The DGAPR says the hunger strike announced by six detainees in the Gdeim Izik case is unrelated to their conditions of detention and is driven by “political considerations.”
Morocco’s General Delegation for Prison Administration and Reintegration (DGAPR) responded on Thursday, September 24, to claims contained in a statement attributed to a group of detainees convicted in connection with the Gdeim Izik case, announcing that they had begun a hunger strike.
According to the DGAPR, six of the 19 detainees concerned submitted notices on September 23 declaring their intention to go on hunger strike. The prison administration says the move “has no connection whatsoever with their conditions of detention” and states that it was undertaken at the instruction of the Polisario and its supporters, as a UN Security Council meeting on the issue of the Kingdom’s territorial integrity approaches. In support of this position, it points to the simultaneous publication of statements and press articles publicizing the protest.
The DGAPR recalls that it has already issued several clarifications regarding the detention conditions of these prisoners. It says they receive medical care both inside and outside prison facilities, are provided with conditions enabling them to pursue their studies, and are accommodated in facilities that meet the required standards.
Regarding their request to be transferred to prisons located in the Kingdom’s southern provinces, the DGAPR reiterates that the nature of their sentences is not compatible with the classification of those institutions. One exception was nevertheless made for a detainee whose request was granted and who was transferred to the local prison in Laayoune.
