Mohamed Ghacha describes his sufferings in the late 80s and early 90s

Mohamed Ghacha, one of the victims of past human rights abuses, reports the suffering and humiliation he and his family endured during his detention in the late 1980s.

Part of the public hearings into human rights breaches, held Wednesday, in the Southern town of Errachidia, Ghacha related, in moving testimony, the suffering and violations he and his family were subjected to by the police before and after his arrest on allegations of belonging to the movement called "groupe islamiste des 71 de Marrakech."

At the hearing, initiated by the Justice and Reconciliation Commission (IER), Ghacha said the suffering of his family continued after his arrest on August 2, 1985 in Khemisset and his transfer to Khenifra where he sustained during interrogation different forms of torture and inhumane treatment.

The third stage of his dismal journey, said Ghacha, sent him to the detention center of Derb Moulay Chérif (Casablanca), after which he was brought before the appellate court of Marrakech and sentenced to 30 years of prison.

Ghacha, 40, asserted he endured multiple forms of torture and was transferred to several penitentiaries in the country before he was granted royal pardon on July 21, 1995, after nine years of detention.