Dutch Moroccans are concerned about an extradition treaty with Morocco. Outgoing Minister Yesilgöz (Justice and Security, VVD) signed the bilateral treaty in the Moroccan capital Rabat last week. This makes it easier to extradite suspects and convicted criminals between both countries.
Yesilgöz called the treaty an important step in “the joint fight against international organized crime.” But there is fear among Dutch Moroccans that Morocco will abuse the treaty to capture dissidents.
“I am honestly in shock,” says Moroccan Rif activist Nawal Benaissa. She was one of the leaders of the Hirak, a protest movement that emerged in 2016 against the deprivation of the Rif area. Morocco suppressed the protests and sentenced the leaders to years in prison. Benaissa fled to the Netherlands in 2019, where she was granted political asylum. “I don’t understand how the Netherlands makes a deal with a country like Morocco, knowing that they continuously violate human rights and lock people up with false charges,” she says on the phone. “According to Morocco I am a criminal. I am facing serious charges, such as organizing illegal protests that endanger state security. Why? Because I demand basic human rights: a hospital for cancer patients, a university and employment. It is a dictatorship and the Netherlands is now doing business with it.”
Asylum seekers who have exhausted all legal remedies
The treaty stems from a deal between the Netherlands and Morocco, where NRC previously reported. Morocco would take back asylum seekers who have exhausted all legal remedies if the Netherlands would assist the country in other areas. For example, it should no longer criticize the human rights situation in Morocco. “That is precisely the problem,” says Abdou Menebhi of the Moroccan volunteer organization Emcemo. “You conclude an extradition treaty with countries that have a constitutional state. But in Morocco you have no real legal protection as a citizen. You can be convicted without a lawyer, judges are not independent, everything is politicized.”
The fear is that Morocco, with the treaty in hand, can go after critics abroad, says Saïd Bouddouft of Rif Alert, a hotline for Moroccan Dutch people concerned about foreign interference. He was called by several people last week about the treaty. “They wonder whether they can continue to speak out about the abuses in Morocco.”
According to the Ministry of Justice and Security, these fears are unfounded. “Every request for extradition is assessed by the judge,” says a spokesperson. “The treaty states that there will be no cooperation in persecution on political grounds. So if there are serious reasons to believe that the offense is related to a person’s political affiliation, the extradition request may be refused.”
Political purposes
The activists are not happy about it. They point out that Morocco more often uses accusations of criminality against activists. For example, YouTuber Abdelfattah Abril was extradited from Turkey to Morocco at the beginning of this year, because his videos were allegedly incitement to ‘commit criminal offences’. Abril, who tells in his YouTube videos what he believes is wrong with Moroccan society, is now serving a four-year prison sentence.
Morocco previously tried to have the Islamic influencer Mohamed Hajib from Germany arrested. Him too asks in videos pays attention to the human rights situation in Morocco on social media, and mocks the Moroccan king, whom he invariably refers to as “the French resident general” – a colonial administrator. As his videos became increasingly popular in Morocco in 2020, the country demanded that Germany extradite him on suspicion of incitement to violence. Both the German judiciary and Interpol note that this request is politically motivated and that there is no criminal offense.
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The Moroccan security services make no secret of the fact that they are chasing dissident Moroccans abroad. In 2021, the services submitted a list to the court in Rabat of Moroccans living abroad, who are suspected of offenses such as “insulting government authorities” and “fabricating and spreading false accusations.” In the eyes of the security services, they are unfairly smearing the kingdom’s reputation via social media.
Journalists convicted
Critical voices in Morocco itself are also muzzled through criminal law, as a report describes Human Rights Watch which was published last year. Some examples are the well-known journalists Omar Radi, Maati Monjib, Hajar Raissouni and Taoufik Bouachrine. Radi and Bouachrine were sentenced to years in prison for rape and sexual abuse. Monjib was charged with money laundering and fraud. Raissouni was convicted of illegal abortion and extramarital sex. According to human rights organizations, the charges are trumped up. What these journalists have in common is that they were critical of the government and corruption in the country.
Activist Nawal Benaissa herself is not afraid that the Netherlands will extradite her, because human rights organizations such as Amnesty International protect her. “I’m worried about the other Riffians here in the Netherlands. There are many who have spoken out critically in recent years. What I fear is that Morocco will now request the Netherlands to extradite these people under the guise of drug crime. If they want you, they will make up a charge.”
The first name is already circulating in the Moroccan press: coffee shop owner Saïd C. from Roosendaal. Morocco says it wants him because of drug trafficking, but at the same time he is considered a major financier of the Rif protests. His extradition was stopped in 2018 by the judge, who considered it likely that C. would not receive a fair trial in Morocco. But last week, Moroccan media wrote that it is expected that the Moroccan authorities will again turn to the Netherlands for Saïd C.. This time with an extradition treaty in hand.