Mohamed Dihani in an Exclusive Interview: "Moroccan Intelligence Fabricates Terrorism Inside Prisons"

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Sun, 02/02/2025 - 20:44

Rome (Italy) 2 February 2025 (SPS) – In an exclusive interview with Algerian news website “Africa News”, Sahrawi human rights activist Mohamed Dihani exposed the methods used by Moroccan intelligence in "creating terrorism" from within prisons. 
He revealed how detainees are manipulated and exploited to serve security agendas in a strategy aimed at justifying repression, cracking down on dissidents, and promoting Morocco’s alleged role in counterterrorism.
Dihani, who was imprisoned for years in both secret and official Moroccan prisons on fabricated charges, stated that he was subjected to direct pressure from Moroccan intelligence, led by Abdellatif Hammouchi, to work for them in exchange for his release.
He added: "I was personally offered the chance to collaborate with them as a Sahrawi against my own people. They wanted me to recruit a list of names from Italy and Western Sahara to be part of a fabricated terrorist organization that would carry out attacks. These acts would then be falsely attributed to Sahrawis as part of a propaganda war to discredit the Sahrawi cause."
Dihani explained that his refusal to accept this offer cost him years of brutal torture in Moroccan prisons. He emphasized that this was not an isolated case but part of a systematic policy that Moroccan security agencies have been implementing for decades against both Sahrawis and Moroccans.
He asserted that some of the so-called "terrorist cells" dismantled by Moroccan authorities were, in fact, groups that had been manipulated inside prisons, such as the "Andalus Cell" and the "Amgala Cell." According to him, the members of these groups had never set foot in Western Sahara and had always been in Moroccan detention facilities. Despite this, Moroccan media claimed they were arrested while smuggling weapons from Algeria.
Dihani added: "The secret prison of Temara was not just a detention center but a factory for breeding terrorism, where certain detainees were directed to become tools in security schemes in exchange for their release and financial rewards."
Beyond these practices, Dihani described the inhumane conditions inside Moroccan prisons, where psychological and physical torture is systematically used, particularly against Sahrawi detainees and Moroccan dissidents.
He confirmed that he spent over six months in the secret Temara prison, where he endured continuous torture for 23 days before being transferred to public prisons. There, he spent five more years in solitary confinement as punishment for successfully leaking documented testimonies about human rights violations inside Moroccan detention centers.
In addition to physical repression, Dihani highlighted that Moroccan security agencies use other methods to silence opponents, including media smear campaigns orchestrated under direct supervision of intelligence services. 
He cited cases like historian Maati Monjib, journalists Fouad Abdelmoumni and Afaaf Bernani, and human rights activist Aziz Ghali, who were subjected to organized defamation efforts to tarnish their reputations and undermine their credibility.
Despite these repressive measures, Dihani affirmed that both Sahrawi and Moroccan activists continue to resist these oppressive policies, whether inside prisons or in exile. 
He stated that "the Moroccan regime relies on repression and deception to maintain power. However, the more it resorts to brutality, the more it exposes its authoritarian nature, making it harder to conceal its actions from local and international public opinion."
This explosive interview sheds light on the hidden operations of Moroccan intelligence, which not only falsely claims to fight terrorism but also actively creates and exploits it as a pretext for repression and silencing opposition voices. As these practices continue, international pressure on Rabat to reveal the truth and hold those responsible for these violations accountable is mounting. (SPS)
090/500/60 (SPS)

For the full interview in Arabic, click the link below:
"How Morocco’s Intelligence Chief Creates Terrorism from Inside Prisons" – Africa News
https://africanews.dz/285-3/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1UNkQRoJ9_HYWmR…

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