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In its 2026 annual report, Human Rights Watch stated that Moroccan authorities intensified their crackdown on activists, journalists, and human rights defenders throughout 2025. According to the organization, this was carried out through prosecutions on charges such as defamation, spreading false news, insulting or damaging the reputation of local officials, government institutions, heads of state, or foreign religious figures, as well as undermining state security or the monarchy.
The report added that during protests led by the «Generation Z 212» movement, which called for broad reforms and criticized public spending on major sporting events, police and gendarmerie forces dispersed demonstrators using what the organization described as «lethal force». These interventions reportedly resulted in the deaths of three people and injuries to dozens more.
Human Rights Watch further noted that around 2,100 people were arrested, with legal proceedings initiated against at least 1,400 individuals, including 330 minors. Some received prison sentences and fines. According to HRW, approximately 1,000 people remained in detention as of last October.
The organization also reported that despite labor strikes taking place across several regions of the country, Morocco’s Constitutional Court approved in March a «controversial law on the right to strike». Labor unions opposed the legislation, arguing that it infringes on workers’ rights.
On women’s rights, Human Rights Watch criticized Morocco’s legal framework for continuing to designate the father as the default legal guardian of children, even in cases where custody is granted to the mother following divorce. The organization also denounced child marriage, the absence of criminalization of marital rape, and laws that allow the prosecution of rape victims for reporting sexual assault outside of marriage.
Regarding migration, the report stated that hundreds of migrants, including children, attempted to swim across the Mediterranean to reach the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. It added that, according to the International Organization for Migration, at least 200 people had died by September while attempting to cross the Western Mediterranean route between North Africa and Spain.
