Morocco NGO warns over Islamist prisoner hunger strike

Water cannon vehicle enters Sale prison near Rabat A Moroccan rights group warned the government Thursday of a possible “humanitarian catastrophe” over the health of some 30 Islamist prisoners on hunger strike. The Moroccan League for the Defence of Human Rights expressed its concern  in a letter to Islamist Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane about the  prisoners, held at seven prisons and on hunger strike since the beginning of  October.
It said they were demanding better prison conditions.
On Wednesday, the Moroccan Association for Human Rights also expressed concern over the state of the detainees.
Thousands of Islamists were arrested for alleged links to terrorism after a series of suicide attacks in Casablanca killed 33 people in May 2003.
In the wake of the Arab Spring of 2011, dozens were freed, including four radical Salafist leaders, but many more remain in jail.
In August, the families of dozens of the prisoners demonstrated in Rabat  demanding the release of their relatives, claiming they were innocent.
Source: AFP