Morocco Repression of Peaceful Protests Growing

The repression of peaceful protests in Morocco is growing, the country's main independent rights group said Wednesday, condemning the "false accusations" against political detainees.

The Moroccan Association of Human Rights (AMDH), in its annual report, said that in addition to the "growing repression" of non-violent demonstrations, numerous protests had been banned, journalists subjected to physical aggression, and the February 20 pro-reform movement targeted.

It said the number of political detainees last year reached 317, adding that the state had "excelled in leveling false accusations of common crimes against detainees to hide the reason for their detention."

The interior ministry did not immediately respond to Agence France Presse's request for comment.

Ahmed el Haij, the AMDH's president, condemned the recourse to "violence" by the security forces during protests against the royal pardon granted by mistake to a convicted Spanish pedophile last year.

The decision was hastily revoked but sparked outrage across the country, with thousands taking to the streets in Casablanca and Rabat, where they were violently dispersed by the police.

U.N. rights chief Navi Pillay said last month, during a visit, that Morocco had taken "great strides toward the better promotion and protection of human rights," notably with the adoption of a new constitution in 2011.

But she also pleaded for greater freedom of expression, and expressed U.N. "concern over the use of torture and ill-treatment" of Moroccan detainees.

Shortly before her visit a court in Casablanca handed nine activists jail terms of up to a year for violence against the police, during a mass rally at which they were heard shouting anti-regime slogans.

Also last month, Moroccan rapper Lhaqed, an outspoken voice of the February 20 movement who has already done jail time for defaming the police, was arrested at a football match and is on trial for public drunkenness and assaulting a policeman.

The February 20 movement was born during the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011, demanding sweeping social and political reforms in Morocco.

Its street protests now rarely attract more than a few hundred, with police repression and regional turmoil dampening demand for change.

Speaking before parliament Monday, the president of Morocco's official National Human Rights Council referred to the "disproportionate use of force" by the police, and the "abusive arrest of rights activists at peaceful demonstrations."