This condemnation is in total contradiction with international instruments protecting human rights and guaranteeing the right to freedom of opinion and expression and of peaceful gathering, to which Morocco is a party. It is also in contradiction with the Declaration of human rights defenders which states that "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, to meet or assemble peacefully".
The Observatory followed the trial to which it delegated Mr. Mokhtar Trifi, President of the Tunisian League for Protection of Human Rights, to attend the first hearing on 28 February 2001. It denounces the violation of the right to a fair and impartial trial by the Tribunal because of the numerous irregularities noted by its observer, in particular the refusal to hear witnesses and the refusal on several occasions to give the accused the right to speak.
These persons were taken in for questioning on 9 December 2000 as they were about to attend a sit-in organised by the AMDH in front of the Moroccan Parliament, to call for those responsible for crimes of forced disappearance, political assassination, arbitrary imprisonment and torture to be brought to trial and to request the creation of an independent Commission to establish the truth with respect to disappearances to mark the occasion of the 52nd anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This sit-in was brutally dispersed by the forces of order before it even started. 42 persons were held in provisional detention for 24 hours at the Rabat-Salé police station. 36 of them were charged.
The Observatory strongly denounces this arbitrary condemnation and the harshness of the sentence. It assures the Moroccan defenders of human rights of its total solidarity and support.
The Observatory calls on the Moroccan authorities to guarantee the defenders of human rights freedom to exercise their activities and to comply with the its international commitments with respect to human rights.This is the one and only condition under which Morocco will at last be able to claim to be a democratic State that is respectful of human rights and freedom.
The Observatory, an FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
Created in 1997, The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.