Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07RABAT1050
2007-06-25 12:49:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Rabat
Cable title:
SENIOR JCO LEADER SOUNDS OFF ON ELECTIONS AND GOM
how-toVZCZCXRO4933 PP RUEHBC RUEHDBU RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHLH RUEHPW RUEHROV DE RUEHRB #1050/01 1761249 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 251249Z JUN 07 FM AMEMBASSY RABAT TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6786 INFO RUCNISL/ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 3155
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 RABAT 001050
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/21/17
TAGS: KISL PTER PGOV PHUM MO
SUBJECT: SENIOR JCO LEADER SOUNDS OFF ON ELECTIONS AND GOM
REPRESSION, CLAIMS INCREASING PUBLIC SUPPORT
REF: A. RABAT 947
B. RABAT 396 AND PREVIOUS
Classified by Ambassador Thomas Riley for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 RABAT 001050
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/21/17
TAGS: KISL PTER PGOV PHUM MO
SUBJECT: SENIOR JCO LEADER SOUNDS OFF ON ELECTIONS AND GOM
REPRESSION, CLAIMS INCREASING PUBLIC SUPPORT
REF: A. RABAT 947
B. RABAT 396 AND PREVIOUS
Classified by Ambassador Thomas Riley for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).
1. (C) Summary: During a June 20 meeting, a senior leader of
"Al-Adl wal Ihsane" - the Justice and Charity Organization
(JCO),Morocco's large quasi-legal Islamist political
organization, told poloQ that the group was adhering to its
rejection of participation in the political system but was
not actively promoting a boycott of the September
parliamentary elections. He repeated complaints of GOM
repression of the group, but claimed the government's efforts
were futile - the JCO's membership is growing, he asserted.
Mutawakil charged that GOM policies were to blame for the
growth of extremism in the country and warned that Morocco's
current governance model was "unsustainable." He called on
the USG to put pressure on the GOM to pursue meaningful
political reform. End summary.
--------------
Elections: No Boycott but No Participation
--------------
2. (C) Abdelwahed Mutawakil, a member of the Justice and
Charity Organization's Guidance Bureau and chairman of its
political committee, told poloff during a June 20 meeting
that the group was not actively promoting a boycott of the
September parliamentary elections. The JCO would nonetheless
adhere to its rejection of participation in Morocco's
political system, he emphasized, and asserted that most
Moroccans shared the view that the elections were irrelevant
in a country where the parliament is powerless and authority
is concentrated in the Palace and a small elite that
surrounds it. "We don't need to call for a boycott, the
people are already boycotting," he stated, referring to low
voter participation rates.
3. (C) Mutawakil maintained that the results of the
parliamentary elections would not yield any difference in the
state of the country, which he maintained was characterized
by stagnation and oppression, led by a corrupt and complacent
oligarchy. Even if the (legal) Islamist Party of Justice and
Development (PJD) substantially increased its representation,
they would be unable to effect any change, he argued. "We
have said to them so many times, why go inside the government
when you cannot change anything?" Mutawakil repeated the
JCO's position that only comprehensive constitutional reform
(reducing or eliminating the power of the monarchy) could
solve Morocco's underlying problems. Mutawakil was
scathingly critical of Morocco's political parties for their
failure to actively promote constitutional reform. In the
absence of this reform, political participation was
meaningless, he argued.
--------------
Repression Continues...
--------------
4. (C) Mutawakil claimed that the GOM's campaign of
repression against the JCO, launched in the spring of 2006 in
response to the group's "open house" recruitment and public
outreach drive, was continuing. He cited the police's May 23
suppression of a press conference staged by JCO spokesman
Fathallah Arsalane (ref A) as a case in point. "Can you
imagine, that a government which uses the rhetoric of
democracy and free expression would go to such lengths to
prevent a peaceful news conference?" he asked. The incident
typified the GOM's approach to the group, he stated, claiming
that police regularly acted to prevent the JCO from
organizing picnics, beach outings, and any other public
activities.
