Transparency Maroc issued a statement on Wednesday, October 1, in response to the ongoing GenZ demonstrations. The movement, it said, has «expressed legitimate demands guaranteed by the Moroccan Constitution and UN conventions ratified by Morocco», including access to quality public services in health, education, housing, and employment, as well as broader calls for «freedom, dignity, social justice, and an end to corruption». The NGO denounced what it called the authorities' «repression, arrests, and sham trials», instead of engaging with the «painful reality citizens face in deteriorating public services», which, it argued, have been increasingly commercialized in favor of the private sector. Transparency «condemns the intimidation with which the authorities have treated the youth's peaceful protests and demands their unconditional release». It also urged the government to identify and arrest «the troublemakers who infiltrate the protests to demonize them and justify bans and arrests». The group recalled long-standing warnings by unions, political, and human rights organizations against «brutal neoliberal policies» that deepen inequalities, stressing that Morocco loses «more than 50 billion dirhams annually» due to stalled anti-corruption efforts, funds that could have bolstered public services. Referring to the crisis of Agadir's so-called «hospital of death» as symbolic of healthcare failures, the statement concluded: «One cannot expect a government that legislates to protect corruption to respond to the people's aspirations or respect the Constitution and the law».
