Morocco: Police kill three during GenZ 212 protests
Three people have been killed in Morocco during protests on Wednesday evening calling for better public services and an end to corruption.
Authorities have reacted forcefully to the protests, which erupted on Saturday, by banning and suppressing rallies.
Most protests so far have been largely non-violent - a principle that the organisers, a youth collective called GenZ 212, have repeatedly stated.
However, violence erupted on Tuesday and continued on Wednesday with the killing of three young men by police.
The men were shot dead by gendarmes as they allegedly attempted to "storm" a base in Lqliaa, near the southern city of Agadir, the Moroccan news agency MAP reported, citing local authorities.
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According to the account, the suspects had bladed weapons and set fire to a vehicle, before storming the base in an "attempt to steal ammunition, equipment and service weapons".
According to Le Monde, this version has been partially denied by a local representative of GenZ 212, who said that protesters, angered by the police crackdown, did go to the base, which was the target of numerous projectiles, but did not attempt to enter by force.
While initial reports indicated two deaths, Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch, in his first speech since the protests began, announced later on Thursday that a total of three men - whose identities have not been released - were killed in these circumstances.
Meanwhile in Sale, people wearing hoods set fire to police cars and a bank without chanting any slogans, an AFP journalist noted.
On Tuesday evening, demonstrations had led to clashes with law enforcement in the city of Oujda and in Inzegane, a suburb of Agadir.
More than 140 police vehicles and 20 private cars were set on fire, and protesters stormed government offices, banks and businesses, according to Rachid el-Khalfi, spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior.
More than 400 people were arrested following the violence, which injured nearly 300 people, mostly law enforcement officers, Khalfi added.
A young man was reportedly seriously injured in Oujda after being run over by a police van.
Hundreds of arrests
In Rabat, more than 200 demonstrators were detained during the first three days of the protests.
Most have been released, according to the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH), but 134 people, including six still in detention, have been charged and will stand trial, their lawyer told AFP.
The government's handling of protests has been denounced by several human rights organisations as well as two opposition parties, the Justice and Development Party and the Federation of the Democratic Left.
“Systematic violence [has been used] against a group of young people who were demonstrating peacefully,” Hakim Sikouk, of the AMDH, told AFP.
“Security forces responded violently. We condemn these arrests and deem it unacceptable to take a security-oriented approach to the social demands of a group of young people.”
Late on Tuesday afternoon, the coalition of the government majority led by Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch finally broke its silence. In a statement, it said that it "listened to and understood the social demands" of the young demonstrators and was "ready to respond to them in a positive and responsible manner".
It also authorised, for the first time, the demonstrations that took place on Wednesday.
The recently formed GenZ 212 group, whose instigators are unknown, presents itself as a "space for discussion" on "issues that concern all citizens, such as health, education and the fight against corruption", and claims to reject "violence" and act out of "love for the country and King", Mohammed VI.
During Wednesday's demonstrations, which brought together hundreds of people in major cities such as Casablanca, Tangier and Tetouan, protesters added Akhannouch's "departure" to their demands, according to the AFP.
On Thursday, GenZ 212 announced new demonstrations that the group insists must be "peaceful".
"GenZ 212 announces that peaceful demonstrations will be organised today, as part of a civilised and responsible expression of our demands," the collective posted on Discord.
"We assure the public and the authorities that our demonstrations will be entirely peaceful," the group added, stating that it "rejects all forms of violence, vandalism or rioting" and urging protesters "to respect the peaceful nature" of the movement.
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