Human Rights Committee congratulates Morocco for 'continued progress' in human rights
The Human rights committee of the United Nations congratulated Tuesday Morocco for the quality of the periodical report it submitted Monday, and for the "continued progress" the Kingdom is achieving in the field of Human rights.
After examining Morocco's 5th report, head of the UN body, Abdelfattah Amor, congratulated Morocco for the its respects for the provisions of the Pact of civil and political rights, mainly Article 11, "as Moroccan political and judicial authorities had promised it back in September 2000."
"There is no ambiguity concerning this," the UN official said, voicing satisfaction that Morocco "has not applied the capital punishment since 1991, at the exception of one case in 1992."
For Amor, the non application of the death penalty establishes some kind of customary law, which will lead to its abolition later.
Presenting Morocco's report Monday, ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Omar Hilale, stressed how King Mohammed VI has been endeavoring, since he acceded to the throne in July 1999, to build a democratic and modern society, while deepening human rights culture, fostering the proximity and participation policy, reinforcing the role of women and consolidating social solidarity.
He went on that the sovereign has started a program to reform administration and justice, as two pillar sectors of the rule of law consolidation process.
In parallel, the government is intensifying efforts at the normative and institutional levels for the promotion, protection and defense of human rights, the diplomat said, citing particularly efforts to close once and for all the issue of past human rights abuses.
The Moroccan diplomat recalled that, following the dastardly terrorist attacks that shook Casablanca on May 16, 2003, the government proposed an anti-terrorism law which reflects Morocco's adherence to human rights and basic freedoms, insisting that Moroccan authorities remains resolved to carry on and intensify efforts in order to perfect the building a democratic and modern society.
