Morocco: Further information: Health risks for detainee in isolation for 232 days: Ali Aarrass
Following seven months of prolonged solitary confinement, Ali Aarrass' health condition has critically deteriorated. He is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence in Tifelt II Local Prison.
Further information on UA: 219/15 Index: MDE 29/6303/2017 Morocco Date: 30 May 2017
URGENT ACTION
HEALTH RISKS FOR DETAINEE IN ISOLATION FOR 232 DAYS
Following seven months of prolonged solitary confinement, Ali Aarrass' health condition
has critically deteriorated. He is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence in Tifelt II
Local Prison.
Following seven months of continuous solitary confinement and untreated health problems, Ali Aarrass' health has
significantly deteriorated. According to his lawyers and family, Ali Aarrass suffers from chronic nausea and
recurrent unexplained vomiting. He has lost around 18 kilograms since his placement in solitary confinement. So
far, the prison administration has denied him access to a gastroenterology specialist, despite his repeated
requests. Although the food provision has slightly improved, his family has reported that prison guards refuse most
of the food and all the nutritional supplements that they bring to Ali Aarrass during visits. Ali Aarrass has also been
sleeping on a slab with inadequate covers since he has been detained in solitary confinement.
Ali Aarrass has been held in solitary confinement since his transfer to Tifelt II Local Prison, 60 km east of the
capital Rabat, on 10 October 2016. Although the prison authorities had recently transferred other prisoners to his
block several weeks ago, they have since been moved. Ali Aarrass is therefore again, since 21 May, being held in
an empty prison bloc. He is being held for over 22 hours a day without meaningful human contact and is allowed in
the prison courtyard only one hour a day. The social isolation has taken a heavy toll on his psychological
conditions. According to UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Mandela Rules), this
amounts to prolonged solitary confinement and as such constitutes a form of torture or other ill-treatment.
On 28 March, the UN Committee against Torture (CAT) issued a decision requesting the Moroccan authorities to
improve his conditions of detention in order to prevent “irreparable harm”, and to guarantee his rights as a prisoner.
On 28 April, the Court of Cassation rejected his appeal and confirmed his conviction and 12-year prison sentence.
The Working Group of Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) considers the conviction to be arbitrary as it is based on
“confessions” obtained under torture, and has called for his release and adequate compensation.
Please write immediately in Arabic, French or your own language urging the Moroccan authorities to:
Ensure Ali Aarrass has immediate access to a qualified health professional that can provide health care in
compliance with medical ethics, including the principles of confidentiality, autonomy, and informed consent;
Ensure his detention conditions are in line with international law and the Mandela Rules, including access to
primary needs, adequate food and bedding;
Immediately end Ali Aarrass’ solitary confinement and ensure he is held in humane conditions, including by
implementing the CAT's decision;
Implement the WGAD's decision calling for the immediate release of Ali Aarrass' and award him adequate
compensation.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 11 JULY 2017 TO:
Director of General Administration for
Prison Administration and Reinsertion
Mohamed Saleh Tamek
Angle Avenue Arar et rue El-Jouz
Hay El Riyad, Rabat, Morocco
Fax: + 212 5 37 71 26 19
Salutation: Dear Sir
Minister of Justice and Liberties
Mohammed Aujjar
Ministry of Justice and Liberties
Place El Mamounia – BP 1015
Rabat, Morocco
Fax: + 212 5 37 72 13 737
Twitter: @MincomMa
https://www.facebook.com/justice.gov.maro
c/
Mail: contact@justice.gov.ma
Salutation: Your Excellency
And copies to:
Ministry of State in charge of Human Rights
Mustapha Ramid
Departement Head of Gouvernement
Palais Royal
Touarga, Rabat
Fax: +212 5 37 76 99 95
5
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please insert local diplomatic addresses below.
Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date. This is the seventh update of UA 219/15. Further information:
https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde29/6005/2017/en/
URGENT ACTION
HEALTH RISKS FOR DETAINEE IN ISOLATION FOR 232 DAYS
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Since 10 October 2016, Ali Aarrass has had minimal meaningful contact with other detainees and has been confined to his
single cell for 22 to 23 hours a day. Such conditions amount to prolonged solitary confinement according to the Mandela Rules.
Prolonged and indefinite solitary confinement amount to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,
according to the Mandela Rules, and must not be imposed under any circumstances. The Moroccan authorities have repeatedly
denied holding Ali Aarrass in solitary confinement, stating that he is merely held in an individual cell in a sparsely-populated
prison. However, as Amnesty International explained to Morocco’s General Delegation for Penitentiary Administration and
Reintegration in a letter detailing the organization’s concerns in November 2016, isolation does not need to be intended as
punishment in order to constitute solitary confinement.
Ali Aarrass has been detained in Morocco since 14 December 2010 after Spain extradited him at Morocco’s request, ignoring
warnings by the UN Human Rights Committee and Amnesty International that he risked being tortured in Morocco. He reported
being tortured and otherwise ill-treated in custody between 14 and 24 December 2010, and subsequently in prison. Moroccan
authorities have failed to adequately investigate his claims to date. He was convicted, on 19 November 2011, on the sole basis
of statements extracted under torture, of illegal use of weapons and participation in a group intending to commit acts of terrorism
(under Article 218 of Morocco’s anti-terrorism law, integrated into the Penal Code) and sentenced to 15 years in prison, reduced
to 12 years on appeal. On 18 September 2012, he appealed the decision before the Court of Cassation. On 28 April 2017, the
latter eventually issued its final decision by confirming the previous sentence and thus dismissing any further appeal.
In 2013, the WGAD called on the Moroccan authorities to release Ali Aarrass immediately, after concluding that he had been
convicted solely on the basis of “confessions” extracted under torture. In 2014, the CAT similarly concluded that the “confession”
had been decisive in securing his conviction, in the absence of adequate investigations into the torture he reported.
In parallel, in July 2014, the UN Human Rights Committee decided that Spain had breached its obligations under the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) by extraditing Ali Aarrass to Morocco. The Committee asked Spain
to award Ali Aarrass adequate compensation and take all possible measures to work with the Moroccan authorities to ensure
that his detention in Morocco was in line with international law and standards. In 2015, the CAT also expressed concern about
the 2010 extradition and called on Spain to investigate his allegations of torture. In spite of numerous UN decisions confirming
the human rights violations that Ali Aarrass has suffered, Moroccan and Spanish authorities have not, to date, offered him
redress.
Ali Aarrass has been asking the Belgian authorities for consular assistance for years, which they firstly have been refusing on
the ground of his dual citizenship. However, a September 2014 decision by the Brussels Court of Appeals instructed them to do
so. The Belgian authorities have appealed the Court of Appeals’ decision before Belgium’s Court of Cassation, and a final
sentence is expected is expected in the coming months.
On 28 March 2017, the CAT issued a decision requesting the Moroccan authorities to improve Ali Aarrass' conditions of
detention in order to prevent ''irreparable harm''.
In 2014, Morocco acceded to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) and is expected to establish a National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) with a mandate to
monitor all places of detention later this year.
Name: Ali Aarrass
Gender m/f: m
Further information on UA: 219/15 Index: MDE 29/6303/2017 Issue Date: 30 May 2017