Rabat: “The Moroccan approach to managing these gatherings stands out for its preventive and peaceful nature,’ emphasized Bouaka, currently a member of the Scientific Council of the International Institute for Geopolitical Studies (IIEG), based in Montpellier, in a statement to MAP.
According to Agence Marocaine De Presse, he noted that those interventions were carried out “in accordance with legal procedures, including sound warnings and reminders of the prohibition order, and involved the deployment of unarmed forces, without resorting to conventional crowd dispersal methods.”
Highlighting the peaceful removal of participants and the limited, prosecutor-supervised arrests, the human rights expert underscored that “this approach demonstrates that it is needed to contain illegal mobilizations without the use of violence.”
In this respect, Moroccan authorities, he said, are showing a clear intention to “protect society from malicious disturbances while preserving public well-being and maintaining citizens’ trust.”
This posture, Bouaka added, “reinforces the image of the State that, while not immune to challenges, continues to pursue a path of socio-economic and institutional progress.”
In his view, Morocco’s approach “stands in stark contrast to other international contexts where police interventions are frequently marked by the use of force, triggering cycles of violence and protester radicalization.”
In Europe, he explained, movements such as the “Yellow Vests,” and more recently “Bloquons Tout” in France, as well as anti-austerity protests in Greece, have been marred by violent clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement. In Latin America, social movements have at times escalated into urban riots, he recalled.
In Morocco, by contrast, he observed, “the emphasis has been on preventive and proportionate handling, reflecting an intent to avoid escalation and to cut short the manipulative influence of anonymous actors on social media.”
He concluded that this peaceful management of unauthorized gatherings “reflects a will to reinforce internal stability in a troubled global environment,” stressing that “this is not about ignoring social or political challenges, but rather demonstrating that public order can be upheld without violence, and that genuine political transformation occurs at the ballot box, not through anonymous, opaque mobilizations.”