5. (C) Mutawakil further cited the case of Rachid Ghulam, a
popular singer and JCO member, who was convicted in March of
adultery after being arrested at a brothel. The JCO
maintains that Ghulam had been abducted, tortured, and dumped
at the brothel by plainclothes police, who further arranged
for him to be arrested there, as part of an effort to defame
Ghulam and the group as a whole. (Comment: However, an
Embassy human rights contact recently told us that their
enquiries indicated that Ghulam was a regular client of the
brothel, well known by its staff. End comment.)
6. (C) Mutwakil also cited the case of female JCO member
Hayat Boueida, who was stabbed in May. The JCO claims the
attack was carried out by security forces in retaliation for
her refusal to become a police informer. Many JCO members
are pressed to become informers, he asserted, "but this is
OK, as we have nothing to hide...We have rejected underground
RABAT 00001050 002 OF 003
activities." Mutawakil said that he currently counted 12
JCO members in prison - all had been convicted of murder in
the early 1990s in a case involving the death of a university
student in Oujda. They had been convicted unfairly, and
denied all opportunities for a royal pardon, or parole,
merely because they were JCO members, he claimed.
--------------
...But JCO Membership Grows (?)
--------------
7. (C) The government's continuing repression of the JCO,
Mutawakil maintained, is the best evidence that the GOM is
aware of the group's substantial and growing support from the
Moroccan public. He asserted that, despite the government's
efforts to keep the group contained, ("They know it is
impossible to erradicate us,") the JCO's membership is
actually growing. Mutawakil declined to offer any statistics
on the total size of the JCO ("We don't like to talk about
this"). European academics have estimated the group to have
up to 200,000 adherents in Morocco and more in the Moroccan
diaspora in Europe. The group's presence is particularly
pronounced in Moroccan communities in the Spanish cities of
Malaga, Murcia, and Valencia, a Spanish diplomat recently
told poloff.
--------------
GOM Practices Breed Extremism
--------------
8. (C) Asked about the threat of terrorism in Morocco, in the
wake of suicide bombings in Casablanca in March and April,
Mutawakil blamed the GOM. "If you suppress moderates (like
the JCO),this is what will happen," he maintained. "We call
for dialogue and peaceful action and people see how we are
oppressed and arrested," he stated, some conclude there is no
point in peaceful means when the government reacts in this
way. The people are suffering from poverty, neglect, and
oppression, and their frustration boils over, he continued.
He repeatedly emphasized that the JCO would never abandon its
commitment to peaceful action and its firm rejection of
violence.
--------------
USG Should Press the GOM
--------------
9. (C) Mutawakil said the JCO welcomed contact with the
Embassy, but hoped the USG would press the GOM to pursue
meaningful political reform. He dismissed reforms undertaken
to date as superficial, meaningless, and intended only for
international consumption. Unless there is strong external
pressure for change, the GOM will never undertake meaningful
democratic reforms, he emphasized. Morocco's current course
is unsustainable, he argued, and would lead to disaster.
Asked to elaborate on his scenario for disaster, Mutawakil
only shook his head and said "anything is possible."
--------------
Comment
--------------
10. (C) We are unable to either verify or disprove
Mutawakil's claims of growing public support and membership
in the JCO. The GOM's enmity toward the group is principally
based on its anti-monarchial stance. We observe that the
government's efforts to contain the JCO are carefully
calibrated. It is noteworthy that no JCO members or leaders
are currently imprisoned (with the exception of the 12 from
the 1990s murder case). We would not exlude that the
government could be using the Sufi/Marabouti JCO as a counter
to the spread of Salafism in the country and specifically as
a rival to the Islamist PJD. However, there is clearly a
pattern of state harrassment and repression and there are
numerous pending criminal and civil cases against JCO
members.
11. (C) The GOM appears willing to tolerate the group's
existence as long as it remains behind closed doors, while
ventures into the public tend to be forcefully suppressed.
We do not share Mutawakil's dire prognosis for Morocco.
