Tazmamart ( ar, سجن تازمامرت) was a secret prison in the
Atlas Mountains
The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in the Maghreb in North Africa. It separates the Sahara Desert from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; the name "Atlantic" is derived from the mountain range. It stretches around through Moroc ...
of
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 to ...
, 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
Errachidia ( ar, الرشيدية, Berber language, Berber: ⵉⵎⴻⵜⵖⴰⵔⵏ Imetɣaren) is a city in Morocco, located in the Errachidia Province, and is the capital of the Drâa-Tafilalet region.
The city's residents speak Berber langua ...
and
Midelt
Midelt (Berber language: ⵎⵉⴷⴻⵍⵜ, Arabic: ميدلت) is a town in Morocco, in the high plains between the Middle Atlas and High Atlas mountain ranges. With a population of 55,304 recorded in the 2014 Moroccan census, Midelt serves as t ...
. It was managed by commandant Feddoul and
Hamidou Laanigri
Hamidou Laanigri ( ar, حميدو لعنيݣري) (born 1939 near Meknes) is a Moroccan general and former head of the intelligence service of the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior. Laanigri was often accused of acts of torture in relation to the ...
, both
Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie
The Royal Gendarmerie ( ar, الدرك الملكي المغربي, ad-darak al-malikiyy al-maḡribiyy, french: Gendarmerie royale marocaine) is the national gendarmerie force of the Kingdom of Morocco, and comes under the joint-authority of ...
officials.
[
]
History
Tazmamart Prison was built in 1972, after the second failed coup d'etat against the late 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 'Ala ...
in August 1972, 58 army officers were sent to Kenitra
Kenitra ( ar, القُنَيْطَرَة, , , ; ber, ⵇⵏⵉⵟⵔⴰ, Qniṭra; french: Kénitra) is a city in north western Morocco, formerly known as Port Lyautey from 1932 to 1956. It is a port on the Sebou River, Sebou river, has a popul ...
prison and later to Tazmamart. According to Ali Bourequat
Ali Bourequat is a successful Moroccan/Tunisian businessman who was secretly arrested and incarcerated for years by the Moroccan government in the infamous secret prison Tazmamart.Alain Brossat, Jean-Louis Déotte, ''La mort dissoute: disparitio ...
, the prison later held also some Sahrawi nationalists and other "disappeared
An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organiza ...
" 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
Notre may refer to:
*Notre language
*André Le Nôtre
*
See also
*Notre Dame (disambiguation)
Notre Dame, French for "Our Lady", a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, most commonly refers to:
* Notre-Dame de Paris, a cathedral in Paris, France
* Un ...
'' (''Our friend the King'') by French journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
Gilles Perrault
Gilles Perrault (born Jacques Peyroles; 9 March 1931) is a French writer and journalist.
Biography
Born in Paris, Perrault attended the Collège Stanislas de Paris and then studied at the Institut d'études politiques, eventually becoming a l ...
in 1990 that the issue was raised at a political level. Thomas Miller, who at the time was Director for North African Affairs at the State Department, said in an oral history that he was contacted by American citizen Nancy Touil, who said her husband M’Barek Touil had been languishing in Tazmamart for nearly two decades. Miller inserted a talking point in the background papers for President George H.W. Bush for his 1991 meeting with King Hassan. Bush raised the issue, much to the King's dismay.
In 1991, and after pressure from international human rights groups and some foreign governments, 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 'Ala ...
decided to close down the prison and release the last remaining detainees. Some fled abroad, others stayed in Morocco, but were prevented from discussing their experiences in Tazmamart publicly.
Human conditions
According to some former detainees and human rights groups, conditions at Tazmamart were extremely harsh. While torture and ill treatment occurred, the appalling prison conditions were the biggest threat to the lives of inmates.
The prisoners were put in cramped single-person underground cells 24 hours a day. They were allowed no human contact, no light, and very little in the way of food or protection from the summer heat, or winter cold. There was no medical treatment for injuries caused by torture and diseases like tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
. The food rations were also extremely minimal. Executions have allegedly taken place in the prison. All in all, 35 prisoners died, more than half of the people incarcerated at Tazmamart in the eighteen years before the prison was closed in 1991.
Post-''Years of lead''
Despite reports on the prison by several human rights organizations, the government officially denied all knowledge of the prison until 1991 when pressure from the US forced the release of the surviving prisoners. The camp was closed along with several others of its kind, but Tazmamart remains a particularly powerful symbol of the " years of lead" in Morocco. Ex-prisoners have staged memorial marches to the prison.
Rumours persist about the existence of other such camps in Morocco, as it has been documented that secret detention and torture of suspects continues, possibly in collaboration with the American CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
(see Black site
In military terminology, a black site is a location at which an unacknowledged black operation or black project is conducted. According to the Associated Press, "Black sites are clandestine jails where prisoners generally are not charged with a ...
s).
