Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
10CASABLANCA19
2010-02-09 14:43:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Casablanca
Cable title:  

MOROCCAN CHRISTIANS COMPLAIN OF GOVERNMENT

Tags:  KIRF PGOV PHUM MO 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0001
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHCL #0019/01 0401443
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 091443Z FEB 10
FM AMCONSUL CASABLANCA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8629
INFO RUCNMGH/MAGHREB COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
C O N F I D E N T I A L CASABLANCA 000019 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/MAG AND DRL/IRF

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/09/2020
TAGS: KIRF PGOV PHUM MO
SUBJECT: MOROCCAN CHRISTIANS COMPLAIN OF GOVERNMENT
CRACKDOWN

REF: A. 09 CASABLANCA 228

B. 09 RABAT 336

Classified By: Consul General Elisabeth Millard for Reasons 1.4 (b)
and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L CASABLANCA 000019

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/MAG AND DRL/IRF

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/09/2020
TAGS: KIRF PGOV PHUM MO
SUBJECT: MOROCCAN CHRISTIANS COMPLAIN OF GOVERNMENT
CRACKDOWN

REF: A. 09 CASABLANCA 228

B. 09 RABAT 336

Classified By: Consul General Elisabeth Millard for Reasons 1.4 (b)
and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Government of Morocco (GOM) security
forces raided a meeting of 11 Moroccan Christian
converts and one American Citizen (AMCIT) in a rural
village south of Marrakech on February 4. The
police temporarily detained the Moroccans, expelled
the AMCIT and confiscated their computers, bibles,
and other religious materials. This is the third
such incident involving a raid on a meeting of
Moroccan Christians and the expulsion of a foreigner
for alleged proselytizing activities in the past
year and highlights GOM's increasing sensitivity to
this issue. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) On February 4 at 1400 hours a substantial
group of gendarmes raided a house in the village of
Amizmiz in the High Atlas Mountains about 56
kilometers south of the city of Marrakech.
According to Abdellatif El Hamidi, a Moroccan
Christian convert present at the house, more than 50
gendarmes, including a colonel from Rabat and two
captains from Marrakech, participated in the raid.
Hamidi claimed there were 16 Moroccan Christians
present (including five young children),two
Moroccan Muslims, and an AMCIT. The two Muslims
present were the elderly mother of two of the
Christians and the sixteen-year old nephew of
Hamidi.


3. (C) The gendarmes allegedly confiscated
computers, cell phones, digital cameras and
religious material including bibles. The security
forces brought the people to the gendarme station in
Tahanaoute where they were held until 0400 hours the
following morning. The Moroccans were then released
without charges but their possessions remained in
police custody. The AMCIT was eventually
transported to Casablanca airport before being
expelled on February 7 at 0200 hours on a flight to
Frankfurt. The GOM afforded the AMCIT access to
consular services and the US Consulate's ACS Officer
was in contact with him during the time it took to
arrange for a departure ticket.


4. (C) According to Hamidi, the Christian group was
held for an extended period of time because the
gendarme colonel from Rabat allegedly was waiting
for approval for their release from the new Minister
of Justice Mohammed Naciri. Hamidi also alleged
that he and others were interrogated and subject to
veiled threats by a non-uniformed member of
Morocco's internal intelligence service, the
Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire (DST),
for their religious activities.


5. (C) The GOM quickly published details of the
incident framing it as the expulsion of an AMCIT
illegally engaged in proselytizing activities.
Hamidi and other Moroccan Christians argued in
conversations with PolOff that the police raid, like
the recent ones in Saadia (Ref A) and Casablanca
(Ref B),were an attack on their religious
activities and only involved those already of the
Christian faith. They stressed that none of the
participants were involved in proselytizing. Hamidi
also informed PolOff that the house used in Amizmiz
belongs to an American couple, who have lived in
Amizmiz for nearly decade and lent the house to
Hamidi for this express purpose. Hamidi said that
the American family is out of Morocco at the moment
and expressed concern that the GOM may prevent them
from returning to Morocco.


6. (C) In a separate meeting, Abdellatif Banhamou
and Hmami Zouhair, leaders of the Moroccan
Christians in Casablanca, told Poloff they believed
the GOM is seeking to isolate them from any foreign
contact. They recounted incidents of GOM officials
putting pressure and harassing family members and
employers of Moroccan Christians to entice them to
renounce their beliefs. They argued that Moroccan
Christian community meetings with foreign religious
instructors have been commonplace for years but that
in the last 12 months the GOM has been breaking up

these meetings and expelling the foreigners.


7. (C) COMMENT: The GOM is increasingly sensitive to
the activities of the small domestic Christian
community, especially when a foreigner is involved.
The authorities have been careful to not prosecute
any of their nationals while simultaneously sending
indirect warnings to the established expatriate
Christian groups in Morocco to tread lightly in
their dealings with Moroccan nationals (Ref B).
This is the third such raid in the past year. We
believe it is a clear indication of the GOM's
decisions to crack down on what it perceives to be
the threat of foreign proselytizing.

MILLARD