Fifth session of public hearings into human rights violations this Sunday in Khenifra
Morocco, Politics, 2/7/2005

The 5th session of public hearings into most serious violations of human rights will be held this Sunday in the Middle Atlas city of Kenifra.

The hearings are held by the Justice and Reconciliation Commission "IER," set up in January 2004, to seek out-of-court settlement of past human rights breaches committed in the Kingdom in the period between 1956 and 1999.

Dozens of local victims or their relatives will deliver their testimonies in the presence of delegates of political parties, trade unions, human rights-advocacy groups, local authorities and Moroccan and foreign journalists.

A medial delegation of international humanitarian organization "Medecins du Monde" will be attending the Khenifra session.

Testimonies will be made in Arabic or in the Berber language, spoken by the majority of the local population. They will deal with what is called the "March 1973 events" and the "social events of 1984."

Sources at the IER says the 20 mn-long testimonies will recount the sufferings sustained as a result of "forced disappearance" and "arbitrary detention."

The IER will further meet with local associations to discuss local development needs and seek ways to compensate the collective harm resulting from human rights breaches committed in the second half of last century.

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