COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CONSIDERS REPORT OF MOROCCO
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has considered the combined seventeenth and eighteenth periodic reports of Morocco on its implementation of the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Presenting the report, Omar Hilale, Permanent Representative of Morocco to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that since 2003 notable advances had been made in the area of reform. These advances included the conclusion of work on the Justice and Reconciliation Commission, which had been recognized internationally as a pioneering and novel approach to transitional justice; the launch of the National Initiative of Human Development as a strategy for the equitable socio-economic development of all regions of the country in order to combat the social exclusion and disparities that existed between regions; the completion of the restructuring of the Consultative Council of Human Rights to conform to the Paris Principles; the reinforcement of the capacities of the Royal Institution for Amazigh Culture to ensure that its mission was successful; and the establishment of a General Delegation for Prison Administration and Reintegration to promote decent conditions in prisons as well as to facilitate the reintegration of prisoners into society and to combat the discrimination they faced once released from prison.
Mr. Hilale also pointed out that significant progress had been made in reforming the criminal code which now included a definition of discrimination that conformed to international treaties. This crime could be punished by a prison sentence of one month to two years as well as fines and included actions such as the refusal to provide a service, preventing someone from exercising normal economic activity, or refusal to grant employment based on certain characteristics.
In preliminary concluding remarks, Fatimata-Binta Victoire Dah, the Committee Expert who served as country Rapporteur for the report of Morocco, said that legal and institutional reforms undertaken in Morocco since 2003 were particularly notable, but there were improvements to be made. For example, Moroccan legislation needed to be brought more into line with the Convention and the need for statistical data was imperative to evaluate the implementation of the Convention in the country. At a minimum the Committee needed information on social and economic indicators as well as the mother tongue spoken by citizens. Ms. Dah thanked the delegation for taking the Committee’s recommendations into consideration when reforming the criminal code.
Other Committee Experts raised concerns about the status of refugees and asylum seekers under the Moroccan law governing the entry and stay of foreigners into the country. Committee members also asked about the rights of association and assembly as well as freedom of the press. A number of concerns were raised about the rights and status of the Amazigh people in Morocco and the protection and promotion of their culture while other Experts asked questions about disparities in life expectancy, educational and economic attainment and access to healthcare for minorities. Several Experts also asked the delegation what progress had been made in the process of dropping reservations to articles of several treaties and what was being done to combat impunity for authorities accused of human rights violations.
The delegation of Morocco included representatives from the Ministries of the Interior, Education, Justice, Labour, Social Development of the Family and Solidarity, and the Permanent Mission of Morocco to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
The Committee will present its written observations and recommendations on the report of Morocco at the end of its session, which concludes on 27 August.
When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m. this afternoon, it will begin consideration of the combined eighteenth and nineteenth periodic reports of Denmark (CERD/C/DNK/18-19).
Report of Morocco
The combined seventeenth and eighteenth periodic reports of Morocco, submitted in one document (CERD/C/MAR/17-18), notes that the Kingdom of Morocco has analyzed past cases of gross violations of human rights, establishing the Justice and Reconciliation Commission for the purpose. Over a period of about two years, the Commission received complaints from victims, examined them and organized public hearings at which the victims were given the opportunity to describe the violations to which they had been subjected with a view to preventing any recurrence of such wrongs in the future. The Commission succeeded by various means in shedding light on the gross human rights violations committed, identifying the victims and assessing their eligibility for compensation. It also drew up a report containing a number of recommendations and proposals aimed at establishing legislative and practical mechanisms to prevent the recurrence of such violations in the future and to repair the individual and collective material and moral damages suffered.
