Morocco's king amnesties all convicts of attempts on state security

King Hassan II of Morocco has agreed to grant amnesty to all prisoners, convicted of attempts on state security and to indemnify families of reported "missing" people, it was officially announced in Rabat on Wednesday.

The Moroccan human rights advisory council "CCDH" said the sovereign has given the green light to a CCDH proposal to grant compensation to the families of missing persons and to create "an arbitration" body to set the amount of the compensations.

The CCDH considers that with these new decisions, the issue of the 112 "missing people" is definitively closed.

Last October, King Hassan II had expressed resolve to settle, once and for all, within six months the human rights issue in Morocco.

In the same month, Morocco made public a list of 28 political detainees, amnestied by King Hassan II, and another list of 56 dead persons. The CCDH said then that out of a list of 112 reported missing people, 56 persons died, 12 are living in Morocco or abroad while the fate and the identity of 44 others is still unknown.

The CCDH, which was set up by the King in 1990, is a national institution in charge of protecting and promoting human rights and consolidating a human rights culture in Morocco.

The council, which is independent from the legislative, executive and judiciary powers, issues consultative opinions that are submitted to the king.