Story highlights One of the teens says she has been mistreated in jail

Human rights groups have called for the law to be repealed

(CNN) Two teenage girls in Morocco face up to three years in jail on homosexuality charges after they were caught kissing.

The girls, aged 16 and 17, were detained by police after they were spotted kissing and hugging on the roof of a house in Marrakech last week, Omar Arbib from the Moroccan Association of Human Rights told CNN Arabic in a statement.

They have since been released but will stand trial Friday under Article 489 of the Moroccan Penal Code, which specifies that "any person who 'commits a lewd and unnatural act' with an individual of the same sex may be sentenced to six months to three years of imprisonment."

The Moroccan Association of Human Rights has assigned a lawyer to defend the girls, said Arbib.

Mistreatment claim

Read More