In response to paragraph 18 of the Committee’s concluding observations (CERD/C/62/CO/5) concerning the integration of Amazighs so that they are placed on the same footing as the other components of Moroccan society, the Kingdom reaffirms that its people constitute a single nation with a single multi-dimensional identity composed of diverse cultural components: Arab, Amazigh, Andalusian, African, Islamic, Christian and Jewish. It is a country that lives in unity amid diversity, enriched by the mixed Arab and Amazigh blood that has been a characteristic of the Moroccan people for centuries. They are a single people joined together by common bonds. The policy pursued by Morocco does not treat the Amazigh question as one of racial discrimination but rather as one related to the project of building a democratic society and a modern State based on equality, social solidarity and allegiance to the basic constituents of national identity. It is a policy that promotes Amazigh culture as a fundamental component of the national personality and cultural identity of the Moroccan people. Responsibility for its preservation and promotion therefore lies with the entire nation and it is not just a local or regional issue. The view that the Amazigh question is an ethnic or racial issue relating to an indigenous people in our country is an erroneous one.
In view of the need to promote the effective and balanced development of the whole territory of the Kingdom, special attention has been given to the Saharan provinces of Morocco since 1976. This is reflected in social, economic and cultural programmes aimed at the development of housing, health, education, infrastructure, the administration, the economy, services, sports and culture. The Moroccan Government, in cooperation with various partners, is taking the necessary steps to ensure that the inhabitants of the Saharan regions can exercise and enjoy all economic, social and cultural rights. Moreover, the regions concerned receive special assistance under the National Social Development Initiative, and a special Agency has been created to provide them with economic, social and cultural support.
Presentation of Report
OMAR HILALE, Permanent Representative of Morocco to the United Nations Office at Geneva, presenting the report of Morocco, said that Morocco was engaged in an irreversible strategic process of consolidation of human rights, the bolstering of the rule of law and democracy and the expansion of fundamental public freedoms.
Since 2006 Morocco had initiated a process with several phases aimed at lifting reservations to several conventions and in this context it had ratified Article 14 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which recognized the competence of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to examine communications from persons or groups of persons who felt their rights had been violated.
Mr. Hilale went on to say that human rights were at the heart of the programmes and provisions undertaken by Moroccan authorities and they had left a positive mark on all the authorities’ actions and interventions, and from this perspective, since 2003 notable advances had been made in the area of reform. This included the conclusion of work on the Justice and Reconciliation Commission, which had been recognized internationally as a pioneering and novel approach to transitional justice; the National Initiative of Human Development had been launched as a strategy for the equitable socio-economic development of all regions in order to combat the social exclusion and disparities that existed between regions in the country; the restructuring of the Consultative Council of Human Rights had been completed to conform to the Paris Principles and it was now a key mechanism in the institutional arsenal for the protection and promotion of human rights in Morocco; the reinforcement of the capacities of the Royal Institution for Amazigh Culture to ensure that its mission was successful; and the establishment of a General Delegation for Prison Administration and Reintegration to promote decent conditions in prisons as well as to guarantee the appropriate conditions to facilitate the reintegration into society of prisoners and to combat the discrimination faced by prisoners once they left prison.
Other important areas of reform began in 2009, particularly in the areas of regionalization and justice reform. King Mohammed VI of Morocco, in a January 2010 speech, had set achieving fully viable regions based on realistic goals and integrated regional development as a priority for the country. This programme was based on four principles: commitment to the tenets of the nation; solidarity between regions; balance between competencies of the regions; and adoption of a decentralized approach. Concerning the justice reform process, Mr. Hilale said that Morocco had always given attention to this question and it was for the government as the justice system played a vital role in the proper functioning of a democratic society. The six major pillars of the reform included guaranteeing judicial independence; modernization; the strengthening of structures; increasing efficiency; the reinforcement of human resources; and the strengthening of rules of morality in the justice system.
Mr. Hilale said that Morocco was a melting pot and a crossroads between Africa, Europe and the Arab world where different communities, cultures and religions coexisted and had forged a national culture over the centuries that was fed and nourished by many sources. In this context, special attention had been made to promoting Amazigh culture and considerable success had been achieved in teaching and preserving Amazigh language. Awareness raising campaigns had been initiated to further enhance the impact of this teaching and among the recent achievements was the launch of the Amazigh TV channel.
