Morocco

Repressive measures in Morocco are being stepped up. The five activists arrested in Ksar-ek-kebir in the aftermath of the May Day demonstrations have been sentenced to three years in prison! They need the solidarity of the workers and youth of the world. Please take up the issue in your country and join the protest movement.

Further to yesterday's report, we publish some pictures of the demonstration in support of the political prisoners of KK yesterday in front of the court. The sit-in was composed of young left wing activists, members of the union, of the ANCDM (the unemployed youth association), of the AMDH (the Human Rights Association) and of activists of the youth of Voie Democratique.

A number of left-wing activists have been arrested and sentenced to severe terms in prison in Morocco. The regime is cracking down because there is a growing wave of militancy in the country. Please sign and send off the protest letter here provided.

Workers at the Riekebir shoe factory in Morocco work under terrible conditions with dangerous chemicals. They have set up a union and are fighting for better and safer working conditions. The bosses have launched a counter campaign of sackings and intimidation. We are launching the following appeal in support of the workers at the factory.

The National Union of Moroccan students recently organised a week of political and cultural activities with the aim of reaching new layers of youth with their ideas. From meetings to film shows, the National Union was able to explain their ideas and discuss current events in Latin America and the world with a wide layer of students.

Yesterday a newly formed Moroccan Marxist group was publicly launched on the website www.marxy.com. The group, called the Communist League of Action, brings together students and young workers from different towns in the country.

Beginning on March 8, International Working Women’s Day, the “Rank and File” Tendency of the National Student Union in Morocco organised a week of activities around the question of the emancipation of women. We publish here a report of the week of action. Picture gallery available here.

Some 180 students gathered in December at the University of Tetouan in the north of Morocco for the first ever meeting in solidarity with Venezuela. This historic initiative in Morocco and in the Arab world was taken by the left-wing students of the TAWAJOH AL KAAIDI, the young activists of the ‘rank-and-file’ tendency (‘tendance basistes’). This activity was part of a whole week of debates and discussions at the university about the right to education and the right to work.

The sacked Dewhirst workers in Morocco are building up support for their struggle. Messages from Spain, Uruguay, Belgium, the USA, Britain and Sweden have been a big morale booster for them. The conditions in the factory are atrocious. Please keep the solidarity and protest messages coming in.

We urge you to support this group of Moroccan workers who have been sacked simply for standing up for their rights. The British clothing manufacturer Dewhirst, linked to Marks and Spencer, pays Moroccan workers a pittance. Send protest messages and make them see that workers around the world will not accept such brutal policies.

On February 24, 2004 a large earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale rocked the Rif region in northern Morocco. More than one year later, hundreds of families continue to live in utter misery. Now other tremors are hitting the region.

When King Hassan II died at the end of the last century all expectations of change were concentrated in the figure of his son Mohammed VI. Fascination grew over this young and apparently modern monarch who announced he would transform his country, establish the rule of law and lead it successfully into the 21st century. Expectations were running high. Only one year after his arrival, the royal reform movement stalled - the alliance of the Throne and the socialists has not delivered the results the masses had hoped and waited for. This is a recipe for future explosions in the class struggle.

On Saturday forty-one people were killed and many more were injured in Casablanca, Morocco, in a terrorist attack which came only four days after the synchronised suicide bombings on expatriate residences in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. This striking event, and the other recent attacks, are clear indications that the so-called "war on terror" was far from finished with the fall of Saddam Hussein.

We have received this report about the brutal repression at Sidi Ben Abdellah University last May which left 4 students dead. The news about these clashes have not been reported anywhere outside Morocco and the Moroccan press has given an extremely biased version of them. We urge our readers to express solidarity and spread the news of what actually happened.