Families of resistance fighters protest Macron’s Morocco visit

In Morocco, families of resistance militants and victims of enforced disappearances during the struggle for independence are protesting French president Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Rabat and the worsening human rights situation in the country. 

Macron arrived in Morocco on 28 October, marking his first visit to Rabat after years of diplomatic tensions, primarily due to France’s ambiguous stance on Western Sahara—a territory Morocco claims as its own.

In July, Paris voiced support for Rabat’s autonomy plan for the region, ending the stalemate.

The second day of Macron’s visit to Rabat coincides with the National Day of the Disappeared, commemorating those who went missing during Morocco’s 44-year fight against the French and Spanish protectorates.

This date also marks the 59th anniversary of the abduction and assassination of Mehdi Ben Barka, a leading figure in the anti-colonialist movement.

Ben Barka, also an opponent of King Hassan II, was kidnapped in Paris on 29 October 1965 and was later tortured and murdered.

His case remains unresolved, with his body never found. A preliminary trial in 1967 established that Moroccan intelligence services, with the complicity of French police, orchestrated the abduction and killing.

Yet, the ten successive investigating judges of the longest investigation in France have failed to lift the veil of secrecy surrounding this state affair. 

In a letter published in Orient XXI on 28 October, Bachir Ben Barka, Mehdi’s eldest son, wrote, “The King of Morocco and the French President are in a position to take the appropriate actions, to make the necessary decisions for this case to move out of the deadlock.”

Neither Rabat nor Paris have ever officially addressed the case.

Families of independence militants and human rights activists are set to gather this evening outside Rabat’s train station, just a few meters from parliament, where President Macron delivered a lengthy speech about Franco-Moroccan friendship despite France’s brutal and bloody colonial past.

The Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) has also called for an official apology from the French President for his country’s “crimes against humanity” during the French colonisation of Morocco.

A report by Anadolu Agency noted that at least 100,000 Moroccans, many of them civilians, were killed during the war of independence. 

While the exact number of individuals who disappeared during the French protectorate (1912-1956) remains uncertain, reports indicate that numerous political activists faced enforced disappearances, particularly in the 1950s amid rising nationalist sentiments.

Established in 1999, Morocco’s Independent Arbitration Commission (IIA) received over 5,000 claims related to enforced disappearances, compensating approximately 7,700 victims and their families by 2003.

These disappearances were not solely victims of French colonisation but also of the post-independence regime of the late King Hassan II, whose rule (1960s to 1990s) has been termed the “Years of Lead.”

Local groups indicate that several thousand individuals faced abduction and torture by the state during this repressive period, with estimates of the disappeared ranging from 4,000 to 20,000.

The AMDH has warned in a statement about the resurgence of the “Years of Lead” as freedom of speech diminishes in Morocco.

“Macron should put an end to France’s support for despotism in Morocco and stop encouraging the Moroccan state to play the role of the gendarme against migrants and asylum seekers heading to Europe”, they added.

Thus far, Macron’s visit has been heavily focused on economic collaboration, resulting in 22 agreements with various Moroccan ministries valued at 10 billion euros ($10.6 billion), although specific contract details remain undisclosed.

His parliamentary address today touched upon some global issues, including a call for a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, as well as support for Morocco’s autonomy plan in Western Sahara, a demand challenged by the Algeria-backed separatist Polisario Front.