Moroccan activists demand journalist's release
2009-03-02
Since mid-February, Moroccan human rights activists have voiced outrage over the continued detention of journalist Chekib El-Khayari for allegedly "collaborating with foreign entities".
Naoufel Cherkaoui in Rabat contributed to this report—02/03/09
 [Naoufel Cherkaoui] Human rights activist Chekib El-Khiari faces charges for criticising the government. |
Civil society organisations and human rights activists in Morocco continue to demand the release of human rights activist and journalist Chekib El-Khiari, detained since February 17th on charges of "collaborating with foreign entities" and smearing Morocco's reputation.
On Thursday (February 26th), political figures, human rights activists, unionists and journalists met at the Charif Idrissi Cultural Centre in Al Hoceima to discuss the latest developments in the case.
Attendees unanimously agreed on the importance and urgency of the initiative and considered the arrest of El-Khiari "a stark violation of one of the basic rights of individuals and groups as enshrined in local and international legislations, which is the right to the expression of an opinion."
El-Khiari, a member of the Federal Council of the World Amazigh Congress (CMA) and the president of the Association for Human Rights in the Rif (LRDH), had criticised the Moroccan government for dismantling an international drug trafficking network in the city of Nador, where the association is based. Members of Moroccan security forces were arrested on charges of involvement in the network.
At the time, El-Khiari said in a statement, "The campaign targeted the small-time traffickers and excluded the icons of political corruption and officials assuming sensitive positions in the state."
Moroccan authorities accused Khiari of "receiving commissions from foreign entities in return for launching a media campaign aimed at belittling and underestimating the seriousness of the efforts made by the Moroccan authorities in the field of combating the promotion of drugs".
El-Khiari is now in Casablanca judicial police custody.
"The charges made against El-Khiari are completely unfounded," said Mohammed Hamouchi, vice president of the Association for Human Rights in the Rif. "The pursuit of the Rif association is only a pursuit of a human rights activist in order to deceive the public opinion about the involvement of security elements in the Nador network."
Hamouchi said that El-Khiari only co-operated with foreign media to produce reports on drugs in Morocco.
El-Khiari's detention was publicly denounced by a number of international and local human rights and freedom of speech organisations.
In a statement, Amnesty International called El-Khiari's arrest "an attack on the right of human rights defenders to collect and disseminate information."
"Amnesty International calls for the immediate and unconditional release of human rights defender, Chekib El-Khiari. Amnesty International believes him to be a prisoner of conscience, solely detained for his anti-corruption statements and his human rights activities."
The France-based Association for the Defence of Human Rights in Morocco also denounced the arrest, labelling it "oppressive". It criticised "the methods used to intimidate human rights activists who fight against corruption and the misuse of power, which run deep in the Moroccan society".
Khadija Ryadi, president of the Moroccan Association of Human Rights, said that El-Khiari's case bears contradictions. On the one hand, she said, the authorities arrested a number of security officials in the Nador network, and on the other hand, it pursued the president of a human rights association under the pretext that he spoke about the involvement of top state officials in drug trafficking.
"Human rights activists in Morocco are not banned from expressing their opinion," said Khalid Naciri, Minister of Communication and the government's spokesperson. "They can address all issues without any harassment. I’m surprised over the talk about harassing El-Khiari."
Naciri said that he was surprised that human rights organisations and activists accused the government of oppressing El-Khiari's freedom and linked his case to human rights issues.
"Chekib El-Khiari's case includes dangerous accusations that have nothing to do with human rights and respecting freedom of expression at all," he told Magharebia.
At Thursday's meeting, a preparatory committee was tasked with formulating an urgent campaign to free El-Khiari, under the slogan "We Are All Chekib El-Khiari."
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Ali Posted 2009-03-04
The generals not the junior officers are the ones who are at the head of this drug mafia. We need to call a spade a spade. We cannot hide the truth from the people. If a human-rights activist or a small-time journalist tells the truth, then he is quickly tossed in solitary confinement. How long will this masquerade continue? Morocco’s image is already tarnished. The UN already declared that Morocco was the number-one drug producer and exporter in 2008. We cannot build a nation on lies. We need to tell the truth even if it is bitter. Instead of watching our neighbours in the East, it would be better to mind our own business. And, we are all Chekib El-Khiari’s. Now, I leave it to the people in charge of Magharebia to decide if this comment can tarnish the image of Morocco. If so, then it would seem that we are accustomed to masquerades.
George Wellson Posted 2009-03-06
Back in the 1980's and 1990's I thought it was cool to read about all of this corruption, etc., etc. Publicity about past "corruption" does put pressure on the status quo to change, though. This pressure to change is becoming more persistent every year. Somehow, things must change with the "drug war" approach. Too many are dying all over the world at this moment to ignore the problem and to use old methods that never worked in the past, and will never work in the future. This guy, Chekib El-Khiari, is truly trying to resolve this approx. 100 year war that began in the Victorian era probably, in terms of world wide legal support, etc. As long as there are assinations and so forth, we are going backward, not forward.
ابونورا Posted 2009-03-26
I say to the minister Khalid Naciri, people have woken up. They are no longer donkeys. You want to keep us always donkeys which understand nothing. But you were disappointed, we woke up sir from the sleep a while ago. It is not someone like you who will tell us why they arrested Chakib. We know, all the people know, Chakib is a good man. The education he made him a man unlike you and others who will destroy and degrade him. Chakib has touched some cases which were taboo in Morocco. When you found that he took sleep from your eyes, because you hide something suspicious, you took him as target. But you are wrong. We are all Chakib. We will defend him even if you execute us all a new Chakib will always appear.
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