Morocco Denies Amnesty International Claims on Gdeim Izik Prisoner Case

General view of Tiflet Prison, where Sahrawi activist Mohamed Lamine Hadi was being held (Asharq Al-Awsat)
General view of Tiflet Prison, where Sahrawi activist Mohamed Lamine Hadi was being held (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Morocco Denies Amnesty International Claims on Gdeim Izik Prisoner Case

General view of Tiflet Prison, where Sahrawi activist Mohamed Lamine Hadi was being held (Asharq Al-Awsat)
General view of Tiflet Prison, where Sahrawi activist Mohamed Lamine Hadi was being held (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Morocco’s General Delegation for Prison Administration denied on Tuesday recent claims by Amnesty International regarding torture and human rights violations against a prisoner detained in connection with the Gdim Izik Incidents.

The country’s prison authority said in a statement that the prisoner, detained at the local prison of Tiflet 2 over Gdim Izik case which dates back to 2010, “has never been subjected to any assault by the prison staff.”

“Like all inmates, he enjoys all the rights stipulated in the law regulating prisons.”

The Gdeim Izik incident involved a protest camp, known as Gdeim Izik, which was set up by a group of people demanding greater economic and social opportunities.

Moroccan security forces dismantled the protest camp in November 2010, which lead to clashes with Polisario members, who killed 12 police officers.

The Administration said that Amnesty International is “spreading a set of lies by seizing the propaganda of the enemies of Morocco’s territorial integrity, and trying to turn it into facts without making any effort to verify its authenticity.”

In addition, it described the NGO’s practices as a “blatant violation of the basics of the human rights work that the organization claims to practice.”

In its recently published report on “the state of the world’s human rights,” Amnesty International claimed that “torture and other ill-treatment continued with impunity both inside and out of prisons, particularly against Sahrawi activists.”



Erdogan Says Türkiye Ready to Help with Ceasefire in Gaza

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, November 19, 2024. (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, November 19, 2024. (Reuters)
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Erdogan Says Türkiye Ready to Help with Ceasefire in Gaza

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, November 19, 2024. (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, November 19, 2024. (Reuters)

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Türkiye was ready to help in any way possible to establish a lasting ceasefire in Gaza, and expressed satisfaction with the ceasefire agreement that has come into effect in Lebanon.

Türkiye, which has fiercely criticized Israel's offensives in Gaza and Lebanon, has previously said it discussed a potential truce in Gaza with Palestinian armed group Hamas and gave the group recommendations on how to proceed with the negotiations.

On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden said the United States would again push for an elusive ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza "with Türkiye, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and others".

"We are stating that, as Türkiye, we are ready to provide any contribution for the massacre in Gaza to end and for a lasting ceasefire to be achieved," Erdogan told members of his ruling AK Party in parliament.

Asked about Biden's remarks, a Turkish official told Reuters a ceasefire in Lebanon without a truce in Gaza was not enough to achieve regional stability, adding Ankara was ready to help reach a deal in Gaza, just as it had supported previous efforts.

"We are again ready to help achieve a permanent ceasefire and a lasting solution in Gaza," the official said.

While Ankara has repeatedly traded insults with Israel since the outbreak of the Gaza war, it has not officially severed ties with it. Unlike Israel and its Western partners, Türkiye does not consider Hamas a terrorist organization and regularly hosts some of its senior members.