Morocco detains 19 Algerians without trial

Moroccan authorities have detained 19 Algerians since September 10th in 2012 without charges after they were arrested by cost guards and taken to the east of the Kingdom for investigation.

The detainees who were transferred to Oudjda undergo corporal and moral wrongdoings following a diplomatic crisis fabricated by Morocco.

According to the office of Human Rights League in the province of Chlef, a detainee sent a letter to his family in Algeria in October, telling about their trip story. “It was 10 pm. We met, picked up our

luggage and went into the boat.”

“More than 3 hours later, we arrived to a place where you can only see water and the sky. Some of us were seasick. We walked in the dark and we stopped for 10 minutes. Hours later, a new day came,” said the

letter.

“After 1pm, we were arrested by Moroccan cost guards and we were violently taken to the east of the Kingdom for investigation. Then, we were transferred to Oujda for the same reason. We were questioned by

immigration department and border guards. We have not appeared in court so far and we were not released. We faced corporal and verbal wrongdoings,” it added.

The chief of the human rights league office Houari Keddour told Echorouk official letters were transmitted to the Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal and foreign minister Ramtane Laamamra to release the

Algerian detainees. Letters were also sent to a number of Moroccan human rights activists for the same purpose.

He condemned immoral acts on the detainees and called for their immediate release.