From the Editor

At least two rulers in North Africa felt a bit generous this week.  In Morocco, King Mohammed issued an order to free 201 people from prison. They are all nationals of Sub-Saharan nations whose crime was to immigrate outside of their troubled countries and show up in Morocco without proper documentation. Their release was branded as an “exceptional pardon,” for elderly migrant-“prisoners” who are sick and therefore free on humanitarian grounds. In this case, free means deportation to their countries of origin.

The feeling of pardon is not just in Morocco. The Kingdom’s eastern neighbor has also caught the virus, with the army-appointed president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune issuing a pardon of his own benefiting nearly 3,500 “prisoners.”  Those affected are individuals who have been sentenced to jail-terms of less than six months, perhaps many of whom are individuals whose crime was to simply carry an Amazigh flag.

Tebboune’s move carries the double message that the newly army-appointed leader is seeking to appease the anti-regime Hirak movement and that he is also in control. Lack of progress on the political front that should have brought more pro-democracy reform, and the continued use of repression against political and rights activists are interpreted by the Hirak movement that the president is under the control of the military leadership.  Although the population welcomed the release of the prisoners, Hirak activists say that most of them did not commit crime to pardon them, to begin with.  Furthermore, there are still dozens of activists still in jail and must be released too.