Malika Oufkir
Encyclopedia
Malika Oufkir (born April 2, 1953 in Marrakesh) is a Moroccan
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
writer and former "disappeared". She is the daughter of General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Mohamed Oufkir
Mohamed Oufkir
General Mohammad Oufkir was a Moroccan Berber politician.As the right hand man of king Hassan II in the 1960s and early 1970s, Oufkir led government supervision of politicians, unionists and the religious establishment...
and a cousin of fellow Moroccan writer and actress Leila Shenna
Leila Shenna
Leila Shenna is a Moroccan former actress who featured on film mostly in the 1970s.She is most commonly remembered in English speaking countries for her role as a Bond girl in the 1979 film Moonraker as an air hostess...
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Malika Oufkir is the eldest daughter of Mohamed Oufkir. Her siblings are Abdellatif, Myriam (Mimi), Maria, Soukaina and Raouf. Malika Oufkir was adopted by King Mohamed V
Mohammed V of Morocco
Mohammed V was Sultan of Morocco from 1927–53, exiled from 1953–55, where he was again recognized as Sultan upon his return, and King from 1957 to 1961. His full name was Sidi Mohammed ben Yusef, or Son of Yusef, upon whose death he succeeded to the throne...
to be raised as a companion to his daughter.
History
General Mohamed Oufkir was the interior minister, minister of defense and the chief of the armed forces. He was very trusted by King Hassan II (and the most powerful figure in Morocco after the King) during the 1960s and early 1970s in Morocco. But after attempting to assassinate the King and Moroccan delegation returning from France on a Boeing 727Boeing 727
The Boeing 727 is a mid-size, narrow-body, three-engine, T-tailed commercial jet airliner, manufactured by Boeing. The Boeing 727 first flew in 1963, and for over a decade more were built per year than any other jet airliner. When production ended in 1984 a total of 1,832 aircraft had been produced...
jet in a coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
in 1972, General Oufkir was arrested and then executed. Malika Oufkir and her family were initially confined to house arrest in the south of Morocco from 1973 to 1977. Then General Oufkir's entire family was sent to a secret prison in the Sahara desert where they suffered harsh conditions for a total of 15 years. After escaping, they were released into house arrest in 1987. In 1991 they were among nine political prisoners to be released. On 16 July 1996, at the age of 43, Malika Oufkir emigrated to Paris accompanied by her brother Raouf and her sister Soukaina.
Malika Oufkir's life has inspired many to advocate for the rights of political prisoners. She and her siblings are converts from Islam to Catholicism, and she writes in her book, "Stolen Lives": "we had rejected Islam, which had brought us nothing good, and opted for Catholicism instead." Her mother, however, remained a Muslim. Oufkir married Eric Bordreuil on 10 October 1998. They were married at the town hall of the 13th arrondissement in Paris.
Publications
Malika published an account of her life in prison, entitled Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert JailStolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail
Stolen Lives: Twenty Years In A Desert Jail is an autobiographical book by Malika Oufkir, about a woman who was essentially a prisoner all her life.-Summary:...
, with Tunisian author Michèle Fitoussi
Michèle Fitoussi
Michèle Fitoussi is the co-author, along with Malika Oufkir, of Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail, an expose of the Moroccan penal system. She is of Tunisian descent and was the editor of French Elle magazine. She first met Malika Oufkir in March 1997 eight months after Malika had arrived...
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The book was first written in French, titled "La Prisonniere" with the help of author Michele Fitoussi. This account was later translated into English.
Further reading
- Malika Oufkir and Michèle FitoussiMichèle FitoussiMichèle Fitoussi is the co-author, along with Malika Oufkir, of Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail, an expose of the Moroccan penal system. She is of Tunisian descent and was the editor of French Elle magazine. She first met Malika Oufkir in March 1997 eight months after Malika had arrived...
(2001), Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail, Miramax Books (ISBN 0-7868-6861-9) - Malika Oufkir: the American Making of a Moroccan Star