Derb Moulay Cherif
Derb Moulay Cherif () is a neighborhood in Hay Mohammadi, Casablanca. Derb Moulay Cherif prison The neighborhood was the site of a clandestine torture and detention center during the Years of Lead of King Hassan II, though its history dates back to the period of French Protectorate, when it was used for the torture of . Victims of torture at the prison include Saida Menebhi, Abraham Serfaty, Fatna El Bouih, Salah El-Ouadie, Abdellatif Zeroual Abdellatif Zeroual (1951 in Berrechid, Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean ..., and others. In literature Salah El-Ouadie addressed his torturer in a famous open letter: . Fatna El Bouih published ''Talk of Darkness'' (; 2001). Jaouad Mdidech wrote his memoir ''Derb Moulay Cherif: The Dark Room'' (; 2002) about his experience. See also * Tazmamart Refere ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hay Mohammadi
Hay Mohammadi or Hay Mohammedi ( ar, الحي المحمدي) is an arrondissement of eastern Casablanca, in the Aïn Sebaâ - Hay Mohammadi district of the Casablanca-Settat region of Morocco. As of 2004 it had 156,501 inhabitants. Notable residents * Larbi Batma - Singer *Dounia Batma * Hasnaa Bouhadda * Salma Rachid *Nass El Ghiwane Nass El Ghiwane () are a musical group established in 1970 in Casablanca, Morocco. The group, which originated in avant-garde political theater, has played an influential role in Moroccan chaabi (or ''shaabi''). Nass El Ghiwane were the first ... References Arrondissements of Casablanca {{CasablancaSettat-geo-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Casablanca
Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business center. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a population of about 3.71 million in the urban area, and over 4.27 million in the Greater Casablanca, making it the most populous city in the Maghreb region, and the List of largest cities in the Arab world, eighth-largest in the Arab world. Casablanca is Morocco's chief port, with the Port of Casablanca being one of the largest artificial ports in the world, and the second largest port in North Africa, after Tanger-Med ( east of Tangier). Casablanca also hosts the primary naval base for the Royal Moroccan Navy. Casablanca is considered a Global Financial Centre, ranking 54th g ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Years Of Lead (Morocco)
The Years of Lead ( ar, سنوات الرصاص ''Sanawāt ar-Ruṣāṣ'', french: années de plomb) was a period of the rule of King Hassan II of Morocco, from roughly the 1960s through the 1980s, marked by state violence and repression against political dissidents and democracy activists. Timeframe Hassan II was king from 1961 until his death in 1999. His reign was marked by political unrest and a heavy-handed government response to criticism and opposition. Political repression increased dramatically upon Hassan's ascent to the throne of the country in 1961, and this repressive political climate would last for nearly three decades. Due to strong popular mobilization from the Moroccan democracy and human rights activists and pressure from the general Moroccan population, as well as pressure from the wider international community, Morocco experienced a slow but notable improvement in its political climate and human rights situation. The pace of reform accelerated with Hassan ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hassan II Of Morocco
Hassan II ( ar, الحسن الثاني, translit=al-Ḥasan aṯ-ṯhānī;), with the prefix "Mulay" before his enthronement 9 July 1929 – 23 July 1999) was the King of Morocco from 1961 until his death in 1999. He was a member of the 'Alawi dynasty. He was the eldest son of Sultan Mohammed V, and his second wife, Lalla Abla bint Tahar. He was the first commander-in-chief of the Royal Armed Forces and was named crown prince in 1957. He was enthroned as king in 1961 following his father's death. Hassan's reign was marked by the start of the Western Sahara conflict and the Sand War. He was also the target of two failed coup d'états that were opposed to the absolute monarchy in Morocco: one in 1971 and the other in 1972. Hassan's conservative rule reportedly strengthened the 'Alawi dynasty's rule over Morocco and Western Sahara. He was accused of authoritarian practices and civil rights abuses, particularly during the Years of Lead. A truth commission was set up after his ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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French Protectorate In Morocco
The French protectorate in Morocco (french: Protectorat français au Maroc; ar, الحماية الفرنسية في المغرب), also known as French Morocco, was the period of French colonial rule in Morocco between 1912 to 1956. The protectorate was officially established 30 March 1912, when Sultan Abd al-Hafid signed the Treaty of Fez, though the French military occupation of Morocco had begun with the invasion of Oujda and the bombardment of Casablanca in 1907. The French protectorate lasted until the dissolution of the Treaty of Fez on 2 March 1956, with the Franco-Moroccan Joint Declaration. Morocco's independence movement, described in Moroccan historiography as the Revolution of the King and the People, restored the exiled Mohammed V but it did not end French presence in Morocco. France preserved its influence in the country, including a right to station French troops and to have a say in Morocco's foreign policy. French settlers also maintained their rights and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Saida Menebhi
Saida Menebhi (1952 in Marrakesh – 11 December 1977 in Casablanca) was a Moroccan poet, high school teacher, and activist with the Marxist revolutionary movement Ila al-Amam. In 1975, she, together with five other members of the movement, was sentenced for seven years of imprisonment for anti-state activity. On November 8, 1977, inside the jail in Casablanca, she participated in a collective hunger strike, and died on the 35th day of the strike at Avicenne Hospital. Her poetry, collected and published first in 1978, and later again in 2000, is considered a prime example of Moroccan revolutionary and feminist literature. She wrote in French. Translations of a selection of her poems to English were published for the first time in 2021 by See Red Press. Abduction On January 16, 1976, Saida Menebhi was abducted and detained—along with 3 other female militants, Rabea Ftouh, Piera di Maggio and Fatima Oukacha—in the secret Moulay Sherif Prison in Casablanca, now known as a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Abraham Serfaty
