Public hearings, a consecration of freedom of expression, IER chairman
Politics, 12/28/2004

Chairman of the Justice and Reconciliation Commission (IER), Driss Benzekri, a body that started last week the first sessions of public hearings into past human rights violations (between 1956 and 1999), said this move is "a precedent as it consecrates publicly and comprehensively freedom of expression, one of the fundamental principles of democratic institutions."

The IER chairman who was taking part in a meeting on "transitional justice and past human rights violations" of the Party for Progress and Socialism (PPS/former communist party) told MAP the two first sessions have enabled the victims to "make various testimonies" and express their sufferings in total freedom."

Benzekri also hoped that these hearings will set an example to apprehend in a frank and public manner sensitive issues.

He said the choice of victims was made according to precise criteria meant to ensure representation of various stages of the events between 1956 and 1958, and during the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s.

The IER also sought to ensure the representation of various ideological cultural and political trends as well as various generations of women and men who were victims of past human rights violations.

The upcoming hearings will include individual sessions and thematic sessions on specific topics like forced disappearence and institutions and reforms.

Public hearings are a successful preliminary step to acknowledge and rehabilitate victims, said PPS leader, Ismail Alaoui.

For the PPS leader, these hearings are "a public avowal of past human rights violations and a commitment that these acts will not happen again."

Morocco has indulged for some time in debates to adopt the best approach to handle issues of the past in order to determine individual responsibilities, he added arguing that these constructive discussions are a sign of the dynamism of the civil society and human rights-advocacy groups.

He also called democratic forces to seize this opportunity in order to enable the society to follow the ongoing debate, adhere to this process and become, thus a pressure force for reforms and implementation of mechanisms to prevent impunity.

In a unique experience of the kind in the Arab-Islamic world, Morocco is holding hearings in some 200 cases of past human rights abuses that occurred in what is called "years of lead" (between 1959 and 1999), an experience acclaimed by local and international human rights advocacy groups.

The hearings are held by the "Justice and reconciliation commission" set up last January to seek out-of-court settlement of the grave abuses that include forced disappearance and arbitrary detention. The process was initiated with the creation of an arbitration commission (in 1999) that delivered financial compensations to these victims.

The process, meant to break off with these practices that marred some periods of modern Morocco, first featured a group of twelve persons who talked about their painful experience as detainees, or relatives of persons who went missing, sustained arbitrary detention or were forced to go into exile as a result of persecution.

Previous Stories:
  Egypt discusses forming parliamentary human rights committee   (12/25/2004)
  'Our torturers did not respect our woman nature', says former female detainee   (12/24/2004)
  Hidou Abdallah calls for reassuring Moroccans that human rights violations will not occur again   (12/24/2004)

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