VZCZCXYZ0003
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHCL #0056/01 0881542
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 281542Z MAR 08
FM AMCONSUL CASABLANCA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8008
INFO RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT 8258

UNCLAS CASABLANCA 000056 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR CA/OCS/ACS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CASC PINS PGOV MO
SUBJECT: Services, Safety and Management Ongoing Concerns in 
Moroccan Prisons 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Six Americans have been arrested in Morocco in the 
past five months, more than were arrested in all of FY07.  The 
recent increase has expanded Post's knowledge of the prison system 
and the issues Americans face while incarcerated, including few 
provisions for their basic needs, bribery, and poor security. End 
Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) The arrests have been made on a variety of charges 
including drug trafficking, robbery, sex tourism, desertion and 
failure to pay child support.  Sentences have ranged from 15 days to 
six years.  Police incarcerated prisoners in Tangiers, Marrakesh, 
Sale and Casablanca and Post has recently visited each prison at 
least once, if not repeatedly.  The majority of cases involve dual 
nationals, including Moroccan-Americans, a Nigerian-American and a 
German-American.  There are currently five Amcits in prison. 
 
PRISONERS EXPECTED TO PROVIDE FOR THEMSELVES 
 
¶3. (SBU) The primary issue for prisoners is organizing sufficient 
support for their personal needs.  The prison provides food of poor 
quality and prisoners are expected to augment it with food provided 
by their family or by buying food from the prison cantina. 
Similarly, clothes, sleeping gear, and personal hygiene products 
must all be provided by the prisoner, his or her family or purchased 
from the prison.  Prisoners can set up accounts with the prison to 
purchase needed goods.  Foreign prisoners often trade what they have 
or receive from their families for other goods that they need if 
they do not have access to cash. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Crowding is another major issue.  In Casablanca's Okacha 
prison, the largest in Morocco, one of the wardens estimated that 
there are approximately 8,000 male prisoners and another 300 female 
prisoners in a space that was designed to hold 5,000 prisoners. 
Often 10-15 men are squeezed into a single cell.  Most prisons, 
though, have special sections for foreigners that are generally less 
crowded and have better conditions. 
 
SECURITY OFTEN LACKING 
 
¶5. (SBU) Security at the prisons varies but is often relaxed.  The 
guards do not carry weapons nor do they inspect everyone entering 
the prison.  There are few metal detectors and all searches are done 
by hand with no additional equipment.  The metal detectors that are 
in place are not functional on a day-to-day basis and may only be 
used when an official is visiting the prison.  Okacha, which has 
approximately 8300 prisoners, has 500 guards; a ratio of 16 
prisoners to a single guard. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Family is allowed to visit and bring large bags of goods 
into the prison for an incarcerated relative.  During visiting 
hours, families gather close to the primary prison gate and wait to 
be let in.  From there, they proceed to a general waiting area where 
they undergo an overall inspection before proceeding into another 
waiting area to meet with their relative.  Relatives of wealthy and 
well-connected prisoners are not inspected to and do not wait in the 
general area.  They are quickly escorted into the prison where they 
can meet with their relative in nicer waiting rooms.  Anything they 
bring to the prisoner then receives a general inspection before the 
prisoner carries it back to his cell. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The prison in Sale, known to hold some of Morocco's worst 
criminals and terrorists, had tight security outside of the prison 
but seemingly relaxed internal security.  Before entering, 
credentials for ConOff and Locally Engaged Staff were repeatedly 
checked.  However, once inside, ConOff and LES were escorted into a 
locked general waiting area and left for almost an hour with more 
than 40 prisoners but no prison guards.  Some prisoners were meeting 
with their lawyers in side rooms while others were talking with 
other inmates. ConOff and LES had to search for someone to help them 
contact the individuals they were there to see.  This is the only 
time we were left with inmates in a general holding area in the 
course of more than 10 visits to different prisons. 
 
INMATES NEGOTIATE BETWEEN "OFFICIAL" RULES AND REALITY 
 
¶8. (SBU) Bribery is common and prisoners quickly learn to navigate 
between "official" rules and the prison reality.  For example, 
officially, cell phones are prohibited in prison.  In reality, all 
of our prisoners have managed to access cell phones regularly to 
contact our offices and their families or friends. A prison warden 
at Okacha alleged that one American prisoner was regularly using 
drugs in prison - though officially such behavior is illegal.  Post 
is also aware of prisoners getting into knife fights despite 
officials rules prohibiting weapons.  Many prisoners have also 
managed to arrange for access to cash without our help or the 
prison's official involvement. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Management at the prisons is mixed.  Post is dependent on 
its relationships with individual wardens for help and information. 
 
 
Other guards and wardens generally do not know how to respond to our 
requests.  For ACS staff, prison management is a concern.  Most 
prison records are kept by hand and there is little evidence the 
prisons use computers to track prisoners or any related data such as 
visitor information.  Okacha is working to computerize its records 
but it is a slow process that has yet to yield results.  This is a 
particular issue when dealing with Moroccan-Americans who are often 
not identified as Americans until Post visits them and thus are kept 
in the general prison. (Note: Post is usually notified about the 
arrest of a Moroccan-American by a family member or by the 
individual, not the police.) Once identified as Americans, they are 
moved to a nicer section for foreigners but first the prison must 
locate the prisoner and their records. 
 
¶10. Comment: Based on Post's experience, we are revising our SOPs 
and training materials covering arrests to better respond to the 
concerns and issues outlined above. 
 
Greene