A whole array of measures had been taken to combat all forms and manifestations of discrimination, to affirm the equality between different components of the population, to promote the economic, social and cultural development of citizens, to strengthen the institutions responsible for providing human rights, and to strengthen the legislative framework. Mr. Hilale said it should be pointed out that significant progress had been made in reforming the criminal code which now included a definition on discrimination that conformed to international treaties. This crime could be punished by a prison sentence of one month to two years as well as fines and included actions such as the refusal to provide a service, preventing someone from exercising normal economic activity, or refusal to grant employment based on certain characteristics.
In parallel with legislative and institutional reforms, Mr. Hilale said the Government of Morocco had also entered into a number of initiatives and measures to sensitize its citizens and authorities in the universal values of tolerance and human rights. In this regard, the Government paid particular attention to human rights education at the national, regional and international level. At the national level, there was the National Programme for Human Rights Education, the National Platform for the Promotion of a Culture of Human Rights and the National Action Plan for Democracy and Human Rights. On the regional level, in 2009 Morocco initiated the adoption of the Arab Plan of Action for the Promotion of Human Rights, which was approved unanimously by the members of the League of Arab States and would be operational by the beginning of next year in parallel with the Arab Plan of Action for Education on Human Rights. At the international level, Morocco had sponsored, with Switzerland, a draft United Nations declaration on human rights education and training, which was being debated by Member States. Mr. Hilale said to confirm its engagement in this domain, Morocco had organized and participated in a number of activities for the promotion of this declaration including a seminar held in 2009 in Marrakech and a high level debate in Geneva in March of 2009.
Mr. Hilale then turned introduced the other members of the delegation and they answered questions submitted in writing.
Response by the Delegation to Written Questions Submitted in Advance
Responding to the list of issues submitted by the Committee in advance, the delegation said that in terms of allowing Amazigh parents to enter their children’s first names into the civil registry when they were born, there was a 2003 law that said children’s first names should be Moroccan in character. The delegation said that there had been cases of officials who declined to register children with Arab names, Amazigh names, and other names that were not considered usual in Morocco. A commission established to deal with this issue had approved a number of names that were not generally considered Moroccan in character. The latest measure was to publish a circular by the Ministry of the Interior explaining the law that regulated the choice of first names and it also made clear that officials must include any names which were usual in Morocco. The officials of the Civil Register had to defer to decisions made by the high commission and in jurisprudence. When someone insisted on a name that was not considered usual, they could ask for an appeal to help resolve the issue quickly. Of the millions of names registered since the law came into force, only 454 had gone to the high commission and only 95 had been rejected. The circular stressed the fact that there was no list of names which were admitted or refused, limiting the freedom of choice.
Regarding the Amazigh language, the delegation said it was a fundamental part of Moroccan culture and measures had been taken to protect and promote it as well as integrate it into the public sphere, particularly via teaching and the media. In terms of recognizing Amazigh as an official language, it was currently being debated. With regard to increasing the financial and human resources of the Royal Institution for Amazigh Culture, the Government had provided all the necessary means to make sure it got off the ground and to ensure financial independence. The Government guaranteed 85 staff, which was then increased to 112 employees, working in various units and assisting the governing council, including researchers and aid workers. There was a general secretary appointed by royal decree and the secretary was endowed with all the necessary logistic and human resources to meet its mandate. The Institute sat on two hectares of land and could purchase the necessary premises and facilities to do its job.
The delegation then turned to equal opportunity and treatment in employment, which it said was guaranteed in Morocco through international treaty law and domestic laws, including International Labour Organization Convention 111. A system of labour inspection had been established to ensure conformity with labour laws, and labour inspectors carried out unannounced inspections, conducted investigations, and mediated disputes. Labour inspectors could also report conditions that were not covered by law.
In terms of increasing textbooks in the Amazigh language, the delegation said since 2003 the language had been taught through more than 3,000 institutions to 560,000 pupils by 393 teachers of Amazigh. Measures had been taken to extend the teaching of the language to primary school and the secondary school curricula had been overhauled and more textbooks were being developed in the language.
