Morocco: Deadly force and mass arrests on peaceful protesters, including human rights defenders
Front Line Defenders strongly condemns reports concerning the unlawful use of force and a wave of arbitrary arrests by Moroccan authorities targeting peaceful protesters, including human rights defenders, across the country. The protests, which have taken place in multiple cities including Rabat, Casablanca, Agadir, Oujda, Tangier, and Fes, were called for by youth groups denouncing the deterioration of social and economic rights in Morocco and calling for improved access to education, healthcare, work, and social dignity.
Since 27 September 2025, when peaceful protests first began in Morocco, authorities have responded with disproportionate force, mass detentions, and judicial harassment in a clear attempt to suppress dissent. Initially called for 27 and 28 September, the protests have continued through 29 and 30 September, as well as 1 and 2 October, reflecting growing public frustration. Peaceful protesters, human rights defenders and local civil society organisations are now also demanding the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained during the protests.
Reports received by Front Line Defenders document a severe crackdown on the protesters, with security forces using violent tactics to disperse the crowds. These include ramming protesters with vehicles, employing armed weapons, and carrying out arbitrary detentions of hundreds of peaceful protesters, amongst them prominent local human rights defenders, artists, and young peaceful activists including minors. The situation has escalated in a grave and deadly manner.
On 1 October 2025, in a deeply troubling development, three young protesters were killed by the authorities, marking a severe and deadly escalation in the state's response. On 30 September 2025, a police vehicle was driven into protesters, leaving at least one young person with severe injuries, for which they are currently hospitalised.
While many of the arbitrarily detained were initially released,including all the known human rights defenders, authorities have since placed a significant number under police custody and initiated judicial proceedings against them under charges including participation in an unarmed gathering, disobedience, obstructing traffic, and incitement to commit misdemeanours and felonies. This represents a clear pattern of judicial harassment aimed at punishing and intimidating protesters, including human rights defenders and activists.
Reports received by Front Line Defenders indicate serious violations of the detainees' fundamental rights. Security forces are reported to have engaged in discriminatory profiling, arbitrarily arresting young people in the street based on their clothing or appearance. Many of those detained were subjected to conditions that violate the absolute prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. Additionally, the defence team reported that women protesters were specifically targeted with gender-based harassment and intimidation, constituting a further breach of Morocco's international human rights obligations.
The current wave of repression reflects a broader pattern of the shrinking of civic space in Morocco, where human rights defenders, youth activists, and student movements face severe restrictions and reprisals for voicing dissent. Such actions contravene Morocco’s obligations under international law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Front Line Defenders is gravely concerned about the excessive use of force which has resulted in several reported cases of severe injuries, hospitalisations, and killings. The organisation calls on the authorities in Morocco to immediately cease the use of violence against peaceful protesters as a means of suppressing dissent and to release all those arbitrarily detained in line with Morocco’s international human rights obligations and commitments. Front Line Defenders further calls on the international community, including the United Nations, to closely monitor the situation and calls for a thorough, impartial and effective investigation into the violence committed by Moroccan security forces.
