From: ai-news@amnesty.org
Subject: MOROCCO: INTIMIDATORY MEASURES AGAINST THE RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
To: amnesty-l@oil.ca
Message-ID: <OF1B1D4EC1.F1CD482F-ON80256A07.0063592A@amnesty.org>
Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2001 18:05:09 +0000
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Sender: owner-amnesty-l@oil.ca
Precedence: bulk
Reply-To: owner-amnesty-l@host.oil.ca

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

6 March 2001
MDE 29/002/2001
41/01


The human rights defenders who appeared on 28 February 2001
before the Court of First Instance in Rabat accused of organizing
an unauthorized demonstration on 9 December 2000 risk a sentence
of up to three years in prison if they are found guilty.

AThis trial should never have taken place. It forms part of a
wave of judicial proceedings against human rights defenders in
Morocco and the banned Islamist association al->Adl wa=l-Ihsan
(Justice and Spirituality),@ said Amnesty International. If they
are imprisoned, they will be considered as prisoners of
conscience.

Among these human rights defenders are members of the Association
marocaine des droits humains (AMDH), Moroccan Association of
Human Rights, including its president Abderrahmane Benameur and
vice-president Amine Abdelhamid, as well as members of the
executive office of the Forum pour la vJritJ et la justice (Forum
for Truth and Justice) and of the ComitJ de coordination du
groupe des Sahraouis victimes de la disparition forcJe et de la
dJtention arbitraire (Coordination Committee of the Group of
Sahrawi Victims of Enforced Disappearance and Arbitrary
Detention). An Amnesty International delegate observed the
hearing. The trial will resume on 5 April.

Meanwhile, around 130 members and sympathizers of the banned
Islamist association al->Adl wa=l- Ihsan, including seven members
of the family of the group=s spiritual leader, Abdessalam
Yassine, are being or have recently been prosecuted in courts in
several cities in Morocco following demonstrations which took
place on 10 December 2000. These were organized by the
association to commemorate the 52nd anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and to demand the legalization of the
association and the repeal of the ban on its publications.

In another development damaging to freedom of expression in
Morocco, two journalists, Aboubakr Jamai and Ali Amar, both of
whom work for the Moroccan weekly Le Journal Hebdomadaire, were
sentenced in Casablanca yesterday to respectively three and two
months in prison. They were prosecuted for a series of articles
which accused the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohamed Benaissa,
of embezzlement while he was the ambassador to the USA. They were
also forced to pay damages of two million dirhams (approximately
$200,000) and fined 20,000 dirhams. The two journalists are out
on bail and are awaiting an appeal before the court of appeal. If
they are imprisoned, Amnesty International would consider
Abdoubakr Jamai and Ali Amar to be prisoners of conscience,
condemned solely for the peaceful expression of their beliefs.

Amnesty International recognizes that public officials, in
Morocco as elsewhere, may wish to seek legal redress for
statements that they consider defamatory, but believes that such
complaints should be addressed solely in civil proceedings.

ACriminal legislation should not be used in such a way as to
stifle criticism of public officials,@ Amnesty International
added.

On 22 February 2001 the Court of First Instance of Rabat
sentenced 15 people, four of whom were members of Abdessalam
Yassine=s family, including his daughter Nadia Yassine, the
association=s spokesperson, to a four-month suspended prison term
and fined 1,000 dirhams (approximately $100) for an unarmed
gathering liable to disturb public order. Three others were
acquitted.

On the same day in Marrakesh 19 people received sentences of four
months= imprisonment and today in Fes eight others were given a
three-month suspended prison sentence and fined 1,000 dirhams on
similar charges. Other trials of members and sympathizers of al->
Adl wa=l-Ihsan are taking place in Casablanca, Tetouan, Agadir
and Oujda.

Background
On 9 December 2000 around 42 people were arrested during a sit-in
which had been organized by the AMDH in front of the parliament
in Rabat and detained for one night. Six people were freed the
following day without charge. The 36 others were charged with
involvement in the organization of an unauthorized demonstration
and taking part in an unarmed gathering in a public place liable
to disturb public order, and freed awaiting trial. At the first
session on 12 December the trial was postponed to 28 February
2001. Dozens of demonstrators were beaten by the security forces
during the break-up of the sit-in.

The sit-in had been organized to commemorate the 52nd anniversary
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to renew the
call that the whole truth be revealed about past human rights
violations and that those responsible be brought to justice.
Leading members of the AMDH had informed the authorities about
the sit-in, but received, the day before the event, a prohibition
notice which made reference to Asecurity reasons@ but without
specifying them. Some days before the sit-in, the AMDH had
written to the Moroccan parliament asking it to set up an
independent commission to shed light on the alleged participation
of 16 senior Moroccan officials in the torture and Adisappearance
@ of opposition activists during the last few decades.

On 10 December the security forces had arrested hundreds of
members and sympathizers of  al->Adl wa=l-Ihsan during the
violent break-up of demonstrations organized by the association
in Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakesh, Fes, Tetouan, Agadir, Oujda and
El-Jadida. The majority were released the same day after
questioning. Dozens of others were beaten and injured.

The spiritual leader of  al->Adl wa=l-Ihsan, Abdessalam Yassine,
was released on 15 May 2000 after more than 10 years as a
prisoner of conscience under house arrest. Amnesty International
welcomed this positive development.

The right to freedom of expression and peaceful association is
enshrined in international treaties to which Morocco is a state
party. According to Article 20 of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, AEveryone has the right to freedom of peaceful
assembly and association.@

The Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals,
Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally
Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted by the
General Assembly of the UN in March 1999, states moreover that, A
For the purpose of promoting and protecting human rights and
fundamental freedoms, everyone has the right, individually and in
association with others, at the national and international
levels: (a) To meet or assemble peacefully@.

END.../

****************************************************************
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 <majordomo@oil.ca>
with "subscribe amnesty-L" in the message body. To unsubscribe,
send a message to <majordomo@oil.ca> with "unsubscribe amnesty-L"
in the message body. If you have problem signing off, contact
<owner-amnesty-L@oil.ca>. <owner-amnesty-L@oil.ca> handles
only messages concerning list administration. Past and current Amnesty
news services can be found at <http://www.amnesty.org/news/>.
Visit <http://www.amnesty.org> for information about Amnesty International
and for other AI publications. Contact amnestyis@amnesty.org if you
need to get in touch with the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International.