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Tazmamart: 18 Years in Morocco's Secret Prison
A memoir from a political prisoner in Morocco's notorious Tazmamart prison.
On July 10, 1971, during birthday celebrations for King Hassan II of Morocco, attendant officers and cadets opened fire on visiting dignitaries. A young officer, Aziz BineBine, arrived late and witnessed the ensuing massacre without firing a single shot, yet he would spend the next two decades in a political prison hidden in the Atlas Mountains—Tazmamart. Conditions in this now-infamous prison were nightmarish. The dark, underground cells, too small for standing up in, exposed prisoners to extreme weather, overflowing sewage, and disease-ridden rats. Forgetting life outside his cell—his past, his family, his friends—and clinging to God, BineBine resolved to survive. Tazmamart: 18 Years in Morocco’s Secret Prison is a memorial to BineBine and his fellow inmates’ sacrifice. This searing tale of endurance offers an unfiltered depiction of the agonizing life of a political prisoner.
On July 10, 1971, during birthday celebrations for King Hassan II of Morocco, attendant officers and cadets opened fire on visiting dignitaries. A young officer, Aziz BineBine, arrived late and witnessed the ensuing massacre without firing a single shot, yet he would spend the next two decades in a political prison hidden in the Atlas Mountains—Tazmamart. Conditions in this now-infamous prison were nightmarish. The dark, underground cells, too small for standing up in, exposed prisoners to extreme weather, overflowing sewage, and disease-ridden rats. Forgetting life outside his cell—his past, his family, his friends—and clinging to God, BineBine resolved to survive. Tazmamart: 18 Years in Morocco’s Secret Prison is a memorial to BineBine and his fellow inmates’ sacrifice. This searing tale of endurance offers an unfiltered depiction of the agonizing life of a political prisoner.
180 pages, Hardcover
Published April 27, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 29, 2025
This is a harrowing and important account of human endurance in one of the world’s most horrific secret prisons. I approached this book with respect, especially after reading This Blinding Absence of Light by Tahar Ben Jelloun, which shattered me emotionally and left a deep spiritual impact.
By contrast, 18 Years in Tazmamart felt very different. It is told in a factual, clinical tone—almost like an encyclopaedia of suffering. Despite the unimaginable horror of what the author endured, I struggled to feel emotionally moved while reading it. The storytelling lacked the introspective, metaphorical, or spiritual dimension that I often seek in this kind of literature. I found myself witnessing the events rather than being immersed in them.
That said, this book still deserves to be read and acknowledged. It is a valuable testimony, and I hold deep respect for Aziz BineBine and all the men who survived Tazmamart. But as a personal reading experience, it did not speak to me on the emotional or existential level I had hoped for.
Three stars—for the courage it took to write it, and for bearing witness.
By contrast, 18 Years in Tazmamart felt very different. It is told in a factual, clinical tone—almost like an encyclopaedia of suffering. Despite the unimaginable horror of what the author endured, I struggled to feel emotionally moved while reading it. The storytelling lacked the introspective, metaphorical, or spiritual dimension that I often seek in this kind of literature. I found myself witnessing the events rather than being immersed in them.
That said, this book still deserves to be read and acknowledged. It is a valuable testimony, and I hold deep respect for Aziz BineBine and all the men who survived Tazmamart. But as a personal reading experience, it did not speak to me on the emotional or existential level I had hoped for.
Three stars—for the courage it took to write it, and for bearing witness.
April 4, 2022
There is something inescapable about this speaker's voice. I don't often dream about the things I read, but his words manifested themselves into my dreams viciously. I am humbled by this man, and so, so grateful that he shared his story in such rich and anguishing detail. There is nobody that can't be inspired by Aziz BineBine. I wish him the very best in his life. I pray that he is never haunted by that man in the mirror again, and that he sleeps without the sensation of Tazmamart's walls around him. I hope he is surrounded by nothing but love and appreciation and goes to heaven to claim everything that he deserves.
'I was never far from my memory, my imagination, my calculations, nor, of course, from my soul. I was like a tree with its roots planted in faith and its uppermost branches reaching into culture and the imagination. Through dreams I could breathe, whether it was day or night. Abundant dreams protected our sleep from discomfort, cold, hunger and anguish. To dream was to sleep, to recover, to escape.'
'I was never far from my memory, my imagination, my calculations, nor, of course, from my soul. I was like a tree with its roots planted in faith and its uppermost branches reaching into culture and the imagination. Through dreams I could breathe, whether it was day or night. Abundant dreams protected our sleep from discomfort, cold, hunger and anguish. To dream was to sleep, to recover, to escape.'
July 14, 2020
In een ruk uitgelezen. De memoires van Aziz Binebine lezen als een eerbetoon aan zijn gevallen vrienden, kameraden en medegevangenen in Tazmamart, Marokko. Een hel voor de militairen en piloten betrokken bij de twee mislukte militaire coups begin jaren 70, de meeste militairen buiten hun weten om. Een geheime gevangenis die als enig doel had wegkwijnen en sterven. Het boek is een verslag van 18 jaar hel, van mensonterende wanhoop. Overgeleverd aan totale vergetelheid en willekeur. Afgesneden van bestaan en menselijkheid. Het verhaal van Aziz Binebine is ook een eerbetoon aan hoop en levenslust. Van mannen die ondanks alles verbeeldingskracht opbrengen en innerlijke standvastigheid. Erfenis is diep traumatisch en van een voltooid verleden tijd is nog lang geen sprake. Aziz Binebine vertelt zijn verhaal. Een indrukwekkend krachtig verhaal. Hulde!
July 8, 2022
Painful to read; inescapably honest.
November 1, 2024
Left me speechless. The way he described his suffering and surviving is just phenomenal.
March 31, 2024
This memoir has that spirit of Shawsank Redemption living in a way more horrifying condition, that some stories give me a shiver. It strengthens my believe that we are designed to survive, whatever the situations.
Given that, I am amazed by how beautiful, a few parts even funny, this grim story has been written and translated.
Given that, I am amazed by how beautiful, a few parts even funny, this grim story has been written and translated.
January 3, 2026
I am particularly biased in my reception of this book, having read it immediately after Tahar Ben Jelloun’s Absence of Blinding Light, which fictionalises Aziz Binebine’s own story and renders it in a more overtly literary form. In comparison, Binebine’s book felt drabber: still interesting in its own right, but ultimately a flatter reading experience.
Binebine’s work is, of course, a memoir rather than a more nuanced and cohesive piece of literature, and its power lies chiefly in the story itself as a first-hand account of the appalling conditions the author endured in Tazmamart, and of how, despite these circumstances and despite his own inner contradictions, he managed to preserve his dignity and survive.
The narrative maintains a consistent tone and conveys a genuine sense of self-reflection; however, its structure can feel repetitive, and the presentation of characters at times resembles a somewhat mechanical accumulation of episodes.
Binebine’s work is, of course, a memoir rather than a more nuanced and cohesive piece of literature, and its power lies chiefly in the story itself as a first-hand account of the appalling conditions the author endured in Tazmamart, and of how, despite these circumstances and despite his own inner contradictions, he managed to preserve his dignity and survive.
The narrative maintains a consistent tone and conveys a genuine sense of self-reflection; however, its structure can feel repetitive, and the presentation of characters at times resembles a somewhat mechanical accumulation of episodes.
March 28, 2023
3.75 ☆
I read this book while in Morocco and it was eerie. It opened my not so young eyes to what cruelties humans are capable of. And what resilience.
I read this book while in Morocco and it was eerie. It opened my not so young eyes to what cruelties humans are capable of. And what resilience.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews