There was this whole human rights movement that emerged, which was the direct result of the struggle of activists who were behind bars and never stop… - Fatna El Bouih

It’s a never-ending struggle to preserve these gains, because the ‘enemy’—dictatorship—is always just waiting around the corner, ready at any point to sabotage all your gains. So it’s important to remain vigilant…to protect and preserve the rights that were fought for and achieved.

There was an amnesty in favour of political prisoners, some detention centres and torture facilities were closed down, and new structures for human rights were created.

As a former political prisoner, I feel this enormous psychological relief and unburdening since the death of King Hassan II and note the changes in me and in Morocco. It is only during this “new era” (‘ahd jadid) that I became really active. Before I just wrote, now I feel useful. For example, my husband and I are among the founding members of the Moroccan Observatory of Prisons (OMP) officially organized November 13, 1999. I experienced prison, I wanted to help other prisoners, and I found a way to do so through the NGO movement. We write reports, visit prisons, and last Ramadan, we organized festivities first in the women’s and then in the men’s sections of Oukacha Penitentiary. We are working to establish programs to help prisoners reintegrate into society by paying attention to their individual familial and social contexts, and we work to change laws concerning current prison sentencing practices. The prison authorities have been receptive.