Public hearings into past human rights breaches start in Morocco
Morocco, Politics, 12/22/2004

Public hearings of victims of human rights breaches committed in Morocco from 1956 to 1999 started Tuesday evening in Rabat with six testimonies.

The hearings, organized by the Equity and Reconciliation Commission (known by its French acronym IER), are broadcast on the two Moroccan TV channels as well as the satellite channel 'Al Maghribia' so as to give the Moroccan public opinion an opportunity to know about past human rights violations that marred the post independence Morocco until 1999.

Participants have around 20 minutes each to present their testimony and are allowed to use their own narrative style, speak in the language of their choice and be accompanied by family members or friends for moral support.

IER deems the public hearings an exceptional moment to allow victims expose their suffering before the public opinion and the whole nation. This move is aimed at rehabilitating victims of past human rights breaches and underscoring their contribution in the preservation of the collective memory.

The hearings are attended by representatives of the national and foreign press, diplomats, and members of human rights associations and organizations, public authorities, political parties and Unions.

Witnesses have committed not to mention names of persons they consider responsible for violations they have been subjected to, which is in conformity with the status of IER that stipulates that individual responsibilities should not be evoked.

The Equity and Reconciliation Commission was set up last January to seek out-of-court settlement of past human rights abuses.

Around 200 victims, families of victims and witnesses of violations are due to participate in the hearings, which are scheduled to take place in 10 different cities, starting in the capital, Rabat, over a period of around 10 weeks.

Previous Stories:
  Public hearings of human rights abuses victims, braced to initiate reconciliation in Morocco   (12/21/2004)
  FIDH welcomes public hearings into human rights abuses in Morocco   (12/20/2004)
  Senegal urges for release of Moroccan POWs in Southern Algeria   (12/18/2004)

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