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Tazmamart
Tazmamart ( ar, سجن تازمامرت) was a secret prison in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, holding political prisoners. The prison became a symbol of oppression in the political history of contemporary Morocco. It is located near the city of Er-Rich, between Errachida and Midelt. It was managed by commandant Feddoul and Hamidou Laanigri, both Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie officials. History Tazmamart Prison was built in 1972, after the second failed coup d'etat against the late Hassan II of Morocco in August 1972, 58 army officers were sent to Kenitra prison and later to Tazmamart. According to Ali Bourequat, the prison later held also some Sahrawi nationalists and other "disappeared" political offenders. During the 1980s, there were allegations about the existence of a prison called Tazmamart. Moroccan authorities denied all the allegations. It was not until the publication of the book ''Notre ami le Roi'' (''Our friend the King'') by French journalist Gilles Perrault ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ahmed Marzouki
Ahmed Marzouki ( ar, أحمد المرزوقي; born 1947 in Bouajoul, Commune of Sidi Yahya Bni Zeroual, Taounate Province) is a former military Moroccan officer who was forcibly disappeared after the failed coup attempt of 1971. Marzouki was a prisoner in Tazmamart, a notorious former secret detention centre in Morocco during the reign of Hassan II. First arrested in 1973, he was finally released in 1991, but faced state harassment for years after. He is the author of a book about his experiences, ''Tazmamart Cellule 10'' (Tazmamart Cell 10). Works * Tazmamart cellule 10, Gallimard, 13 septembre 2001 * La peine du vide, Éditions Tarik, 2012. * Les bonnes nouvelles, Éditions Tarik, 2016. *Tazmamart cella 10, Csa Editrice, 2018. See also * Ali Bourequat * Years of lead * Human rights in Morocco Further reading * ''Tazmamart Cellule 10'', Editions Paris Méditerranée; Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْب ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ali Bourequat
Ali Bourequat is a successful Moroccan/Tunisian businessman who was secretly arrested and incarcerated for years by the Moroccan government in the infamous secret prison Tazmamart.Alain Brossat, Jean-Louis Déotte, ''La mort dissoute: disparition et spectralité'', Harmattan, 2002 , p. 82 He is a French citizen now living in the United States. He is the son of an Alaouite princess who worked in the royal court. He wrote a book on his ordeal. Personal life Bourequat is the son of an Alaouite princess and a Turkish-Tunisian businessman who was also a security chief and helped found Morocco's police and Intelligence service. His father was also a close friend of Mohammed V and so Ali and his brothers grew up in the inner circle of the court of King Hassan II. Imprisonment In 1973 he was, with his two brothers Midhat and Bayazid, abducted by the Moroccan secret police, tortured and jailed without trial for reasons he claims unknown even to himself. He was originally incarcerate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Years Of Lead (Morocco)
The Years of Lead ( ar, سنوات الرصاص ''Sanawāt ar-Ruṣāṣ'', french: années de plomb) was a period of the rule of King Hassan II of Morocco, from roughly the 1960s through the 1980s, marked by state violence and repression against political dissidents and democracy activists. Timeframe Hassan II was king from 1961 until his death in 1999. His reign was marked by political unrest and a heavy-handed government response to criticism and opposition. Political repression increased dramatically upon Hassan's ascent to the throne of the country in 1961, and this repressive political climate would last for nearly three decades. Due to strong popular mobilization from the Moroccan democracy and human rights activists and pressure from the general Moroccan population, as well as pressure from the wider international community, Morocco experienced a slow but notable improvement in its political climate and human rights situation. The pace of reform accelerated with Hassan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
This Blinding Absence Of Light
''This Blinding Absence of Light'' (french: Cette aveuglante absence de lumière) is a 2001 novel by the Moroccan writer Tahar Ben Jelloun, translated from French by Linda Coverdale. Its narrative is based on the testimony of a former inmate at Tazmamart, a Moroccan secret prison for political prisoners, with extremely harsh conditions. Plot The plot is based around the events following the second failed coup d'etat against the late Hassan II of Morocco in August 1972. The protagonist is a prisoner in Tazmamart, who, despite being a fictional character, is based on accounts of the prisoners who survived their incarceration there. The plot focuses on how prisoners who were kept in the extremely harsh conditions of Tazmamart survived, through religious devotion, imagination and communication. The prisoners spent their sentences in cells that are described as being only in height and long. The prisoners in the novel are not actively tortured, but are fed poorly and live without ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hassan II Of Morocco
Hassan II ( ar, الحسن الثاني, translit=al-Ḥasan aṯ-ṯhānī;), with the prefix "Mulay" before his enthronement 9 July 1929 – 23 July 1999) was the King of Morocco from 1961 until his death in 1999. He was a member of the 'Alawi dynasty. He was the eldest son of Sultan Mohammed V, and his second wife, Lalla Abla bint Tahar. He was the first commander-in-chief of the Royal Armed Forces and was named crown prince in 1957. He was enthroned as king in 1961 following his father's death. Hassan's reign was marked by the start of the Western Sahara conflict and the Sand War. He was also the target of two failed coup d'états that were opposed to the absolute monarchy in Morocco: one in 1971 and the other in 1972. Hassan's conservative rule reportedly strengthened the 'Alawi dynasty's rule over Morocco and Western Sahara. He was accused of authoritarian practices and civil rights abuses, particularly during the Years of Lead. A truth commission was set up after his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christine Daure-Serfaty
