Human rights defender Ibtissame Lachgar sexually assaulted during detention
On 10 September 2016, Ibtissame Lachgar and her co-defendant were released from detention where they spent 48 hours. The human rights defenders were arrested in Rabat after the police recognized their affiliation to MALI movement, when a short dispute occurred with a street seller. They were thereafter placed in custody and brought before the prosecution. The human rights defenders believes that it is linked to their activism.
Ibtissame Lachgar is a Moroccan human rights defender and co-founder of the MALI Movement (Mouvement Alternatif pour les Libertés Individuelles). She is a strong advocate of sexual and reproductive rights, women's rights, LGBT rights, and the right to an abortion. She has been leading several campaigns on individual freedoms and freedom of religion, including a picnic in open air during ramadan to protest against article 222 of Moroccan Penal Code and the persecution of non-fasters. Ibtissame is a member of the 20 February movement in Morocco, who put pressure on the government and monarchy to make moves against corruption, human rights abuses, enforced disappearances, ill-treatment and arbitrary detention, and towards democracy, dignity and secularism.
On 10 September 2016, Ibtissame Lachgar and her fellow human rights defender were released from detention after 48 hours. The human rights defenders were arrested in Rabat after the police recognized their affiliation to MALI movement, following a short dispute with a street seller. They were thereafter placed in custody and brought before the prosecution. Based on their interaction with the police, the human rights defenders believe that their detention was linked to their activism.
Ibtissame Lachgar is a Moroccan human rights defender and co-founder of the MALI Movement (Mouvement Alternatif pour les Libertés Individuelles). She is a strong advocate of sexual and reproductive rights, women's rights, LGBT rights, and the right to an abortion. She has led several campaigns for individual freedoms and freedom of religion, including a picnic in open air during ramadan to protest against article 222 of Moroccan Penal Code and the persecution of non-fasters. Ibtissame is a member of the 20 February movement in Morocco, which pressured the government and monarchy to rectify corruption, human rights abuses, enforced disappearances, ill-treatment and arbitrary detention. The movement called for democracy, dignity and secularism in Morocco.
On the night of 8 September 2016, Ibtissame and her fellow defender had a short conflict with a street seller after advising the merchant not to have small children selling items on the street after dark. The merchant called the human rights defenders' comments an invasion of privacy and alerted the police. The police arrested the human rights defenders after recognizing their identity as activists and LGBT rights defenders. Police brought the two defenders to the police station, arbitrarily accusing them of "public drunkenness." The police specifically cited their human rights activism in the verbally attack that followed. Ibtissame was sexually assaulted when the police confiscated a phone she was keeping under her dress.
On 10 September 2016, the human rights defenders were brought before the prosecution in Court of First Instance in Rabat. The hearing, which lasted almost an hour, ended with a dismissal pronounced by the prosecutor.
This follows several act of harassments against the human rights defender on social media, following her campaigns which calling for same-sex marriage to be legally recognised in Morocco.
Front Line Defenders is concerned about the repeated acts of harassment, gendered attacks and arbitrary detention against Ibtissame Lachgar and believes that the actions against her are motivated by her peaceful and legitimate work in the defence of human rights in Morocco.
