Brussels – On October 30, 2024, Rif activists in Belgium held a gathering to mark the 8th anniversary of the tragic death of Mohsen Fikri, a fishmonger from the Rif region in Morocco, who was crushed in a garbage truck as he tried to retrieve his confiscated goods from Moroccan authorities. The event served as a reminder of what activists called the “horrific and brutal nature” of the Moroccan “Makhzen” regime.
Yuba El-Ghedoui, president of the Rif National Party, stated that “the party commemorates the eighth anniversary of the assassination of Mohsen Fikri, a murder that starkly illustrates the brutality and contempt of the Moroccan occupation in its treatment of the people of the Rif.” He emphasized that this gathering also aims to remind the world of the oppressive occupation that subjects the Rif people to severe injustices.
El-Ghedoui spoke about the “growing popular anger against this Zionist-aligned regime,” especially in light of the ongoing repression, poverty, and arbitrary arrests inflicted upon the Moroccan people. He added that “the myth of this regime, which has long sought to polish its image and fabricate its legitimacy, has now been shattered.”
Another prominent Rif activist, Ahmed Sultan, reflected on the painful memory of Fikri’s death, describing it as an unprecedented event, “where a man was crushed in a garbage truck by the Moroccan occupation on October 28, 2016.” Sultan highlighted the continuous “collective punishment” faced by the Rif people under the Makhzen regime, assuring them that “Rif activists in Europe are preparing various actions to confront the Moroccan regime on both European and African fronts, as the cause of the Rif is ultimately a struggle for independence.”
Mohand El-Khalfioui, another Rif political activist, noted that the commemoration honors the memory of Mohsen Fikri, “who was crushed by the Moroccan occupation inside a garbage truck in broad daylight in front of the Al Hoceima courthouse, while attempting to retrieve his fish crates that the Makhzen authorities had thrown into the truck.” He reiterated that there is a population whose “civil, social, and historical rights are being trampled by the Moroccan occupation.”
He added, “Today, we express, with deep pain, the suffering and sorrow shared by Rif activists wherever they may be—whether in the Rif itself or in exile, displaced by the forced migration imposed by the occupation, which drives Rif people to the seas and away from their homeland.”
Ali Aarras, a former Rif detainee, condemned the recent visit of the French president to Morocco, considering its timing “not coincidental but rather tied to the Rif movement.”
The gathering included a photo exhibition titled “Victims of the Moroccan Occupation’s Crimes and the World’s Silence,” displaying images of those impacted by the Moroccan regime. Demonstrators carried the flag of the Republic of the Rif, banners, and chanted slogans against the Makhzen regime.
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Author: Nor-Eleslam
Rif Activism, Mohsen Fikri, Moroccan Makhzen, Human Rights Violations
