Association des parents et amis de disparus au Maroc (APADM)
Contact : Rachid El Manouzi, Secretary General of APADM, Secretary General and Member of the Board of Directors of FEMED
HISTORY
1975: Rabat - 8 disappeared escape from the PF3 detention center, among them Houcine ELMANOUZI, political activist and trade unionist kidnapped from Tunis on October 29, 1972 and secretly detained in Morocco.
1975 : Paris - The Committee for the Truth on the fate of Houcine El Manouzi is created, chaired by the international lawyer Maitre Alain Martinet, and supported by political - cultural - intellectual personalities (including Maitre Gisèle Halima, Costa Gavras, Simone Signoret, Georges Moustaki, Amiral Sanguinetti......)
1984 : France - The regrouping of the families of the disappeared in Morocco residing in Europe (ABABOU, OUAZZANE, EL MANOUZI, BOUREQUAT, SAFINI) gives birth to the A.P.A.D.M (Association of Parents and Friends of the Disappeared in Morocco)
In 1991, the King of Morocco, who was ill, and in order to ensure a transition without the burden of the turbulence that the country had experienced since independence, proceeded initially to the liberation of more than 300 missing persons. Some had spent 18 years in secret detention, all in a state of extreme deterioration of their physical and mental health. A few years later, an "arbitration commission" was created to compensate the victims of the enforced disappearance. After the death of King Hassan II, whose son Mohammed VI acceded to the throne, he set up an institution called the Equity and Reconciliation Commission (IER), whose mandate was to shed light on the so-called years of darkness (1956-1999). More than 25,000 victims were interviewed by this body. It emerged that at least 600 disappeared will never reappear. Hundreds of them are declared by this body as having died in secret detention facilities. Their families are to this day without any information on the circumstances of their abduction, sequestration, causes of death, or the place of their burial. Without remains, they cannot mourn their loved ones. In 2004, the IER made numerous recommendations to the King on the need to continue the investigation of the unresolved cases of the disappeared, on the preservation of the memory, on the community rehabilitation of the regions that suffered serious human rights violations.
Today, at the end of 2020, the truth is still not known. The secret detention centers that should become memory centers are abandoned and being demolished. The populations of the regions affected by the repression are still waiting for the promised development projects. No one responsible for the atrocities of the disappearance has been arrested; on the contrary, many of them have become even richer and lead luxurious lives. The families and friends of the disappeared in Morocco continue and persevere in a mobilization for Truth, Justice. In 2007, in order to bring the voice of the Moroccan disappeared to the international arena, APADM joined other associations of the Mediterranean contour and founded the FEMED (Euro-Mediterranean Federation against Enforced Disappearance), which today gathers 26 associations that fight for never again, for Truth, Justice and against Impunity.
MISSION OF THE ASSOCIATION
The goal of APADM, while mobilizing French, European and international public opinion, is to work for the truth to be made known about the fate of the disappeared in Morocco and to make the situation of enforced disappearance known. Enforced disappearance is a violation of fundamental rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including the right not to be subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Since 1959, the Moroccan regime has resorted to disappearance. It has spared no social and professional category. This large-scale practice concerns both individuals and groups. The kidnappings take place both inside Morocco and abroad (Mehdi BEN BARKA in Paris, Houcine EL MANOUZI in Tunis.....).
The disappeared, for their political or trade union commitment, are tortured and threatened with execution or slow death. They are sequestered in different regions of the Kingdom. The infamous ones: Dar El Mokri - Rabat Complex, Derb Moulay Chérif, the Hangars of Anfa airport, Dar Bricha, Tazmamart, Kelaat M'Gouna, Agdz, etc.
Comité de coordination des familles de disparus au Maroc
Contact : Moussa Salem
The Coordination Committee of the Families of the Disappeared whose fate remains unknown and of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances in Morocco was created in 1992. Its objective is to coordinate the initiatives launched in Morocco by the survivors and families of the disappeared. Numerous actions have been set up in Europe and particularly in France thanks to the commitment of the Association of parents and friends of the disappeared in Morocco. In Morocco, faced with the oppression of which they were victims, the families carried out actions dispersed within different human rights organizations such as the Moroccan Association of Human Rights and the Moroccan Organization of Human Rights.
Association Marocaine des Droits Humains (AMDH)
Contact : Abdel-ilah Benabdessalam, Vice-president
The Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) has been working on human rights in their entirety since its creation in 1979. As such, enforced disappearances are one of its priorities. The AMDH fights for the truth for all the disappeared whose fate is still unknown, supports the victims of disappearance and their families in their fight for their rights. Since the end of the 1990s, the Association has also been following cases of enforced disappearances that occurred in the context of the fight against terrorism in Morocco.
Organisation Marocaine des Droits de l’Homme (OMDH)
Contact : Boudris Belaïd
The Moroccan Organization for Human Rights (OMDH) was created in 1988. It works for the respect of human rights in Morocco. As part of this mandate, OMDH fights against the practice of enforced disappearances by providing legal assistance to victims, publishing reports and press releases, and raising awareness among authorities and international bodies.