Unfortunately, we have to agree with his citation of the
concentration of power in the executive, state corruption,
and poverty as core challenges facing the country and
obstacles to the emergence of democratic institutions. Voter
participation rates will be watched closely in September.
Turnout was measured at 51 percent in the 2002 polls . We
doubt that the JCO's stance against participation will in
itself have a measurable effect on this fall's polls. End
comment.
RABAT 00001050 003 OF 003
******************************************
Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website;
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/rabat
******************************************
RILEY
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/21/17
TAGS: KISL PTER PGOV PHUM MO
SUBJECT: SENIOR JCO LEADER SOUNDS OFF ON ELECTIONS AND GOM
REPRESSION, CLAIMS INCREASING PUBLIC SUPPORT
REF: A. RABAT 947
B. RABAT 396 AND PREVIOUS
Classified by Ambassador Thomas Riley for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).
1. (C) Summary: During a June 20 meeting, a senior leader of
"Al-Adl wal Ihsane" - the Justice and Charity Organization
(JCO),Morocco's large quasi-legal Islamist political
organization, told poloQ that the group was adhering to its
rejection of participation in the political system but was
not actively promoting a boycott of the September
parliamentary elections. He repeated complaints of GOM
repression of the group, but claimed the government's efforts
were futile - the JCO's membership is growing, he asserted.
Mutawakil charged that GOM policies were to blame for the
growth of extremism in the country and warned that Morocco's
current governance model was "unsustainable." He called on
the USG to put pressure on the GOM to pursue meaningful
political reform. End summary.
--------------
Elections: No Boycott but No Participation
--------------
2. (C) Abdelwahed Mutawakil, a member of the Justice and
Charity Organization's Guidance Bureau and chairman of its
political committee, told poloff during a June 20 meeting
that the group was not actively promoting a boycott of the
September parliamentary elections. The JCO would nonetheless
adhere to its rejection of participation in Morocco's
political system, he emphasized, and asserted that most
Moroccans shared the view that the elections were irrelevant
in a country where the parliament is powerless and authority
is concentrated in the Palace and a small elite that
surrounds it. "We don't need to call for a boycott, the
people are already boycotting," he stated, referring to low
voter participation rates.
3. (C) Mutawakil maintained that the results of the
parliamentary elections would not yield any difference in the
state of the country, which he maintained was characterized
by stagnation and oppression, led by a corrupt and complacent
oligarchy. Even if the (legal) Islamist Party of Justice and
Development (PJD) substantially increased its representation,
they would be unable to effect any change, he argued. "We
have said to them so many times, why go inside the government
when you cannot change anything?" Mutawakil repeated the
JCO's position that only comprehensive constitutional reform
(reducing or eliminating the power of the monarchy) could
solve Morocco's underlying problems. Mutawakil was
scathingly critical of Morocco's political parties for their
failure to actively promote constitutional reform. In the
absence of this reform, political participation was
meaningless, he argued.
--------------
Repression Continues...
--------------
4. (C) Mutawakil claimed that the GOM's campaign of
repression against the JCO, launched in the spring of 2006 in
response to the group's "open house" recruitment and public
outreach drive, was continuing. He cited the police's May 23
suppression of a press conference staged by JCO spokesman
Fathallah Arsalane (ref A) as a case in point. "Can you
imagine, that a government which uses the rhetoric of
democracy and free expression would go to such lengths to
prevent a peaceful news conference?" he asked. The incident
typified the GOM's approach to the group, he stated, claiming
that police regularly acted to prevent the JCO from
organizing picnics, beach outings, and any other public
activities.
5. (C) Mutawakil further cited the case of Rachid Ghulam, a
popular singer and JCO member, who was convicted in March of
adultery after being arrested at a brothel. The JCO
maintains that Ghulam had been abducted, tortured, and dumped
at the brothel by plainclothes police, who further arranged
for him to be arrested there, as part of an effort to defame
Ghulam and the group as a whole. (Comment: However, an
Embassy human rights contact recently told us that their
enquiries indicated that Ghulam was a regular client of the
brothel, well known by its staff. End comment.)