In terms of Moroccan nationality, the law allowed the husband of a Moroccan woman to obtain citizenship via a process of naturalization. There were 144 spouses of Moroccan women who had become citizens through naturalization.
The Committee had asked about reform of the asylum system, which the delegation said was underway with three aims: to respect Morocco’s obligations under international conventions, to respect Moroccan sovereignty in deciding to grant asylum, and to enhance cooperation with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees to benefit from the expertise of this office.
In terms of the detention conditions of asylum seekers, the delegation said no one could be unlawfully arrested, detained or punished and the criminal code provided human rights guarantees regarding conditions of detention under judicial authorities in places that were known and supervised by the judiciary. Impromptu visits to prisons were carried out at least once a week and judges and prosecutors could also visit unannounced. The justice system was guaranteed to all and legal aid was available for those who needed it and where the law required the presence of a lawyer.
Turning to combating human trafficking and the protection of immigrants, the delegation said there were measures for the protection of human beings and the prevention of human trafficking, which included medical care and rehabilitation and reintegration of immigrants as well as human rights training for security personnel and the judiciary. One of the measures in place was a multi-sectoral programme to combat gender based violence that included access for immigrants to high level services. There were also measures in place to protect immigrants from racism, discrimination, xenophobia, exploitation and violence. While there were no cases regarding discrimination, court cases had been handed down for inciting racial hatred. For example, there was a case in which the judge ordered a fine be paid and the victim compensated and the appeals court upheld this verdict. There was also a case of an immigrant woman who was raped which was currently before the appeals court. There were several programmes in place to strengthen and publicize human rights such as the National Programme for Human Rights Education and the National Plan for Democracy and Human Rights.
Lastly, the delegation said it could affirm that in Morocco there were no persons who could be considered to be internally displaced persons under the United Nations definition.
Questions Raised by the Rapporteur and Experts
FATIMATA-BINTA VICTOIRE DAH, the Committee Expert serving as country Rapporteur for the report of Morocco, said that Morocco had been, and continued to be, a bridge between the west and east and had developed a reputation of being a land of asylum and a land of hospitality. Morocco had welcomed Jews from Spain and objected to the deportation of Moroccan Jews by Vichy France during World War II. Very early on, Morocco had built up relations with Western Africa and carried Islam to some West African countries.
Ms. Dah said the exercise was aimed at assessing the progress made in implementing the relevant provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination. Many measures had been taken by Morocco over the last seven years since the State’s last report before the Committee. In 2008, Morocco went through the Universal Periodic Review and Ms. Dah applauded the State’s invitation to Special Procedures to the country including the Special Rapporteur on the rights of migrants and the Special Rapporteur on the right to education.
The human rights structure had been strengthened by such institutional bodies as the office of the ombudsman and the Justice and Reconciliation Commission, but it was the legislative reforms that were most impressive, according to Ms. Dah, the reform of the family law being the most extensive of these. Nonetheless, discrimination continued to exist in the area of inheritance and depended on whether the person was Jewish, Muslim or foreign and the nationality code also continued to pose problems. Ms. Dah asked whether it was it true that people from certain countries were advantaged over other people in terms of obtaining citizenship and Moroccan women who married foreigners could lose their citizenship.
The reform of the criminal and labour codes were positive achievements as well as the law on the prohibition of torture, the law against impunity, the law on the entry and stay of foreigners in Morocco, and the law on violence in sports contests. Ms. Dah also noted that Morocco had a good record in ratifying international instruments and she was interested in knowing more about the State’s promise to lift certain reservations to the treaties to which it was a party, including the International Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and certain International Labour Organization conventions. Ms. Dah also applauded the State’s decision to recognize the Committee’s competence in hearing communications under Article 14, but asked whether the State had considered putting a mechanism into place to handle these communications.