Abraham Serfaty ( ar, أبراهام سرفاتي; January 16, 1926 – 18 November 2010) was an internationally prominent Moroccan Marxist-Leninist dissident, militant, and political activist, who was imprisoned for years by King Hassan II of Morocco, for his political actions in favor of democracy , during the Years of Lead. He paid a high price for such actions: fifteen months living underground, seventeen years of imprisonment and eight years of exile. He returned to Morocco in September 1999. Life and politics Abraham Serfaty was born in Casablanca, on January 16, 1926, to a middle-class humanistic Moroccan Jewish family originally from Tangier. He graduated in 1949 from École des Mines de Paris, one of the most prominent French engineering schools. His political activities started very early. In February 1944, he joined the Moroccan Youth Communists, and, upon his arrival in France in 1945, the French Communist Party. When he returned to Morocco in 1949, he join ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fatna El Bouih
Fatna El Bouih (born 1956) is a Moroccan human rights activist and writer. Imprisoned for five years during the Years of Lead, she continued her work, particularly as an advocate for women's rights, on her release. Her memoir of her experience during the Years of Lead was published in English translation as Talk of Darkness' in 2008. Biography Fatna El Bouih was born in 1956 in Ben Ahmed, Morocco. Her father, a teacher, encouraged her to go to school. As a student during the Years of Lead, she became an activist with the leftist youth protest movement, calling for democracy as a member of the National Union of High School Students. She was arrested in 1974 as a leader of a high school student strike, but she was released after a night in jail. She became a leader of ''Harakat 23 Mars''. In 1977, she was arrested again during the mass arrests of members of the "March 23" Marxist group. This time, she spent five years in prison, during which she was tortured at Derb Moulay Cheri ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Salah El-Ouadie
Salah ed-Dine El-Ouadie ( ''Salah ed-Diin el-Wadii'') is a Moroccan poet and human rights activist. He is the president and founder of Damir. Studies He was born in August, 1952 in either Asfi or Rabat. He earned a degree in philosophy in 1982, then a degree in political science from Montpellier in 1987. He was imprisoned at the secret Derb Moulay Sherif Prison in Hay Mohammadi, Casablanca during the Years of Lead under the reign of Hassan II. Human rights Member of the Equity and Reconciliation Commission and former detainee of Derb Mulay Sherif Prison, Salah el-Ouadie identified Qadour el-Youssfi—a member of the Moroccan delegation that affirmed before the UN in Geneva that there was no torture in Morocco—as the main torturer and man in charge of Derb Mulay Sherif Prison when el-Ouadie was there. In accordance with the official policy of the Equity and Reconciliation Commission of addressing the hardships of the victims without harming the aggressors, el-Ouadie di ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Abdellatif Zeroual
Abdellatif Zeroual (1951 in Berrechid, Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...14 November 1974 at " Derb Moulay Chérif" in Casablanca) was a philosophy teacher and member of the national committee of the " Ila Al Amame" movement. Abdellatif was the son of Haj Abdelkader Zeroual, a militant who fought the French before Morocco became independent. In 1970, when the Moroccan authorities launched a crackdown on the Ila al-Amam movement, he went into hiding with Abraham Serfaty and was protected by Christine Daure-Serfaty. In 1973 he was sentenced to death in absentia by a Casablanca court. On November 5, 1974, he disappeared after being snatched by a group of plain-clothed men while on his way to a meeting. A week later a body was registered at a hospital i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tazmamart
Tazmamart ( ar, سجن تازمامرت) was a secret prison in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, holding political prisoners. The prison became a symbol of oppression in the political history of contemporary Morocco. It is located near the city of Er-Rich, between Errachida and Midelt. It was managed by commandant Feddoul and Hamidou Laanigri, both Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie officials. History Tazmamart Prison was built in 1972, after the second failed coup d'etat against the late Hassan II of Morocco in August 1972, 58 army officers were sent to Kenitra prison and later to Tazmamart. According to Ali Bourequat, the prison later held also some Sahrawi nationalists and other "disappeared" political offenders. During the 1980s, there were allegations about the existence of a prison called Tazmamart. Moroccan authorities denied all the allegations. It was not until the publication of the book ''Notre ami le Roi'' (''Our friend the King'') by French journalist Gilles Perrault in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Prisons In Morocco
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correctional facility, lock-up, hoosegow or remand center, is a facility in which inmates (or prisoners) are confined against their will and usually denied a variety of freedoms under the authority of the state as punishment for various crimes. Prisons are most commonly used within a criminal justice system: people charged with crimes may be imprisoned until their trial; those pleading or being found guilty of crimes at trial may be sentenced to a specified period of imprisonment. In simplest terms, a prison can also be described as a building in which people are legally held as a punishment for a crime they have committed. Prisons can also be used as a tool of political repression by authoritarian regimes. Their perceived opponents may be ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |