Right body examines warding off violence as a strategy of political management
Morocco, Politics, 2/24/2005

The Justice and Reconciliation commission (IER) which has held a series of hearings for victims of human rights violations organized on Tuesday a conference to debate means to ward off the use of violence as a strategy of political management.

Tuesday's conference is part of a series of conferences held by the IER to discuss with politicians and civil society activists major issues, in a bid to ensure the success of the political, economic and cultural reforms ushered in by the Kingdom, and set in place the needed guarantees to avoid the recurrence of human rights violations that marred the history of Morocco between 1956 and 1999.

Participants insisted that consolidating the democratic option and deepening the culture of democracy and human rights respect are the most efficient means to ward off the use of violence in managing political matters.

For professor Mohamed Al Iyadi, the use of violence in the Moroccan political scene started in the mid 50's. he surveyed in this context the various forms of violence such arbitrary detention, kidnappings and human rights breaches.

He commented that some resorted to violence, arguing that independence was not complete as it did not lead to disarmament, and did not end the strife and conflicts within the Moroccan society. For this professor, the problem did not lie in the existence of these conflicts but in the absence of peace means to settle them as "various parties considered that violence was the only efficient means to handle divergences."

These past violations, he went on, were denounced by several organizations and evoked by various writings published by victims and by opposition parties.

The present political and social dynamic, reflected in the hearings sessions of human rights breaches victims, is a collective recognition both by the state and by different components of the Moroccan society

of these abuses. It mirrors a consensus-based will to break off with the past, he noted.

Meanwhile, Pr Mohamed Sbila said violence was a comprehensive historical phenomenon with consequences that impacted on the country's evolution. He also shared the idea that violence which started when Morocco became independent was used as a punishment against persons who were considered by the state as wrong in their evaluation and analysis of the general situation.

He stressed that the Kingdom experiences various types of violence, such as the state violence (arrests and kidnappings), the society violence (the Siba phenomenon and conflicts between tribes) and the violence practiced by the resistance movement which considered that weapons were the only means for struggle.

He considered the unique experience launched by the state as a self-criticism initiative and a concession that this period was a dark one.

Driss El Yazami, an IER member and assistant-secretary general of the international federation of human rights noted that the protection and the safety of citizens and their freedoms and enforcing the laws relevant to violence are the responsibility of each country.

He recalled that when Morocco gained its independence, it possessed very liberal laws that were ultimately voided of all their content.

He hailed the decision made last Monday to lift reservations that Morocco has on article 14 of the international convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination and on articles 20 and 22 of the convention on torture and other sentences and cruel, inhumane and debasing treatment. This move, he explained, entitled persons who deem they have been harmed to go to international specialized courts.

He stressed that the IER has collected documents related to this period of Moroccan history, has conducted historical studies and organized public hearing sessions.

The Commission has also paid field visits to 40 regions where it surveyed official documents.

The commission, he went on, is also planning to collaborate with academicians to enrich its documents and information, develop studies on past human rights violation and contribute to designing practical programs to engrain the rule of law and protect freedoms.

Indirectly, he commented, the IER is contributing to writing the contemporary history of Morocco and is facing, in this endeavor, a major problem of insufficiency of documents on some past periods and the weak volume of literature on breaches. He invited, in this regard, Moroccan university professors to make up for this loophole.

For Abdelali Mestour, a NGO activist, political violence was a strategy to break the national equation generated by independence and as a means to destroy instruments of political action and of the appropriate expression means. It was also used as a means to freeze the social process, he went on.

Transcending the use of violence as a strategy in the management of political matters is the responsibility of all, said Mestour calling the state institution to make use of pluralism and dialogue so that the present transition period experienced by Morocco will lead the Kingdom to a new era in its contemporary history.

Another analysis was made by Mohamed Jouahri, a member of the Human rights consultative council, who blamed the use of violence on the poor experience of civil servants after independence, especially that the state was had to deal with the problem of perfecting its territorial integrity.

At that time, he said, the State was focusing all its efforts to affirm its authority and, furthermore, there was no boundary between the authorities in charge of indictment, investigation and ruling.

For researcher Abderrahmane Rachik, the state did not only use violence to deal with this situation, recalling that in early 80's the state also negotiated with protestors.

Previous Stories:
  Justice and Reconciliation Commission looks into fate of forced disappearance victims   (2/19/2005)
  Morocco recalls Ambassador to Cote d'Ivoire   (2/18/2005)
  Gbagbo seeks Moroccan King's mediation to resolve crisis in Cote d'Ivoire   (2/17/2005)

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