Ms. Dah then asked whether the Convention was often invoked by judges and did the Convention enjoy supremacy over domestic law. Ms. Dah noted that the definitions of discrimination as contained in the labour and criminal codes were not totally in accordance with the definition of racial discrimination as contained in Article 1 of the Convention.
Given that Morocco was made up of many different cultures and races, Ms. Dah said she would have expected to see more information on the demographic makeup of the country. What questions were put into the census and was there a database that people could draw on for statistics in developing or monitoring programmes and were there any socio-economic indicators detailing the situation of various minorities?
Ms. Dah then asked about the segments of the population who were marginalized and did not take part in the economic and social life of the country, such as immigrants and internally displaced persons. She asked about increasing xenophobia in the country due to an influx of immigration from Sub-Saharan Africa and any cases that may have arisen out of incitement to racial hatred.
Ms. Dah asked the delegation if it could provide an assessment of how measures undertaken to protect and promote the Amazigh language and culture had faired thus far and whether any adjustments were needed. She noted that instruction in this language was not available as a choice in adult education.
Ms. Dah said that Morocco had seen a flood of refugees and asylum seekers following conflicts in several countries including Iraq and Côte d’Ivoire. It appeared the situation had stagnated following the passage of the 2003 law regulating the entry and stay of foreigners in Morocco. These people were often left in limbo as they were treated as irregular migrants who did not have papers when in fact they were refugees fleeing unstable conditions without their papers.
A Committee member asked the delegation how a person could become a citizen of Morocco if they had been living there for a long time. In terms of name registration, was there a list of acceptable names for Arab names or just for Amazigh names?
Another Committee Expert asked about questions of life expectancy and child and maternal mortality and morbidity between different ethnic groups. What progress had been made in these areas in concrete terms?
A Committee member said that the report of Morocco talked a great deal about equalizing conditions between regions of the country, but little information had been provided as to the economic differences between these regions and the demographic makeup of these regions. In terms of the Justice and Reconciliation Commission, there were numbers in the report regarding reparations paid and to how many victims, but there was no information on the crimes that were committed for which victims were compensated and whether perpetrators would be held accountable. Turning to the standardization of the Amazigh language that was undertaken, the Expert asked whether members of the Amazigh community were consulted when an alphabet was chosen for their language.
A Committee Expert asked for further information about any complaints, prosecutions and sentences handed down for racism. Also, what measures had been taken to ensure better protection of immigrants from Sub-Saharan Africa who experienced discrimination, sometimes at the hands of police and justice authorities, and long detention periods they were subjected to. Concerning the press law, mention was made of revising this law with the cooperation of non-governmental organizations. Where did this project stand?
The delegation was asked by a Committee Member what role civil society and non-governmental organizations played in the preparation of this report and whether Morocco was doing anything to ensure that Moroccan multi-national companies working in other countries were adhering to non-discrimination legislation.
A Committee Member asked whether the black population of Morocco spoke only Arabic or whether there were some black members who were aligned with the Amazigh language and culture and whether there were any special measures in place for them.
Response by Delegation
The delegation began its response by saying that it did not come here to say that Morocco was a paradise, but rather to describe the situation, progress made and difficulties encountered in the hope of making itself understood by the Committee. It has encountered many of the same problems encountered by many countries in the north and the south, but the strategic choice had been made to combat all forms of racism and racial discrimination and to do everything possible in terms of legislation, institutional structure, and judicial actions to match the Government’s efforts with commitments made by Morocco.
The Amazigh was a culture, not an ethnic group and there was not a majority of them who were marginalized as they could not be indentified by their appearance or conduct. The delegation assured the Committee that there was no racial discrimination against Amazigh in hospitals, schools, or other areas. A Moroccan was a Moroccan and there was no distinction made on ethnic or religious or cultural grounds and there was no discrimination based on these criteria. The delegation said that Morocco’s wealth resided in its diversity and it was a melting pot of cultures and civilizations and it was still wide open to diversity and this was its strength and way of life, to be open to others. For example, the introduction of the Berber language at all levels of education was a huge undertaking, but it had been done and it started with the political will. But Morocco was a developing country and it needed time to establish these procedures and there were priorities, it could not do everything at once.
