Many reported being beaten or threatened with the arrest and rape of their wife or female relatives."

Detainees at Témara were also said to have been forced to sign or thumb-print statements that in many cases had been used in court as evidence to obtain convictions. These statements had been signed involuntarily, the report concludes, often as the result of torture or ill-treatment.

Other irregularities detailed in the report included that magistrates had failed to order investigations and medical examinations despite persistent allegations of torture and ill-treatment. The detainees had been systematically denied their right to legal counsel from the beginning of the judicial process and some of them had been "sentenced to death after grossly unfair trials."

The Moroccan government has recently presented a draft law to combat torture and discrimination, something that was welcomed by the human rights group. Amnesty however said it remained "deeply worried about the authorities' failure to address the specific allegations of torture and ill-treatment in Témara," the lack of investigation and the government's arguments that such allegations are "baseless".

- Morocco must demonstrate the same resolve it has shown in addressing human rights problems of the past by taking strong measures to combat those of the present, the group said in a statement.

The ill-treatments at Témara had come up again at a UN meeting discussing torture in Morocco. The UN's Committee against Torture, which supervises the implementation of the Convention against Torture, examined Morocco in 2003. The Committee now examined reports submitted by the Moroccan government and non-government organisations, including Amnesty.

The UN Committee noted the positive development in the overall human rights situation in Morocco but expressed concern amongst other things about the increase of allegations of torture and ill-treatment, particularly those implicating the DST. The Committee specifically noted the absence of information on measures taken by the authorities to investigate complaints of torture and ill-treatment and to bring those responsible to justice.

By staff writers

© afrol News

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