A film student is shot dead while filming GenZ212 protests in Morocco
Name(s):
Abdessamade Oubalat
Status:
Deceased
Year of birth:
2000
Profession:
Student
Nationality:
Moroccan
Abdessamade Oubalat was a 24-year-old film and photography student living in Leqliâa, Morocco. He was fatally shot by the Gendarmerie Royale on October 1, 2025, during the GenZ212 protests, while he was filming the event.
Abdessamade Oubalat was a 24-year-old film and photography student living in Leqliâa, Morocco, who was killed by shots fired by the Gendarmerie Royale on October 1, 2025, during the GenZ212 protests, while he was filming the event.
On October 1, 2025, a GenZ212 demonstration took place in front of the Gendarmerie Royale in Leqliâa, against a backdrop of socio-economic discontent exacerbated by the precariousness and lack of adequate health infrastructure affecting the region. In response to the events, tear gas grenades were first thrown from the building. Between eight and ten gendarmes then left the premises and fired shots in several directions, which continued during pursuits in the surrounding streets.
Abdessamade Oubalat had joined the demonstration with the intention of filming the event. He was shot at around 9:30 p.m. while in an alleyway leading to Al Fath High School, located about 120 metres from the Royal Gendarmerie station in Leqliaa. Analysis of videos carried out by the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH), including footage from a brigade surveillance camera showing him away from headquarters, near a farm wall and wearing white shorts, indicates that he posed no threat to the police.
The family was informed on October 2, 2025, at around 9:00 a.m. by an official agent that Abdessamade Oubalat had died and had been transferred to a hospital, which that turned out to be incorrect. After several attempts, the family learned at around 10:00 a.m. that he was in intensive care at Hassan II Hospital in Agadir, where he eventually died shortly afterwards. The hospital certificate states that he died at 6:50 a.m. on October 2, 2025. The body was released to the family on October, 4, despite a release order from the Attorney General dated October 3.
The intervention by the gendarmes on October 1, 2025 resulted in a total of three deaths: Abdelhakim Darfidi, Abdessamade Oubalat and Mohamed Rahali, and at least twelve injuries, several of them from live ammunition.
An investigation was opened and entrusted to the Royal Gendarmerie, raising serious questions about its independence. On October 2, 2025, the King's Attorney General justified the use of weapons as self-defence during a press conference. Since then, the families have received no information on the progress of the investigation and the autopsy results have never been disclosed to them, despite repeated requests. According to the AMDH, the injuries observed, particularly on the backs of the three victims, are incompatible with a situation of self-defence and indicate a disproportionate use of force.
No precautionary measures have been announced against the officers involved, whether in the form of administrative suspension, withdrawal of weapons or the initiation of disciplinary proceedings. No public commitment has been made to prosecute those directly responsible or their superiors, nor to establish mechanisms for redress for the families.
In February 2026, the AMDH and MENA Rights Group referred the matter to the United Nations Special Rapporteurs on extrajudicial executions and on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, asking them to raise the issue with the Moroccan authorities. They asked them to call on the Moroccan authorities to clarify the circumstances of the deaths and to ensure that independent, impartial and effective investigations were opened, in accordance with international human rights law and the Minnesota Protocol.
| Name(s): |
Abdessamade Oubalat
|
| Status: |
Deceased
|
| Year of birth: |
2000
|
| Profession: |
Student
|
| Nationality: |
Moroccan
|
Abdessamade Oubalat was a 24-year-old film and photography student living in Leqliâa, Morocco, who was killed by shots fired by the Gendarmerie Royale on October 1, 2025, during the GenZ212 protests, while he was filming the event.
On October 1, 2025, a GenZ212 demonstration took place in front of the Gendarmerie Royale in Leqliâa, against a backdrop of socio-economic discontent exacerbated by the precariousness and lack of adequate health infrastructure affecting the region. In response to the events, tear gas grenades were first thrown from the building. Between eight and ten gendarmes then left the premises and fired shots in several directions, which continued during pursuits in the surrounding streets.
Abdessamade Oubalat had joined the demonstration with the intention of filming the event. He was shot at around 9:30 p.m. while in an alleyway leading to Al Fath High School, located about 120 metres from the Royal Gendarmerie station in Leqliaa. Analysis of videos carried out by the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH), including footage from a brigade surveillance camera showing him away from headquarters, near a farm wall and wearing white shorts, indicates that he posed no threat to the police.
The family was informed on October 2, 2025, at around 9:00 a.m. by an official agent that Abdessamade Oubalat had died and had been transferred to a hospital, which that turned out to be incorrect. After several attempts, the family learned at around 10:00 a.m. that he was in intensive care at Hassan II Hospital in Agadir, where he eventually died shortly afterwards. The hospital certificate states that he died at 6:50 a.m. on October 2, 2025. The body was released to the family on October, 4, despite a release order from the Attorney General dated October 3.
The intervention by the gendarmes on October 1, 2025 resulted in a total of three deaths: Abdelhakim Darfidi, Abdessamade Oubalat and Mohamed Rahali, and at least twelve injuries, several of them from live ammunition.
An investigation was opened and entrusted to the Royal Gendarmerie, raising serious questions about its independence. On October 2, 2025, the King's Attorney General justified the use of weapons as self-defence during a press conference. Since then, the families have received no information on the progress of the investigation and the autopsy results have never been disclosed to them, despite repeated requests. According to the AMDH, the injuries observed, particularly on the backs of the three victims, are incompatible with a situation of self-defence and indicate a disproportionate use of force.
No precautionary measures have been announced against the officers involved, whether in the form of administrative suspension, withdrawal of weapons or the initiation of disciplinary proceedings. No public commitment has been made to prosecute those directly responsible or their superiors, nor to establish mechanisms for redress for the families.
In February 2026, the AMDH and MENA Rights Group referred the matter to the United Nations Special Rapporteurs on extrajudicial executions and on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, asking them to raise the issue with the Moroccan authorities. They asked them to call on the Moroccan authorities to clarify the circumstances of the deaths and to ensure that independent, impartial and effective investigations were opened, in accordance with international human rights law and the Minnesota Protocol.
