WASHINGTON, June 21, 2013 (SPS)- Human Rights Watch (HRW) castigated Friday Moroccan justice for "unfair" trials of Saharawi activists, urging Moroccan courts to set aside evidence based on "statements made to the police under torture or ill-treatment."
In a report released Friday, the New York-based international NGO says Moroccan courts give sentences, against Saharawi defendants, based on declarations made under torture or falsified by police.
HRW underlines that there will not be a fair trial unless courts set aside all declarations made to the police under torture or abuse.
Entitled "Just Sign Here: Unfair Trials based on Confessions to the Police in Morocco," the 100-page report study in detail five trials that took place between 2009 and 2013.
The trials concern 77 Saharawis, including activists claiming the right to self-determination.
The report underlines that Moroccan courts have convicted 76 of the 77 defendants, 38 of whom are still in prison.(SPS)
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