Publications by former inmates
Several of the former inmates have since written books on their sometimes decades-long stay in Tazmamart, for example Ali Bourequat
Ali Bourequat is a successful Moroccan/Tunisian businessman who was secretly arrested and incarcerated for years by the Moroccan government in the infamous secret prison Tazmamart.Alain Brossat, Jean-Louis Déotte, ''La mort dissoute: disparitio ...
's ''In the Moroccan King's Secret Gardens'' and Ahmed Marzouki
Ahmed Marzouki ( ar, أحمد المرزوقي; born 1947 in Bouajoul, Commune of Sidi Yahya Bni Zeroual, Taounate Province) is a former military Moroccan officer who was forcibly disappeared after the failed coup attempt of 1971.
Marzouki ...
's ''Tazmamart: Cell No. 10''. The Moroccan writer Tahar Ben Jelloun
Tahar Ben Jelloun ( ar, الطاهر بن جلون; born in Fes, Morocco, 1 December 1944) is a Moroccan writer. All of his work is written in French although his first language is Darija. He became known for his 1985 novel ''L’Enfant de Sab ...
has written ''This Blinding Absence of Light
''This Blinding Absence of Light'' (french: Cette aveuglante absence de lumière) is a 2001 novel by the Moroccan writer Tahar Ben Jelloun, translated from French by Linda Coverdale. Its narrative is based on the testimony of a former inmate at ...
'', based on the experiences of one Tazmamart prisoner.
Aziz Binebine
Aziz ( ar, عزيز, , is an Arabic male name. The feminine form of both the adjective and the given name is Aziza (disambiguation), Aziza.
''Aziz'' in Arabic language, Arabic is derived from the triliteral, root ''ʕ-z-z'' with a meaning of "st ...
wrote his account ''Tazmamart : 18 Years in Morocco's Secret Prison'' in 2009. It was translated into English in 2019 by Lulu Norman
Lulu may refer to:
Companies
* LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer
* Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer
* Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia
* Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a ...
and published by Haus
Haus is a Germanic word meaning ''house''. It may refer to:
People
* Anton Haus (1851–1917), Austrian grand admiral, fleet commander of the Austro-Hungarian Navy in World War I
* Georg Haus (1895–1945), German general
* Hermann A. ...
, winning the English PEN
Founded in 1921, English PEN is one of the world's first non-governmental organisations and among the first international bodies advocating for human rights. English PEN was the founding centre of PEN International, a worldwide writers' associati ...
Award in the process.
References
Further reading
*Ali Bourequat
Ali Bourequat is a successful Moroccan/Tunisian businessman who was secretly arrested and incarcerated for years by the Moroccan government in the infamous secret prison Tazmamart.Alain Brossat, Jean-Louis Déotte, ''La mort dissoute: disparitio ...
(1998), ''In the Moroccan King's Secret Gardens'', Maurice Publishers
*Ahmed Marzouki
Ahmed Marzouki ( ar, أحمد المرزوقي; born 1947 in Bouajoul, Commune of Sidi Yahya Bni Zeroual, Taounate Province) is a former military Moroccan officer who was forcibly disappeared after the failed coup attempt of 1971.
Marzouki ...
(2000), ''Tazmamart Cellule 10'' (''Tazmamart Cell 10''), Editions Paris Méditerranée; Casablanca: Tarik Editions ()
**Interview with Mr. Marzouki
*Tahar Ben Jelloun
Tahar Ben Jelloun ( ar, الطاهر بن جلون; born in Fes, Morocco, 1 December 1944) is a Moroccan writer. All of his work is written in French although his first language is Darija. He became known for his 1985 novel ''L’Enfant de Sab ...
(2001), ''Cette aveuglante absence de lumière'' (''That Blinding Absence of Light''), Editions du Seuil and New Press, () -
**Summaries of the boo
* Christine Daure-Serfaty (2002), ''Tazmamart'', ()
*Aziz BineBine
Aziz ( ar, عزيز, , is an Arabic male name. The feminine form of both the adjective and the given name is Aziza (disambiguation), Aziza.
''Aziz'' in Arabic language, Arabic is derived from the triliteral, root ''ʕ-z-z'' with a meaning of "st ...
(2021) ''Tazmamart: Eighteen Years in Morocco’s Secret Prison'' translated by Lulu Norman, Haus, ()
External links
Amnesty International
Statement on the detention of Ali Bourequat and his two brothers
Royal Gulag
article from The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...
{{Human rights in Morocco
Buildings and structures completed in 1972
Defunct prisons in Morocco
Human rights abuses in Morocco
Torture in Morocco
Politics of Morocco