Lisbon North-South dialogue forum opens

The annual Lisbon Forum for Human Rights North-South Dialogue opens in Rabat today to debate, for three days, "The democratic process and human rights protection in the Mediterranean." Moroccan Premier Abderrahmane Youssoufi and former fishery commissionner of the European Commission Emma Bonino will be awarded the Forum Prize for the year 1999.

The Moroccan Human Rights Organization (OMDH) Chairman Abdelaziz Bennani, will be taking the floor, as the president of the Euro-mediterranean human rights network, to assess progress of human rights in the Mediterranean area.