6. (C) Mutwakil also cited the case of female JCO member
Hayat Boueida, who was stabbed in May. The JCO claims the
attack was carried out by security forces in retaliation for
her refusal to become a police informer. Many JCO members
are pressed to become informers, he asserted, "but this is
OK, as we have nothing to hide...We have rejected underground
RABAT 00001050 002 OF 003
activities." Mutawakil said that he currently counted 12
JCO members in prison - all had been convicted of murder in
the early 1990s in a case involving the death of a university
student in Oujda. They had been convicted unfairly, and
denied all opportunities for a royal pardon, or parole,
merely because they were JCO members, he claimed.
--------------
...But JCO Membership Grows (?)
--------------
7. (C) The government's continuing repression of the JCO,
Mutawakil maintained, is the best evidence that the GOM is
aware of the group's substantial and growing support from the
Moroccan public. He asserted that, despite the government's
efforts to keep the group contained, ("They know it is
impossible to erradicate us,") the JCO's membership is
actually growing. Mutawakil declined to offer any statistics
on the total size of the JCO ("We don't like to talk about
this"). European academics have estimated the group to have
up to 200,000 adherents in Morocco and more in the Moroccan
diaspora in Europe. The group's presence is particularly
pronounced in Moroccan communities in the Spanish cities of
Malaga, Murcia, and Valencia, a Spanish diplomat recently
told poloff.
--------------
GOM Practices Breed Extremism
--------------
8. (C) Asked about the threat of terrorism in Morocco, in the
wake of suicide bombings in Casablanca in March and April,
Mutawakil blamed the GOM. "If you suppress moderates (like
the JCO),this is what will happen," he maintained. "We call
for dialogue and peaceful action and people see how we are
oppressed and arrested," he stated, some conclude there is no
point in peaceful means when the government reacts in this
way. The people are suffering from poverty, neglect, and
oppression, and their frustration boils over, he continued.
He repeatedly emphasized that the JCO would never abandon its
commitment to peaceful action and its firm rejection of
violence.
--------------
USG Should Press the GOM
--------------
9. (C) Mutawakil said the JCO welcomed contact with the
Embassy, but hoped the USG would press the GOM to pursue
meaningful political reform. He dismissed reforms undertaken
to date as superficial, meaningless, and intended only for
international consumption. Unless there is strong external
pressure for change, the GOM will never undertake meaningful
democratic reforms, he emphasized. Morocco's current course
is unsustainable, he argued, and would lead to disaster.
Asked to elaborate on his scenario for disaster, Mutawakil
only shook his head and said "anything is possible."
--------------
Comment
--------------
10. (C) We are unable to either verify or disprove
Mutawakil's claims of growing public support and membership
in the JCO. The GOM's enmity toward the group is principally
based on its anti-monarchial stance. We observe that the
government's efforts to contain the JCO are carefully
calibrated. It is noteworthy that no JCO members or leaders
are currently imprisoned (with the exception of the 12 from
the 1990s murder case). We would not exlude that the
government could be using the Sufi/Marabouti JCO as a counter
to the spread of Salafism in the country and specifically as
a rival to the Islamist PJD. However, there is clearly a
pattern of state harrassment and repression and there are
numerous pending criminal and civil cases against JCO
members.
11. (C) The GOM appears willing to tolerate the group's
existence as long as it remains behind closed doors, while
ventures into the public tend to be forcefully suppressed.
We do not share Mutawakil's dire prognosis for Morocco.
Unfortunately, we have to agree with his citation of the
concentration of power in the executive, state corruption,
and poverty as core challenges facing the country and
obstacles to the emergence of democratic institutions. Voter
participation rates will be watched closely in September.
Turnout was measured at 51 percent in the 2002 polls . We
doubt that the JCO's stance against participation will in
itself have a measurable effect on this fall's polls. End
comment.
RABAT 00001050 003 OF 003
******************************************
Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website;
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/rabat
******************************************
RILEY