yvonne ridley's report [ toulal 2 prison – a cause for concern]

8/4/2019 Yvonne Ridley's Report [ Toulal 2 Prison – a cause for concern]

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Toulal 2 Prison – a cause for concern

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment- Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:



Special acknowledgements:

This report is compiled by Yvonne Ridley, an independent human rights activist, journalist, and European President of the International Muslim

Womens Union. She is also a Patron of the London-based NGO Cageprisoners.

She travelled to Morocco in August 2011 at the request of several human rights groups and organisations including Al-Karama, The Joint Committee of Former Islamist Detainees And The coordination of Truth

for the Defense of Prisoners of Conscience and the Families of Detainees at Toulal 2 who are the subject of this report.

Special thanks also go to Mr. Hafid Benhachem, the former DirectorGeneral of the Moroccan Government‟s National Security who

commands the Prison Administration from its headquarters in Rabat.

Copies will be sent to the Moroccan authorities, human rights groups inMorocco as well as Cageprisoners, Amnesty International, The IslamicHuman Rights Commission and other interested parties includingBritish politicians, human rights lawyers and the media.

Background:

On Sunday, July 31 2011 a number of inmates at Toulal 2 Prison in

Meknès, Morocco began reciting from the Holy Qur‟an and in a loudvoice for the benefit of others who either did not have a copy of theQur‟an or could not read Arabic fluently.

The recitation seemed to agitate the guards who physically removedone reciter Abdellah El-Manfa‟a from his cell. According toeyewitnesses Al-Manfa‟a was then beaten which provoked on lookingdetainees to complain and protest loudly.

The Prison Prime Stronghold Ahmed Boujdia understood to haveordered the removal of Adil Ferdaoui from his cell and for him to be

beaten across his head with a baton. During the assault, in which thevictim was also dragged along the floor by his beard,he is said to have

fallen unconscious.

The Prison Prime Stronghold allegedly then instructed his guards torape this man using their batons. Another three inmates where then put through a similar ordeal. They are Adil Ferdaoui, Youssef Elkhodry andAbdessamad Lamsaimi.

All four were eventually removed to another location for a week anddenied medical or family or legal access.

The prison authorities vehemently deny any such incident occurred



and they further deny that on a subsequent visit the four men‟s lawyerwas subjected to intimidation and threats to drop any legal action orinquiry into the alleged incident.

Timeline:

Sunday, July 31 - Monday, August 1 2011

Alleged incident of male rape of four prisoners by guards using their batons to beat men before inser ting the batons in each man‟s rectal passage.

Monday, August 15 2011

Meknès lawyer Mr. Abdessamad Idrisi claims he was intimidated and „rough up‟ by The Prison Prime Stronghold Ahmed Boujdia when he attempted to visit the four men who said they had been raped and

abused.Sunday, August 28 2011

Yvonne Ridley spoke with members of the inmates‟ families in Casablanca.

Monday, August 29 2011

Yvonne Ridley interviewed the lawyer Mr. Abdessamad Idrisi at his offices in Meknès .

Monday August 29 2011

Yvonne Ridley had a meeting with Mr. Hafid Benhachem and his two deputies Mr. Mohammed Badda and Mr.Soufiane Ouamrou at the HQ of the Moroccan Prison Directorate in Rabat in which she handed a letter outlining her concerns about the rape allegations.

The alleged victims:

All four men who alleged they were raped by prison guards under the ordersof Mr. Ahmed Boujdia (Nicknamed Al-Nagga which means she-Camel) haveagreed, at the time of writing this report, to forgo anonymity.The decision to have their full identities disclosed is surprising because of

the huge stigma attached to victims of rape in Morocco, in particular victimsof male rape.In this society the burden of such a stigma is one borne not only by the

victims but of their families and it can affect family reputations as well. It isimportant to highlight this because the decision to make such an accusationas well as the decision to go „on the record‟ was not taken lightly nor without

full consultation of family members where possible.The men are Adil Ferdaoui, Abdellah El-Manfa‟a, Youssef Elkhodry and

Abdessamad Lamsaimi.



The lawyer:

Mr. Abdessamad Idrisi is a lawyer with his own offices and practice inMeknès a city in northern Morocco just over 80 miles from the capitalRabat.

He has taken statements from three of the four men who allege theywere raped during the „Quran‟ic Recital Incident‟ in Toulal 2 Prison.He has also issued his own statement in which he says he was

subjected to abusive insults, humiliating and degrading treatment to apoint where he felt he was about to be assaulted by the Prison DirectorMr. Ahmed Boujdia (Al Nagga). Of the clients he was allowed to see, he found them in a highly agitated

state and fearful. He was not allowed any private meetings with themen who were wary of the guards around them.He spoke in French with Ferdaoui and Abdessamad Lamsaimi who

both outlined the allegations of male rape against themselves and El-

Manfa‟a and ElKhodry.Mr. Idrisi gave Yvonne Ridley a two-page signed document in Arabicoutlining his complaint about his own treatment and that of all four of his clients including the allegations of male rape.

Case histories

1. Abdessamad Lamsaimi: Aged 33 and prior to his arrest worked as a draughtsman in an aluminium factory. Marriedwith one five-year-old daughter.He was sentenced in 2007 to

8 years after pleading not guilty to terror-related offences.

From the privacy of the family home in a Casablanca suburb this iswhat the victim‟s father Moustapha Lamsaimi said:

“We heard that our son had been pulled out of his cell and beaten because he had complained about the treatment of the guards towards another inmate who was accused of reciting from the Holy Qur‟an too loudly.“We employed a lawyer to investigate the issue and we went to visit

our son on the first Wednesday in Ramadan on August 3 but we were

told we could not see him for 15 days. In the meantime the lawyer we employed managed to speak to him and he told him what had happened.“The first response from the prison authorities was to try and force the

four victims to sign statements saying the assaults never took place. I understand that Ferdaoui refused to sign.“The Advocate G eneral ordered an investigation but the police acting

for the Advocate General seemed more interested in getting the men to drop the allegations rather than listen to their complaints.“The treatment of my son was inhumane and my son was not treated

like a human being. As his parents we want justice and we want our

son‟s dignity returned. His honour was attacked and all of the four should be returned to their families and the guards who carried out this



attack should be taken to court.“The people who committed this crime against my son are free.”

Lamsaimi‟s mother added:

“I can not find the words to describe what they did to my son. We are all still clearly in a state of shock about the attack.“When we finally did get to see him we were separated by two barriers.

He was shaking and still in a state of shock over what had happened.”

The family are clearly, one month on, still in a state of shock anddistress and unable to speak in great detail about the case without breaking down.

This is their son‟s account to his lawyer:

“I was subjected to a torrent of beatings, because I prote sted against the disgusting manner in which Abdellah El- Manfa‟a was beaten in. The reason for this was because he was reading the Quran.

“Subsequently I and another three Inmates; ( Adil Ferdaoui, Abdellah El-

Manfa‟a, Youssef ElKhodry) were taken from our cells, beaten with batons then they inserted these batons into our rears. And they hit us on sensitive parts of our bodies while we were blind folded.

“They then took us to a designated location and we remained there for

a week.

“I used t o protest when I was in Sala Prison because I required medication for my allergies.

“I was not taken back to my cell until I promised I will no longer protest in writing under threats of torture if I do protest again.”

2. Adil Ferdaoui – Aged 28, sentenced in 2010 for four years on

terror-related offences to which he pleaded not guilty. Abachelor from the city of Khribka.

From a family home I spoke with his two sisters – Karima and Fatima,the latter who had travelled from her home in Strasbourg, Franceonhearing of her brother‟s rape.

Fatima said:

“I travelled from my home in France as soon as I heard what had happened. I will not leave until this is resolved. When I was told about

the rape I was distraught.



“I‟ve only seen him in prison once since it happened and I‟ve never seen my brother look like that before. He was so upset. He is a man destroyed and in a very bad way. The guards who did this to him deserve to be executed.

“After beating and raping him they would not allow his family to see him and said he was in punishment. I am ready to challenge those responsible and I asked to see the Director of the Prison Mohamed El

Charoudi, who I believe authorized the rape.

“They can try and deny it now but everyone knows what happene d in that prison, who ordered the rape and who carried it out.”

This is his account to the lawyer:

He confirms that on the Monday following the last Royal speech

(31st July) Some of the inmates, who had their Qur ‟ an, were reciting in a loud voice to bene fit themselves and their brothers who don‟t have a Qur ‟ an or cannot read Arabic fluently. At this moment the prison guards appeared and removed Abdellah Al- Manfa‟a from his cell and began to beat him within hearing distance of all the inmates.

The inmates began to protest against this by shouting and demanding a stop to this action. The Prison Prime Stronghold at this point pulled one of the brothers protesting out of his cell [Adil Ferdaoui]. He began to beat him across his head with his baton then he removed his trouser

and exposed his nakedness. He pulled him from his beard and insulted him which eventually resulted in this brother falling unconscious. The remaining inmates in their cells then heard The Prison PrimeStronghold [Ahmed nicknamed “Al-Nagga” ] instructing the guards to rape this brother and to fiddle with his private parts by inserting the baton into his rear!