Moving on to illegal migration, the delegation said Morocco had always been open to Sub-Saharan Africans because they were brothers and the State did not make a distinction between black and white. In Morocco, they worked regionally and internationally and there was no racism in universities. There were mixed marriages, there were black Moroccans and they were not discriminated against, the issue just did not arise in the daily life of Moroccans.
Regarding the questions related to migration, the delegation said it wanted to clarify the issue of the protection of migrants, both regular and irregular. Morocco was quite proud of the normative laws and legislation that were in place to protect irregular migrants. A new law had key articles that dealt with the protection of vulnerable people and ruled that a national could not be deported if their life was under threat in their home country; it strove for family reunification and dictated that migrants must be helped by counsel and interpreter, and people had the right to appeal any expulsion decision. The idea behind this strategy was to protect people from human trafficking and to go after traffickers and not the victims. The strategy included three aspects: prevention, the fight against networks and protection. The State strove to provide programmes to address the underlying problems that led to trafficking in the first place including precarious socio-economic conditions, violence against women and girls and illiteracy. The Government also focused on networks of traffickers, but victims were at the centre of their concerns so the State focused on their rehabilitation and reintegration, help for return to their native countries, legal help and protection, developing the structures for medical and psychological assistance as well as other health services in conjunction with Doctors Without Borders, and protection of private data to protect privacy and security.
In combating the exploitation of migrants, since 2004 more than 2,800 networks of traffickers had been dismantled and a whole set of measures to combat corruption of public officials who may be involved in these networks had been established. Voluntary return required the consent of the migrant, the presence of a diplomatic representative from the migrant’s home country, and the agreement of the country of origin. More than 10,000 irregular migrants had been returned to their native countries in cooperation with a number of organizations, including the International Organization for Migration. More than 7,000 persons from Sub-Saharan Africa had also been saved on the high seas from almost certain death.
On the question of legal migrants, the delegation said there were more than 75,000 foreigners who were legally residing in Morocco and they enjoyed all the rights of Moroccan citizens. The State was also conducting awareness raising campaigns to educate people on the dangers of irregular migration and offered scholarships for African students. Morocco had also launched an initiative and sponsored a seminar on migration from Sub-Saharan Africa. It was very difficult to give precise data for the number of migrants in transit in Morocco, but there were indicators that the numbers were decreasing. This was a reflection of the effective strategy targeting networks, better protection of borders and coastal areas as well as the work on awareness raising and increasing sustainability in all areas. The delegation said there was no xenophobia as a social phenomenon vis-à-vis migrants in the country and conversely there was a very clear phenomenon of Muslim solidarity with migrants as well, as evidenced by assistance to the migrant community.
The delegation then turned to several questions that were raised about the Amazigh language and culture and statistics on minorities in the country. Morocco did have diversity based on the origins of people, but there were no distinctions between Moroccans today. The census that was carried out in 2004 used data such as age and sex, but did not gather data based on ethnicity. Amazigh culture was recognized as just that, a culture, not an ethnic group; even if one wanted to draw distinctions between the Amazigh and the rest of the population one could not because there were no physical differences and no way to tell people apart. The Amazigh language had been standardized using an alphabet and in a process approved by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization and in conjunction with all levels of civil society.
On the issue of Amazigh names in the Civil Registry, the delegation wanted to make a few points to clarify the situation. People had the right to choose the first name of their choice and the only restriction that applied was that the first name had to have a Moroccan character so as not to undermine the public order in any way. Since 2003, more than 3.6 million names had been registered and only 454 objections had been filed. Of these objections, only 95 of the bans blocking the registry of a name had been upheld. There was also no list of approved names from which people could choose. Since the circular explaining the law was disseminated, there had been no additional court cases filed in this area.
