Morocco
Abdellatif H.
Type of liability
Personne physique
Alleged perpetrator(s)
Abdellatif HAMMOUCHI
Nationality of alleged perpetrator(s)
Moroccan
Legal classification of crime(s)
Torture and acts of barbarity
Complicity in torture and acts of barbarity
Source of the complaint
NGO
Victims
Ongoing proceedings
oui
Regime
2 - 689-1 CPP
Summary of facts
Appointed head of the General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance (DGST) by King Mohammed VI of Morocco in 2007, and having become Director of the General Directorate for National Security (DGSN) on May 15, 2015, the head of Moroccan intelligence, Abdellatif H., is accused of having tortured three French and/or Moroccan citizens, Adil L., Zakaria M. and Naâma A., between 2008 and 2010, at the secret detention center in Temara and in the Gdeim Isik protest camp located in Laayoune.
The secret Temara center was initially created to serve as a clandestine detention center for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), in order to carry out enhanced interrogations of persons suspected of terrorism.
Torture of Adil L.
On September 30, 2008, Adil L. was arrested in Tangier and taken to Temara, where he was allegedly tortured for three days. Transferred to another center in Larache, he was allegedly violently beaten, humiliated and forced to sign a document in Arabic, although he did not understand that language. It was on the basis of this document and of confessions obtained under torture that Adil L. was sentenced to ten years in prison for drug trafficking. He was transferred to France in May 2013.
Torture of Zakaria M.
On September 27, 2010, Zakaria M., a French-Moroccan citizen, was arrested at Rabat airport and then allegedly tortured for 4 days at the Temara center by the Moroccan counter-intelligence services, on the orders and in the presence of Abdellatif H. After a trial deemed “unfair” by Human Rights Watch, he was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment without suspension.
Torture of Naâma A.
On November 7, 2010, Naâma A., a Moroccan citizen, was arrested and tortured for several days by the Moroccan intelligence services headed by Abdellatif H. He was allegedly forced to sign confessions obtained under torture and was sentenced by a Moroccan military court to 30 years’ imprisonment on February 16, 2013.
Amnesty International France recalls that everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law.
Legal proceedings
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;><strong>Torture of Zakaria M.<br />
</strong></span>February 21, 2014: Zakaria M. filed a complaint for “torture”.<br />
July 19, 2016: Zakaria M.’s complaint for torture was dropped (decision not to prosecute) due to the lack of confirmation of the suspect’s presence in France.<br />
June 13, 2022: Zakaria M.’s lawyer, Joseph Breham, filed a new request for investigative measures with the Paris court, seeking the hearing of King Mohammed VI.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;><strong>Torture of Adil L.<br />
</strong></span>May 21, 2013: Adil L. and the NGO ACAT filed a complaint for “acts of torture” with the investigating judge of the Paris High Court. A judicial investigation was opened.<br />
In December 2013: a judge was assigned to the case.</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;>Torture of Naâma A.<br />
</span></strong>February 20, 2014: Naâma A., a Moroccan national, and his wife Claude M., a French national, filed a complaint with civil party application for “torture” and “complicity in torture”. On the same day, having learned that Abdellatif H. was present on French territory, ACAT also filed a complaint.<br />
In 2014: Naâma A.’s complaint for torture was rejected due to the lack of confirmation of the suspect’s presence in France. The couple appealed.<br />
March 4, 2014: ACAT filed a complaint against the State of Morocco on behalf of Naâma A. before the United Nations Committee against Torture. Naâma A., supported by ACAT, submitted an individual communication to the United Nations Committee.<br />
April 20, 2015: the United Nations Committee against Torture declared the communication concerning Morocco admissible.<br />
June 10, 2016: the Paris Court of Appeal held the civil party application admissible. The Public Prosecutor’s Office appealed to the Court of Cassation.<br />
November 8, 2016: the Court of Cassation quashed the judgment of the Court of Appeal, on the grounds that only the status of direct victim of French nationality at the time of the commission of an offense committed abroad confers jurisdiction on French law and French courts on the basis of Articles 113-7 of the Penal Code.</p>
Legal issues
Complaint
Names of NGOs / Victim(s)
Adil Lamtasi
Naâma Asfari
ACAT
Legal basis for jurisdiction (article)
113-7 (Naâma Asfari) PC
Court of Assizes judgment
Court of Appeal ruling
Court of Cassation ruling
Sources
La Dépêche, « L'ex-champion de boxe dénonce la torture au Maroc », 2014
Le Desk, « La plainte de Zakaria Moulin contre Abdellatif Hammouchi classée sans suite », 2016
Reuters, « Une plainte visant le chef des renseignements marocain classée », 2016
Le Point, « Pegasus : Abdellatif Hammouchi, l’espion marocain qui embarrasse la France », 2021