Morocco had already known nearly two decades of repression when Fatna El Bouih was arrested in 1977.
It was the period that became known as the ‘Years of Lead,’ under the rule of King Hassan II. Dissidents were arrested, tortured and executed, newspapers closed and books banned. Unknown thousands were forcibly disappeared into horrific detention and torture facilities.
After her release, five years later, El Bouih stayed quiet for a period, “[but] I discovered very quickly that I couldn’t remain silent and inactive,” she explains.
“I started my activism in new structures that emerged and really started to grow…when there was the prospect of a new era, the possibility for change.”
In the 1990s, Morocco started to take stock of what happened.
Fatna el Bouih speaking at an international conference in 2018 – © Le Relais
“There was an amnesty in favour of political prisoners, some detention centres and torture facilities were closed down, and new structures for human rights were created,” El Bouih remembers. “There was this whole human rights movement that emerged, which was the direct result of the struggle of activists who were behind bars and never stopped their struggle.”
El Bouih became active in the civil society movement, joining the Justice and Truth Association for victims of violations perpetrated during the Years of Lead, and then co-founding the Moroccan Observatory of Prisons in November 1999. Gender equality also became a crucial part of El Bouih’s activism She was one of the founders of one of the first counselling centers for female victims of domestic violence in Morocco, and also formed l’Association d’Aide aux Femmes en Detresse (an association to help women in distress).
According to El Bouih, one of the defining lessons from Morocco’s experience is that “gaining some rights does not mean that those rights should ever be taken for granted.”
“It’s a never-ending struggle to preserve these gains, because the ‘enemy’—dictatorship—is always just waiting around the corner, ready at any point to sabotage all your gains. So it’s important to remain vigilant…to protect and preserve the rights that were fought for and achieved.”
“I say to myself that I can forgive those who tortured me, those who detained me, those who perpetrated hideous crimes against me. I can even forgive the state. But I want to guarantee that my daughters won’t experience the same fate as me.”
She remembers how, in the dark days of Morocco’s Years of Lead, it was a coordination with the outside world that really started pressuring the ruling monarchy into reforming its repressive practices.
“When there were so many restrictions, so much repression, it was through the outside world that we were really able to make our voices heard.”
That’s why El Bouih believes the INOVAS network can act as a safe space for victims and survivors as well as those struggling for better rights around the world.
“It’s a safe space for victims and survivors where they can freely and safely think together and share their experiences. This gives us, as victims and survivors, the momentum and security to continue the struggle to support each other.”