Years of lead

A period in the history of Morocco, during the rule of king Hassan II, when many dissidents were arrested, murdered or disappeared, newspapers were closed and books banned. While some count the years of lead as beginning with independence in 1956, repression reached a climax in the sixties, to wind down only in the early nineties after diplomatic pressures mainly from the United States. The period is considered definitely over after the more liberal-minded Mohammed VI succeeded his father on the throne. Human rights organizations have now formed to examine the impact of state repression during the years of rule, and while this is almost unprecedented in the Arab world, doubts exist as to their actual independence from the governement and their ability to reach culprits in the makhzen.

Related Topics:
Morocco - Hassan II - Disappeared - Independence - 1956 - United States - Mohammed VI - Human rights - Arab - Makhzen

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There are few reliable lists of victims for the years of lead, but political killings came in the hundreds, forced disappearances in the thousands, and arbitrary arrests and torture affected many even outside the opposition networks. Also, hundreds were killed and thousands arrested in connection with demonstrations and strikes against the government, which were often treated as political challenges to the regime even when the goals of the organizers were limited to demands for better wages or working conditions. Protest rioting became so intense during some years in the seventies that tanks occasionally patrolled the streets of major Moroccan cities.

Related Topics:
Opposition - Strike

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

If the campaigns of the newly independent Moroccan state in the fifties against rebellious berber tribes in the Rif mountains are included in the years of lead, the numbers of victims rise dramatically.

Related Topics:
Berber - Tribe - Rif

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One of the most famous victims of the Moroccan state in this period was socialist dissident Mehdi Ben Barka, a celebrated third world politician who was hunted down and murdered in Paris.

Related Topics:
Mehdi Ben Barka - Paris

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After the attempted military coups against the king in the 1970s, officers were rounded up and sent to secret detention camps such as Tazmamart where many died. In 1975, Morocco invaded and annexed Western Sahara. While political tensions temporarily cooled down in Morocco proper, death squads and torturers went to frenzied work in Western Sahara, tallying thousands of killings and disappearances among the resisting Sahrawis.

Related Topics:
Coup - Tazmamart - 1975 - Western Sahara - Sahrawi

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~