As to language teaching in Amazigh, it was to be noted that the training of teachers was needed to ensure the quality of Amazigh education, so an inventory was being taken of how many teachers they were and their qualifications and additional training was underway to train more teachers in Amazigh culture and teaching methods for Amazigh.
Turning to the issue of internally displaced persons, the delegation said that there were no displaced populations in the country, but people from the southern and northern provinces who settled in reception areas after the United Nations issued a call for a vote on self-determination. Money had been devoted to undertake numerous projects in these regions.
Several Committee Members had asked about certain aspects of Moroccan national legislation. The delegation began by answering questions about the anti-terrorist act in Morocco which was adopted in the context of the events of September 11th. In 2002 there were fatal explosions that killed five innocent victims and this convinced the legislature of the need to submit an anti-terrorism bill. In 2007 there were other explosions aimed at Internet cafes in Casablanca and terrorist networks were dismantled in Tangiers.
The delegation said that terrorism was an odious crime and combating it should be carried out with a firm hand and serious intent. Countering terrorism should not be done without respect for the fundamental rights and freedoms and a right to a fair trial, and the anti-terrorism law was a normal one in this regard. Counterfeiting, kidnapping, murder, and the use of a false identity could all be considered terrorist crimes if they were used to disrupt public order or terrorize people. The Code of Criminal Procedure was applied to terrorist cases with a few specificities like preventive custody for up to 96 hours (48 hours in most cases), pre-trial detention, and home searches and searches at large that could be carried out with a warrant outside the hours of 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. The appeals court in Rabat had the responsibility of reviewing terrorism cases and the jurisdiction of that court was exclusive. The criminal code aimed to strike a balance between the right to peace and security and an individual’s right to a fair trial. The rights to a lawyer, to appeal, to a public hearing, to an interpreter and to call witnesses were all guaranteed under the law. Contrary to popular belief, the anti-terrorist law had never been applied retroactively. The Code of Criminal Procedure stipulated that an interpreter had to be provided for the duration of an investigation and trial if a defendant did not speak Arabic.
The press law concerned racial discrimination and incitement to hatred which were sanctioned. According to the delegation, this law had existed since 1958 and was revised in 2002. Up until now, a lively discussion had been going on in society between politicians and academicians about the liberty of the press. This law gave journalists the possibility to enjoy freedom of expression to an even greater extent.
The law on associations dictated that if any association employed inflammatory statements advocating or inciting racial hatred or discrimination, they would be null and void. Any party based on discrimination was illegal and discrimination against prisoners based on race or social status was also prohibited.
The law banning violence in stadiums aimed at prohibiting any form of violence or incitement to racial hatred during sporting activities in stadiums or in places where sports could be seen, including public transport that brought spectators to stadiums.
Turning to equality in inheritance, the delegation wanted to point out that the law in many Muslim countries referred to traditional customs and cultures and took them into account in the laws. Foreigners in Morocco were subject to their national laws depending on their nationality. The disparities in inheritance laws could relate to both men and women and sometimes women inherited more than men. The Vienna Declaration of 1993 stated that States should not overlook the impact of their cultural and historic diversity when they worked to ensure the protection of human rights. The Declaration also said that the State should choose the right time to carry out reforms of domestic legislation before bringing it in line with international texts. Morocco abided by this advice when it reformed its family code, which was revolutionary in some ways in promoting equality between men and women.
In order to improve the conditions in prisons and of prisoners, a new directorate with greater human resources and a larger budget was created for the reintegration of prisoners. The delegation said the protection of prisoners was guaranteed and the State was working to ensure the health of prisoners with State appointed doctors. They also monitored the mental health of prisoners and there were certain social guarantees provided to detainees to ensure they were able to participate in the economic growth of the country. A law also prohibited ill-treatment and discrimination of detainees and allowed detainees to communicate with their families.
