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Moroccan authorities have cracked down on youth-led protests demanding sweeping reforms to public services, resulting in deaths and mass arrests, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should heed protesters’ calls and fulfil the rights to health care and education, respect the right to peaceful protest, and investigate the use of lethal force by the Royal Gendarmerie and other alleged widespread abuses against protesters by public security forces.
Nationwide protests erupted on September 27, 2025, after the youth movement GenZ212 urged Moroccans to peacefully take to the streets and demand increased spending for public health care and education systems and an end to corruption. They criticized public spending on mega-sporting events the country is set to host, such as the 2030 FIFA World Cup. Some protesters also reportedly damaged private and public property. Police and Royal Gendarmerie responded by banning protests and forcibly dispersing protesters, including with lethal force, killing three people and injuring dozens. They reportedly arrested nearly 1,000 people and brought criminal cases against at least 270 protesters including 39 children, who remain detained. Some courts have sentenced protesters to prison terms and fines.
“Morocco’s youth are voicing their dissent over the state of health care and education in the country,” said Hanan Salah, associate Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The government should heed protesters’ calls and replace repressive tactics with public engagement and wide-ranging reforms.”
Deficiencies in the public healthcare system, amplified by the recent deaths of several pregnant women in a public hospital in Agadir, contributed to widespread anger and fueled protests. Meanwhile, Morocco is preparing to host the December 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and co-host the 2030 FIFA World Cup, reportedly spending US$5 billion for new stadiums, sports complexes, public transportation, and accommodations.
Largely peaceful protests kicked off on September 27 in at least 11 cities and towns, including in Rabat, Casablanca, Tangier, Salé, Agadir, Marrakesh, Sidi Eltaibi, and Inezgane.
Human Rights Watch geolocated a video posted to social media on October 1 that shows a dark-colored security forces van driving into protesters in a roundabout in Oujda on the night of September 30, before driving away. Another video posted to social media on October 1 and geolocated by researchers shows a dark-colored security forces van drive into a group of protesters roughly 350 meters from the roundabout in Oujda, crushing a man against a wall before backing up and driving away. According to news reports, security forces’ car ramming incidents injured at least two people in Oujda that night, including 17-year-old Wassim Eltaibi, whose mother told reporters he required urgent medical care, and 19-year-old Amine Boussaada, whose father said his left leg had been amputated.
On October 1, the Royal Gendarmerie used lethal force to quell protests that turned violent in front of a gendarmerie post in Lqliâa, in Agadir, reportedly killing three men and injuring others, including a child. Those reportedly killed include Abdessamade Oubalat, a 22-year-old cinematography student, and a 25-year-old man. In a televised statement on October 2, an interior ministry spokesperson sought to justify the use of lethal force, saying that protesters had used stones and allegedly used knives as weapons. He said forces first used tear gas to disperse crowds and then used their firearms “in self-defense.”
Human Rights Watch analyzed and geolocated a series of videos shared on social media on October 2 showing the events in Lqliâa.
CCTV video footage filmed outside the gendarmerie post and time-stamped at 9:28 p.m. showed dozens of protesters throwing large rocks, breaking down the front gate, and setting fires. The video shared online shows clips of CCTV video edited together. A uniformed man inside the post fires a weapon toward protesters, time-stamped at 9:34pm.
The footage also shows tear gas being used outside a minute later, but Human Rights Watch could not conclusively determine whether authorities used tear gas before lethal force, as they claimed. One video showed a gravely wounded, or possibly dead, man lying approximately 70 meters from the entrance with a bloody wound on his back, but Human Rights Watch could not conclusively determine whether he had been shot in the back.
Moroccan authorities should urgently conduct a transparent investigation into the events in Lqliâa and the reported killing of three men and hold accountable any members of the gendarmerie found responsible for wrongdoing, Human Rights Watch said.
Nationwide protests on October 1 also resulted in the injury of 354 people, including 326 public security personnel, and damage to 271 of their vehicles and 175 private vehicles, according to an interior ministry spokesperson.
On October 2, violent clashes broke out in Marrakesh between police and protesters, who reportedly damaged three bank branches. The authorities arrested scores of people.
Prosecutions against protestors are ongoing. On October 4, the Agadir Court of First Instance reportedly sentenced a man to four years in prison and a fine of 50,000 dirhams (around US$5,400) for “inciting minor offenses and crimes via social media.” On October 8, the Agadir Court of Appeal reportedly sentenced a man to 10 years in prison for his alleged role in destroying public property during the Lqliâa events, and for alleged violence against security forces. On October 9, the Silla Court of Appeal reportedly sentenced several defendants to up to 20 years in prison for alleged “acts of vandalism.”
The GenZ212 protests follow Gen-Z protests that gripped Madagascar, Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal, Peru, and the Philippines. Their calls mirrored long-standing grievances as one-third of Morocco’s youth face unemployment, as well as a poor quality public education system, health services, and social safety net.
In 2022, Morocco’s public spending on health care amounted to only 2.3 percent of its GDP, less than half of the international benchmark of at least 5 percent, according to data from the World Health Organization. Morocco also made clear commitments under the 2001 Abuja Declaration to spend at least 15 percent of its national budget to promote health, but spent less than half of that in 2022. Morocco’s 2021 Framework Law on the Social Protection System sought to close social protection gaps, yet around half of the country’s 38 million population lack healthcare coverage.
Public spending on education in Morocco, excluding the Western Sahara territory it occupies, reached 6 percent of its GDP in 2023, within the globally recommended public spending benchmark on education. However, fewer than 20 percent of adolescents achieved minimum reading and math skills in 2022, and adult and youth literacy rates lagged at 77 percent as of 2022.
In a speech on October 10, Morocco’s King Mohamed VI, said that “creating jobs for young people, and the concrete improvement of the education and health sectors,” were priorities, but did not address the youth protests or what measures the government would take to achieve these goals.
Morocco should adopt a human rights approach that emphasizes the equitable distribution of resources to realize rights like universal access to quality health care, education, and social security, under international human rights law, and ensure that people are paid a living wage, Human Rights Watch said. The country’s 2011 constitution guarantees “the right to health care, social protection, education, decent housing, [and] work.”
Under human rights law, governments, and the international financial institutions that support them, are required to respond to economic crises in ways that do everything possible to protect and advance rights. They are expected to ensure that proposed reforms, including to fiscal policy and public spending, best fulfill people’s economic, social, and cultural rights.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Morocco is a party, upholds the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly. Any law enforcement response to protests must meet international standards. The United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials state that security forces should apply nonviolent means before resorting to the use of force. Where it is required for a legitimate law enforcement purpose during an assembly, only the minimum force necessary may be used. Intentional lethal use of firearms may only be made when strictly unavoidable in order to protect life.
“Young people in Morocco are making very clear-cut demands for better health care, better education, and an end to corruption,” Salah said. “If the government can fund state-of-the art football stadiums, it can afford to fund its healthcare system, and those calling for a fair chance for their future should not be met with lethal force and repression.”
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Human Rights Watch (HRW).