After this the brother had his hands and feet bound together with a plastic bound which are extremely painful.

Then another three inmates where put through the same ordeal and

they were; Abdellah Al- Manfa‟a, Youssef ElKhodry and AbdessamadLamsaimi. They were then bundled into a vehicle while being beaten and taken to a designated location for a week.

They did not leave this place until they wrote a statement affirming they will never protest again and there were threats of torture if they returned to it.

Finally Ferdaoui stated he was very hesitant and reluctant to say this in fear of reprisals inside the prison.



3. Youssef ElKhodry - Aged 22, sentenced in November 2007for 15 years after pleading not guilty to terrorism-relatedcharges.

Mrs Khodri said: “They beat him and removed his clothes and they

raped him. He was tortured more than any of the others. When I saw him he was unable to speak infront of the guards but managed to tell me „we were tortured and everything you will be told from the lawyer will be the truth”.Mrs ElKhodry also said her son had mentioned that the guards who

carried out the rape had not previously been seen in the prison before and questioned if they were a „special squad‟ trained to carry out this sort of abuse.She explained: “Their faces were new – they were different. The other

prisoners were also threatened with the same treatment if they complained.”

At the time of writing up this report I don‟t believe the lawyer was givenaccess to Youssef ElKhodry.

4. Abdellah Al-Manfa‟a – At the time of writing this report the family of this young man could not be contacted and nor do Ihave access to a statement.

Moulay Omar Lamrani Hadi, an additional eyewitness and prisoner alsogave a statement to the lawyer. Hadi is serving a 10-year sentence forterrorist-related offences to which he pleaded not guilty.

His Account:

He said that when Abdellah Al Manfa‟a was reciting Quran in a loud voice the guards appeared. They took him out of his cell and began to beat him in a barbaric manner while the other inmate can hear. This caused the inmates to rise up against this as a whole. Consequently three other inmates were removed from their cells and put through

brutal torture and the rest of the inmates could hear their screams.

He said: “We also heard the order to rape them and insert batons into their rears. Then they were taken to a specific location, away from the cells were they remained for a week.”



The official response

I visited Morocco‟s Prison Administration Delegate-General HafidBenhachem, who is the overall head of the prison service based inRabat. He was brought out of his retirement from 2003 and appointed

in 2008 by King Mohammed VI who moved responsibility for prisonadministration, from the Ministry of Justice, and gave it to the newlycreated Directorate under the Prime Minister‟s Office. It was a cold call and I did not expect to see anyone of any importance

so requested to deliver by hand a letter for the attention of MrBenhachem.To my surprise one of his deputies,introduced to me as Mohammed

Badda, agreed to see me and I handed him the letter and explained thepurpose of my visit. He appeared extremely hostile to the accusationsbut was polite and courteous at all times.He denied any rape, and asked me not to use the term “rape” and said

there was no such abuse in the Moroccan prison system.I told him I believed there was “compelling evidence” to convince me

something untoward had happened on the night of July 31st and that pious Muslim men would not make an allegation of rape and waive therights to anonymity without very serious consideration because of thehuge stigma attached.He was dismissive of this and so we both agreed to disagree. He also

insisted Morocco had no such history or background of abuse in itstreatment of prisoners.I requested access to the four men at the centre of the rape allegations

with an independent medical practitioner but this request was denied.I expressed concern that the police investigation appeared flawed andthat no medical or forensic examination of the prisoners had beenconducted and it was now getting on for four weeks after the attack.After a brief exchange about Morocco‟s previous history with regardsthe War on Terror and recorded evidence of abuse and torture in theprison system we parted company and I thanked him for his time.Shortly after leaving the building with two local representatives of the

Al-Karama NGO, I was requested to return as Mr Benhachem said hewould see me.At their request I re-entered the building alone and was taken alone to

his office suite on the fourth floor where he arranged a femaletranslator for me to address him and his two deputies, Mr. Badda whomI‟d met previously and Mr. Soufiane Ouamrou.As I tried to relay my investigation he was quite dismissive, as were hisdeputies, of any abuse or evidence of wrongdoing by the guards in theprison. To my surprise the translator became extremely hostile andalso interrupted saying the story of the male rape was simply not trueand lies. I asked her how, in her capacity as a mere translator, shecould know to which she replied: “I know it‟s a lie. It‟s not true.” I put this down to blind loyalty and emphasized, as I had earlier, that I wasnot an enemy of Morocco but to remain in denial of any abuse was not

serving any useful purpose at all.Again Mr. Benhachem was dismissive but I pointed out that even the



