Systematically jailing and silencing his opponents through state run forces, many of which were kept at the secret political prison Tazmamart for often indefinite and undetermined lengths of time, King Hassan was not opposed to extreme measures to enforce his rule.
[2] Despite efforts to hide the abuses from the outside world, King Hassan continued to receive backlash from international watch groups and human rights advocacy organizations in which his methods were put into the spotlight unnerving him and creating the need for action to be taken.
Accounts of enforcement officers violating procedures regarding lawful and unlawful searches, as well as the falsification of official documents, called into question the legitimacy of these arrests and the independence of the Moroccan judiciary.
Upon discovery of the use of torture as a method of interrogation by state officials, there was new information for advocacy groups aiming to overturn convictions as well as pressure the government into enacting more protections of civil rights for the Moroccan people.
Claims that the human rights group misrepresented facts in its reporting of the conditions of prisoners and political oppression arose and were widely circulated among the Moroccan people leading to support for the regime.
Despite past actions, in an attempt to rectify his public image King Hassan formed a new task force to assess the validity of the accusations made by the monitoring bodies.