The arrest and pending trial of two kissing teenagers has thrust a debate about personal freedoms into the public spotlight in Morocco.
In early October, a 15-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl were detained in the northeastern city of Nador and jailed. Their 16-year-old friend, who took the picture of them kissing on the street and posted it on Facebook, was also arrested. Afterwards, a local organisation alerted a prosecutor, who then charged the trio with indecency. They were released on bail October 7, and are currently awaiting trial.
The case ignited outrage on social media websites, and human rights groups such as Amnesty International condemned the arrests and asked for the charges to be immediately dropped.
"It is simply absurd that these teenagers could face a prison term just for kissing and posting a photo on Facebook," Philip Luther, Middle East and North Africa director at Amnesty International, said in a statement.
"These young people should never have been detained in the first place - there is no imaginable reason why expression of this type ought to result in prosecution. Launching a judicial investigation into a complaint about an act as benign as teenagers kissing is ridiculous - it should be dismissed out of hand."
People posted dozens of pictures kissing in support of the teenagers, captioning them: "Now you can arrest me." The hashtag #FreeBoussa ("free kiss" in Arabic) trended on Twitter. A group of about 30 people even organised a "kiss-in" in front of the parliament on October 12 in the capital, Rabat, exchanging a short kiss and chanting, "Long live love!"
The gathering was disrupted by protesters who yelled, "Go do that in America, or Europe. Here, we will not let it happen!" Still, the "pro-kiss" activists vowed to fight on.
Exactly.."Go do that in America". Every country has rules that govern it. The whole dosnt have to be like America. Each to his own. The teenagers obviously knew its against the law for them to kiss in public in Morocco. Next Thing u know they'll be having sex & posting it on the internet. Teenagers are not easy to control & they rarely know whathey want or what is right. We should be careful what we allow them to get away with.
ReplyDeleteImprisonment is too harsh thou. Maybe community service or a fine. Human rights activists groups should concentrate on more important things.
I hope they even remember brushing & flossing. But then young teenagers dont really care much about personal hygiene esp the boys. Get the kiss first & worry about the smell later. Girls that's enough reason not to start kissing that early.
ReplyDeleteWhen in rome do like the romans,did they forget its morocco and not america?smh....I guess they got carried away like teenagers with raging hormones but why post it on facebook?should have been kept private
ReplyDeleteBut is this what children of 14-15yrs should be concerned with at this age? Just cos everybody now has access to social media.
ReplyDeleteEverybody has a right to preserve their own culture & have rules that govern them that's what makes us all differentm I agree that some of them can be harsh but then it can also be amended. We don't have to adopt "western" culture in its entirety, emulate the good & leave the bad.
ReplyDeleteIts harsh abeg.maybe a milder punishment rather than imprisonment
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