Human rights organization makes mitigated assessment of rights respect in Morocco
Morocco, Politics, 7/19/2003

The Moroccan human rights organization (OMDH) praises progress covered in Morocco in the promotion of political and cultural rights and calls for a definitive settlement of pending issues related to serious past human rights abuses.

In its annual report, the OMDH says much progress has been achieved as far as gathering the needed conditions for political participation is concerned, citing in this regard the latest legislative elections that were held on the scheduled date.

Presenting the outlines of the report to the press, the OMDH chairman, Abdellah Oualladi, also cited the adoption of important guarantees in the electoral law, mainly the enforcement of the list poll, the allocation of 30 seats at the House of Representatives to women and the enforcement of more stringent measures against electoral law offenders.

However, the report criticizes "the passive" attitude of the administration in some cases and the delay in proclaiming the elections results. The organization also calls for setting an independent fact-finding commission to establish truth regarding "serious past human rights abuses," compensate damages, elucidate the case of missing persons and enforce legal and institutional measures to avoid the repetition of such violations.

The report also praises the new composition of the human rights consultative council (CCDH) whose members were appointed last December by King Mohammed VI. The CCDH comprises 11 members nominated by the king, 12 members nominated by human rights-advocacy associations, 9 members nominated by political parties and trade unions and 6 members proposed by the Ulema (Islamic theologians) associations, magistrates, lawyers, medical doctors, university professors and the Hassan II foundation of Moroccans settled abroad.

The human rights-advocacy organization further calls the CCDH to endeavor "for a headway in the process to fairly settle past serious human rights abuses and open dialogue with the body in charge of following up recommendations of the national forum on past human rights breaches." An appeal was also launched to amend the Mudawana (personal statute law) in order to do justice to women and promote their participation in the society's development.

Regarding linguistic and cultural rights, the OMDH underscored that King Mohammed VI has set up an institute in charge of the Amazigh culture that was commissioned to promote the Amazigh culture, follow up the issue of integrating the Amazigh language in education, and propose adequate policies to reinforce the status of Amazigh culture in the Moroccan cultural and information sphere.

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