- ʿAzīz Binebine (1946-, Morocco) – Tazmamort récit: dix-huit ans dans le bagne de Hassan II (2009, English trans. 18 Years in Morocco’s Secret Prison, 2020). The author of this novel was unwillingly involved in the 1972 attempted coup against King Hassan II on his 42nd birthday and subsequently imprisoned in the infamous Tazmamart prison. The memoir describes both the psychological cruelties the prisoners inflicted on each other, as well as how Binebine’s gift for storytelling offered solace to his fellow-prisoners and his self-sufficiency in light of his inhumane conditions (reference). ʿAzīz is the brother of Mahi Binebine (see below) (also in G: Dysfunctional Governance: Prison literature and Torture: Infamous Prisons: Tazmamart, Morocco).
- Mahi Binebine (1959-, Morocco) – Le Fou du Roi (‘King’s Fool’, 2017). Is a novel inspired by the King Hassan II court’s jester, the author Binebine’s father, and his brother who was imprisoned in the infamous Tazmamart. The novel shows how the father maintained his loyalty to the King while his son, the brother, was imprisoned for unwillingly participating in the coup against the King in 1971 (also in G: Dysfunctional Governance: Prison literature and Torture: Infamous Prisons: Tazmamart, Morocco).
- Yūsuf Fāḍil (1949-, Morocco) – Ṭāʾir Azraq Nādir Yuḥallik Mʿaī (2013, English trans. A Rare Blue Bird Flies with Me, 2016). This novel depicts the gruesome life of imprisonment of the narrator after the failed coup against King Hassan II in 1972. The novel is a portrayed of the sanawāt al-raṣāṣ (Years of Lead), a term used to describe the period of rule under King Hassan II of Morocco, mainly the 1960s through the 1990s, which was marked by state violence against dissidents and democracy activists (also in G: Dysfunctional Governance: Prison Literature and Torture).
- Ahmad al-Marzouki (1947-, Morocco) – Tazmamart Cellule 10 (‘Tazmamart, cell 10’, 2000). This prison memoir was one of the first novels depicting a firsthand experience imprisonment in the Tazmamart prison. The author spends 18 years in the prison after the attempted coup on the King that led to a hundred deaths on the King’s 42nd birthday. The novel reflects on the period leading up to the author’s imprisonment, the summer of 1973, and his kidnapping from the first prison many of the Tazmamart prisoners were incarcerated in, La Prison Centrale de Kénitra (reference). It also describes the relationships the prisoners developed with their jailers (reference) (also in G: Dysfunctional Governance: Prison literature and Torture: Infamous Prisons: Tazmamart, Morocco).
Refrences:
In order of appearance
- Brahim El Guabli. 2014. “The ‘Hidden Transcript’ of resistance in Moroccan Tazmamart Prison Writings.” The Arab Studies Journals 22(1): 170-207, p.190
- Brahim El Guabli. 2014. “The ‘Hidden Transcript’ of resistance in Moroccan Tazmamart Prison Writings.” The Arab Studies Journals 22(1): 170-207, p. 180, 185