King of Morocco had expressed the need for reform in the prisonsystem on the eve of Ramadahn, so if the King thought there was need

for reform there must be some faults within the system.However he and his deputies insisted that everything that happened in

the prison system was correct and proper. Interestingly enough he also

emphasized saying he wanted to make it “crystal clear” to me that “nothing, but nothing happens here without me knowing; and that goes

for my deputies as well. I know what happens on my watch and that is24/7.” I felt this to be an extraordinary claim but he was equally adamant that

nothing happened in the service without his knowledge or that of hisdeputies.When I raised the issue of the lawyer and said the lawyer had reported

being abused and was fearful of being assaulted he declared: “He islying.” By the time the meeting drew to a close there was an additional male

translator and two others in the room.I closed the meeting by saying there was nothing to be gained by

continuing the conversation since they seemed to be completely indenial and liked their stance to that of the overall Commander inGuantanamo who I‟d previously interviewed. He too denied anything “untoward happened in my watch” using a phrase similar to Mr.Benhachem. I remarked that I expected the head of Abu Ghraib wouldhave said something similar as well.Again my concerns were dismissed and Mr Benhachem said he was

growing weary of all the “lies” that surrounded him.

The only thing we were all agreed was that human rights are universaland for everyone regardless of faith, nationality of culture.I did promise to compile a report and send a copy to Mr Benhachemand thanked him for his time and that of his deputies.Meeting the chief architect of the prison system and his two enforcers

was unexpected and a great bonus but not a pleasurable orenlightening encounter.However, it did give an insight into the mindset confronting human

rights groups that attempt to raise concerns about the welfare of thesome 60,000 prisoners held in the prison system.



Miscellaneous

Although unconnected it is worth mentioning that AmnestyInternational raised similar concerns over the welfare of a prisonerwho was beaten and threatened with rape in the same prison earlier

this year.In a statement released on June 17 2011 Amnesty International said it

“urges the Moroccan authorities to immediately investigate allegationsthat Mohamed Hajib was tortured and threatened with rape while inToulal 2 Prison in Meknes between 17 and 28 May 2011. AmnestyInternational fears that Mohamed Hajib is being punished for calling forthe closure of the Témara detention centre and denouncing violationscommitted by the Moroccan authorities in the context of counteringterrorism. A dual Moroccan/German national, Mohamed Hajib isserving a 10-year sentence for terrorism-related offences.”

Recommendations

1. All the prisoners alleging rape be thoroughly medically examinedby an independent medical examiner.

2. A new and independent police investigation be conducted withan emphasis on listening and gathering evidence rather thansuppressing it as has been alleged.

3. An internal investigation into the original police investigation becarried out to establish why no immediate forensic medical

evidence was gathered as well as other alleged short-comings.4. Anyone suspected of carrying out the attacks should be

processed through the courts to stand trial, including guardswho may have witnessed but failed to stop the alleged rapes andmore senior officers accused of ordering and encouraging thealleged attacks.

5. A review of the day-to-day running of the prison to look for areasof improvement with regards prisoner living conditions and theirhuman rights.

6. An independent team made up of local, national and internationalNGOs be allowed to visit the prison and access all areas

including interviews with prisoners and prison staff to assessliving and working conditions in Toulal 2.

7. The appointment of a Muslim chaplain to offer and advise theauthorities in Toulal 2 about the spiritual nurture and care of detainees.

8. Detainees be allowed wrist watches or time pieces so they areaware of prayer times and have access to copies of the HolyQur‟an at all times with similar provisions for those of other

faiths.



External References and contacts<attached>

Amnesty International statement, June 17 2011

Statement from lawyer Mr Abdessamad Idrisi, August 20 2011

Yvonne Ridley letter to Mr Hafid Benhachem, August 29 2011

Contact details of human rights groups who will receive the report

1. Yvonne Ridley, author of this report, at [email protected] 2. Cageprisoners: [email protected] 3. Islamic Human Rights Commission [email protected] 4. Al-Karama: [email protected]

5. Amnesty International: [email protected] 6. Human Rights Watch [email protected]

7. World Organization Against Torture [email protected] 8. Behind Bars [email protected] 9. A Voice For Political Prisoners in Morocco [email protected] 10. Avocats sans Frontieres: [email protected]

* In addition hard copies of the report will be published and distributedto international human rights lawyers, politicians, media and otherinterested parties as well as the offices of Mr Hafid Benhachem

mailto:[email protected]








































yvonne ridley's report [ toulal 2 prison – a cause for concern]

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