Arbitrary Detention: UN expert group launches first information-gathering visit to Morocco

GENEVA, Switzerland, December 6, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention will undertake its first official visit to Morocco* to assess the situation of deprivation of liberty in the country.

During the ten-day visit from 9 to 18 December 2013, the group of independent experts will visit various detention facilities, including prisons, police stations and detention centres for migrants in irregular situations, in order to gather first-hand information from detainees, their families or representatives on their cases of deprivation of liberty.

The Working Group will also engage with relevant authorities as well as civil society organizations, in the cities of Rabat, Casablanca, Salé, Tanger and Laâyoune.

The delegation will consist of the Chair-Rapporteur Mr. Mads Andenas (Norway), Mr. El Hadji Malick Sow (Senegal) and Mr. Roberto Garretón (Chile). They will be accompanied by staff from the Working Group's Secretariat at the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

A press conference on the preliminary observations of the Working Group will be held at La Tour Hassan Hotel, Rabat, on 18 December 2013 at 15:00.

The final report of the visit will be presented to the Human Rights Council in 2014.

(*) The Working Group will also visit Laâyoune, Western Sahara, on 15 and 16 December 2013.