Morocco is resolute about human rights promotion, minister says

Participants in the days on "Morocco at the dawn of the 21st century: ambitions and major reforms" that are being held in Madrid this October 13-14, heard presentations by several Moroccan ministers on the modernization and democratization process in Morocco.

Participants debated on Tuesday afternoon the new aspects of Moroccan politics, in light of a presentation made by minister of justice Omar Azzimane, who dwelt on the new constitutional realities in Morocco and human rights.

Azzimane asserted that Morocco was resolutely engaged in the struggle for the promotion of human rights. Human rights have quitted the world of shadows and come to broad daylight, he said after he surveyed the evolution of the human rights issue that witnessed a decisive turning point at the end of the eighties, thanks to major constitutional and legislative reforms.

The Moroccan official announced that text books will be reviewed as of the coming academic year to promote the human rights culture. We must go ahead, he said stressing the need to consolidate the gains.

The opening session of the event, sponsored by the Moroccan-spanish Averroes Committee and the Madrid Compultense University, was co-chaired by Moroccan and Spanish foreign ministers, Abdellatif Filali and Abel Matutes who have both underlined the privileged relations existing between the two countries.

Matutes hailed on the occasion the change over of power in Morocco that crowned the electoral process, saying that Spain and several other European countries deem this process as "a big decisive stride on the path to democratization and multipartism."

In his address, Filali surveyed the political reforms introduced by Morocco, laying a special emphasis on the consolidation of the democratic institutions, the strengthening of freedoms, the consecration of the rule of the law and the greater involvement of the civil society.

At the economic and social levels, the Moroccan foreign minister recalled the Moroccan economy liberalization moves and the reforms that paved the way for the promotion of investments, energizing of the banking and financial systems and improvement of infrastructures.

The days on Morocco, attended by several members of the Moroccan government, is to debate this Wednesday "Moroccan economy and the new challenges," "Morocco's new economic orientations" and "Morocco in the Euro-Mediterranean space."

The Averroes Committee, set up in February 1996 by virtue of the Moroccan-Spanish treaty of friendship, neighborliness and cooperation, seeks to promote understanding and entente between Moroccans and Spaniards through dialogue and mutual respect.

The committee is chaired by the two countries' foreign ministers and holds periodical meetings alternately in Morocco and Spain.