Christine Daure-Serfaty (1926 – 28 May 2014) was a French people, French human rights activist and writer who distinguished herself in Morocco where she embraced the fight of the victims of Hassan II of Morocco, King Hassan II, during the "Years of Lead (Morocco), Years of Lead," and from afar, played a major role in the evolution of the regime and the human rights in Morocco. She was the wife of Abraham Serfaty, a Moroccan dissident. In 1974 Abraham Serfaty was sentenced to life imprisonment. It was in September 1999 that the new Moroccan king, Mohammed VI of Morocco, Mohammed VI, permitted Abraham Serfaty’s return to Morocco. Biography Christine Daure arrived in Morocco in 1962. In 1972, in Casablanca, she hid two political dissidents wanted by the Moroccan police: Abraham Serfaty who ended up sentenced to life in prison in 1974, and Abdellatif Zeroual, who died under torture after his arrest. During these years, she fought to save Abraham Serfaty from the same fate. She fina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Er-Rich
Er-Rich is a town in Midelt Province, Drâa-Tafilalet Region, Morocco. Formerly part of Errachidia Province, it became part of Midelt Province in 2009.Décret 2-09-319, Bulletin officiel du Royaume du Maroc p 1017, 1027 [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to the east, and the disputed territory of Western Sahara to the south. Mauritania lies to the south of Western Sahara. Morocco also claims the Spanish exclaves of Ceuta, Melilla and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, and several small Spanish-controlled islands off its coast. It spans an area of or , with a population of roughly 37 million. Its official and predominant religion is Islam, and the official languages are Arabic and Berber; the Moroccan dialect of Arabic and French are also widely spoken. Moroccan identity and culture is a mix of Arab, Berber, and European cultures. Its capital is Rabat, while its largest city is Casablanca. In a region inhabited since the Paleolithic Era over 300,000 years ago, the first Moroccan st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forced Disappearance
An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person's fate and whereabouts, with the intent of placing the victim outside the protection of the law. According to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which came into force on 1 July 2002, when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed at any civilian population, a "forced disappearance" qualifies as a crime against humanity, not subject to a statute of limitations, in international criminal law. On 20 December 2006, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. Often, forced disappearance implies murder: a victim is abducted, may be illegally detained and of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and supporters around the world. The stated mission of the organization is to campaign for "a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments." The organization has played a notable role on human rights issues due to its frequent citation in media and by world leaders. AI was founded in London in 1961 by the lawyer Peter Benenson. Its original focus was prisoners of conscience, with its remit widening in the 1970s, under the leadership of Seán MacBride and Martin Ennals to include miscarriages of justice and torture. In 1977, it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In the 1980s, its secretary general was Thomas Hammarberg, succeed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Site
In military terminology, a black site is a location at which an unacknowledged black operation or black project is conducted. According to the Associated Press, "Black sites are clandestine jails where prisoners generally are not charged with a crime and have no legal recourse, with no bail or court order." Egypt Black sites are used extensively by the Egyptian security services. During the Egyptian Crisis (2011–2014) hundreds of protesters alleged that torture occurred at these black sites. The Egyptian security service also operated black sites involved with the CIA’s counter-terror black site program. Russia In Chechnya, gay men have alleged been tortured at black sites by Chechen security forces. Gay men in other parts of Russia have been kidnapped and transported to sites in Chechnya, where over 100 have been tortured, and some killed. Chechen authorities have thwarted attempts by the Russian LGBT Network to help gay people in Chechnya escape to safe location ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aziz Binebine
Aziz ( ar, عزيز, , is an Arabic male name. The feminine form of both the adjective and the given name is Aziza. ''Aziz'' in Arabic is derived from the root ''ʕ-z-z'' with a meaning of "strong, powerful" and the adjective has acquired its meaning of "dear, darling, precious". It is a cognate of Hebrew ''oz'' עוז meaning "might, strength, power". The Semitic word refers to the "power and glory" of deities and kings. In the Latinised form "Azizus" it is attested as the name of one of the Arab Priest-Kings who ruled Emesa (the modern Homs, Syria) as clients of the Roman Empire. In ancient Levantine mythology, Azizos or Aziz is the Palmyrene Arab god of the morning star. The Arabian goddess Al-Uzza, also related to the planet Venus, is named from the same root ''ʕ-z-z''. ''Al-Aziz'' is one of the names of God in Islam. The "Al" makes the word "Aziz" proper. "Aziz" without "Al" is used as a royal title borne by the high nobles of Egypt, being a title borne by the prophe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
