The statements quoted by journalist Francisco Carrión in his newspaper article published on Sunday in El Independiente mostly come from individuals and organizations known for serving agendas hostile to the Kingdom's higher interests and its territorial integrity, stated Mohamed Salah Tamek, the General Delegate for Penitentiary Administration and Reintegration (DGAPR), on Monday. In a clarification following the article titled "What Sánchez did not Visit in Morocco: Overview of Moroccan Prisons," Tamek emphasized that "the majority of statements and testimonies reported by the journalist in his hateful attack against Morocco belong either to individuals and organizations known to serve agendas hostile to the higher interests of the Kingdom and its territorial integrity, or to certain voices within the local Sahrawi population who openly support the 'Polisario Front' and its mentor Algeria. In their testimonies, these parties cannot adhere to the principles of honesty and sincerity." Tamek, also the Sheikh of the Ait Oussa tribe, addressed the inaccuracies and tendentious allegations in the article, pointing out that its author, known for his hostility towards the Kingdom, seized the opportunity of the visit of the Spanish Prime Minister to Morocco to attack him by publishing blatant lies on a series of issues related to the situation of prisons in Morocco and the conditions of detention. He emphasized that "this failed attack against Morocco is part of an internal Spanish political settling of scores and a, probably paid, service rendered by the article's author to political parties in Spain and Algeria, known for their hostility towards the Kingdom, knowing that the close relationship between the Kingdoms of Morocco and Spain does not serve the interests of these parties." All the figures mentioned in the article, which the journalist claims to have gathered from the Moroccan Prison Observatory's report, were actually published by the DGAPR in its annual report or press releases, demonstrating that it adopt s a communication strategy based on the principles of transparency and constructive interaction. Addressing the issue of prison overcrowding in Morocco, the General Delegate reminded that "the DGAPR was the first to inform the public opinion and administrative and judicial institutions of the Kingdom about the exacerbation of this phenomenon and its dangerous effects not only on the security of institutions and inmates but also on their role in reform and qualification, as well as on detention conditions." He added that one cannot expect a tendentious article to inform about a constraint that the DGAPR is diligently trying to overcome through sustainable practical solutions, in a responsible approach and in close collaboration with the mentioned institutions. The author of the article also failed to specify that the issue of prison overcrowding and its negative effects on detention conditions is not unique to Morocco but also affects neighboring countries of Spain such as France and Belgium, indicating his malicious intent to harm the Kingdom's reputation, Tamek added. Regarding some points raised in the article, he indicated that the text mentions cases of detainees being labeled "political prisoners," while these prisoners were arrested and judged in common law cases offering the conditions of a fair trial guaranteed by the Constitution and the law. In this regard, the General Delegate for Penitentiary Administration and Reintegration informed the public that the administrations of the relevant penitentiary institutions treat detainees in accordance with the legal provisions governing prisons and their internal regulations, ensuring that their physical and moral integrity has not been exposed to any danger or harm. On the contrary, detainees enjoy all their legal rights without discrimination, except for specific cases where administrations respond to specific needs expressed by the detainees within the limits of available resources. Furthermore, he continued, everyone knows that these detainees regularly receive visits from their relatives, as well as visits from the National Human Rights Council and competent judicial authorities, like other prisoners in accordance with the prevailing law. As part of the General Delegation's communication strategy based on the principles of transparency and constructive and ongoing interaction with public opinion, the penitentiary institutions take the initiative to issue reactions or statements to enlighten public opinion about the allegations spread about them, he added. Regarding the Gdim Izik group, whose members were arrested and sentenced for committing acts of violence, murder, and mutilation of unarmed members of the public forces, Tamek explained that contrary to the testimonies relayed by the article, the detainees in question, especially the case of Lamine Haddi, did not undergo inhumane or degrading treatment, nor did they suffer harm to their physical or psychological integrity. He assured that these individuals are serving their sentences under normal condit ions and benefit from visits from their relatives, as well as facilities in terms of duration and frequency. The General Delegate also affirmed that, contrary to the aforementioned article and the false statements on which it relies, the DGAPR did not deliberately seek to move them away from the Southern provinces but to distribute them to various establishments according to their classification system, especially based on the duration of sentences. As for other Sahrawi prisoners referred to as "activists" in the article, their arrest is not related to freedom of expression or their political beliefs but rather to acts of sabotage and threats against public order, he further clarified. "The journalist did not hesitate to attack me personally to criticize my rooted unionist beliefs as well as my responsibility at the head of the Penitentiary Administration, citing statements collected from a member of my family, namely Ali Salem Tamek," he said. Tamek specified that Ali Salem Tamek, who is his nephew and w hose father is his cousin, is mentally unstable and was arrested in the 90s on the Morocco-Algeria border while heading to the Polisario camps. After serving a prison sentence related to these facts, he was instrumentalized by separatists to harm his own family, leading them to disown him and consider him a traitor to the homeland and the family. "His father, retired commander Mohamed Salem Tamek, was injured three times in battles against separatists, while his uncle Zaidane Tamek and his cousin Taib Tamek, as well as at least ten members of the family and hundreds of members of the tribe to which he belongs, were killed in the war against separatists," he added. He continued that Ali Salem Tamek, who freely moves to and from Algeria, works solely to sow discord and division within the family and to spy on members of his tribe who come for family visits to the Tindouf camps, informing Algerian authorities that some of them are Moroccan spies, such as his uncle Youssef Tamek, his cousin Hassan Sidi Bouya, o r his cousin Mohammed Ali Bahssi, among others. The exclusive reliance on the calumnies of an individual who has lost all credibility and who habitually harms his family and the reputation of his large family and Aït Oussa tribe clearly demonstrates the journalist's bias in favor of the separatist thesis and his attempt to harm the Kingdom's image, noted the General Delegate for Penitentiary Administration and Reintegration. Tamek emphasized that the attempts of this journalist have failed, and Morocco, under the leadership of its Sovereign, is strong with its institutions and its people, including unionist Sahrawis, specifying that this unfounded article and the calumnies of the separatists on which he chose to rely will not harm the Kingdom progressing towards building strong and close cooperative relations with Spain, its neighboring country. Source: Agency Morocaine De Presse