The delegation then provided more information on the implementation of the family code. Special sections of family justice had been formed in courts, headed by judges with expertise in family law. There was also a growing case law being developed by the Supreme Court as these laws were being implemented and there was also a department in the Ministry of Justice to provide legal and financial support for judges with full respect for judiciary independence. An assessment of the implementation of the family code was also carried out every year and this helped create a statistical database to evaluate implementation and make any changes necessary.
The Nationality Code was significantly modified in 2007 to bring domestic law into conformity with international law to allow nationality to be transmitted to the child (natural or adopted) or the spouse of a Moroccan national. The spouse of a Moroccan woman could now obtain nationality through naturalization after being resident in the country for five years. Moroccan women did not lose their nationality if they married a foreign national.
The delegation said that in terms of the protection of vulnerable groups such as persons with disabilities, children, women and the elderly the Ministry for Social Development, the Family and Solidarity had programmes in place to address all these groups. The International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities had been ratified in 2008 and other draft decrees to provide access to employment as well as physical access to public spaces for disabled people were under consideration. The International Convention on the Rights of the Child had been ratified in 1999 as well as various International Labour Organization conventions in the area of the rights of children. Morocco had also ratified the International Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and adhered to the Millennium Development Goals in the area of the protection and promotion of the rights of women.
A number of questions had been raised about regional differences and development in Morocco, and the delegation said that in March 2002 a special agency had been created for the development of the southern provinces under the office of the prime minister. The mission of this agency consisted of three main pillars: the study and proposal of projects for social and economic development with state actors as well as investors; financial support provided by the agency in whole or in part; and follow-up and implementation of programmes of socio-economic development. This agency was involved in projects from development to implementation.
Concerning human rights education and training, the delegation said the Office of the Mediator was established in 2002 for mediation between citizens and the Government to deal with all cases of discrimination with which citizens might be confronted. Between 2004 and 2007 the office considered more than 23,000 complaints, 1,260 of which did not in fact involve discrimination. These complaints included charges of enforced disappearances, attacks on prisoners’ rights, etc. The office played a role both nationally and internationally, such as its organization of a seminar to strengthen the role of mediators. In 1994 the National Programme for Human Rights Education was launched with a provision for the creation of training materials and the training of pupils in human rights and Morocco was designing a global programme to strengthen human rights education and institutions through the National Action Plan for Democracy and Human Rights.
Further Questions Posed by Experts
A Committee Expert asked why Morocco would not consider disaggregated data on its population because their insistence on using country of origin as an indicator presupposed that people coming from other countries were homogenous and were not different races or ethnicities. Also, if there was no disaggregated data, how would the State know whether the racial harmony they tried to promote was in fact taking place?
Another Expert agreed that data would be helpful in allowing this Committee to carry out its mandate because without disaggregated data broken down by race and ethnicity there was no way of knowing whether there were disparities in educational attainment, life expectancy, social and economic opportunities, and access to healthcare and participation of public and political life. There seemed to be some room in being able to maintain the State’s focus on unity and gathering this data to allow for an evaluation of discrimination in the State.
The next Expert to speak commented that Brazil had said there was no discrimination that it knew of against Afro descendents, until they started keeping statistics and then it saw that these people had a lower income and educational access and attainment and lower indicators in other areas. After that, Brazil was able to take positive measures to remedy the situation, so this information was less for the Committee than for the State party to be able to develop programmes and remedies. Moving on to the issue of names for the Civil Registry, the Expert was still unclear on what was meant by the Moroccan nature or character of a name. What if someone wanted to name their child a name that was common in another country, but might not be common in Morocco? These unclear criteria could lead to unnecessary confrontations. On the question of citizenship, how did the procedure work for someone who wanted to become naturalized? Were there any preferences for some people or limitations, such as being married to a Moroccan national?
A Committee member asked the delegation whether Morocco had made any reservations to Article 15 of the Marrakech Declaration.
Another Expert asked about impunity for security forces accused of human rights violations.
The last Committee member to speak said that Morocco could be a model in many respects for other countries which was why the Committee attached so much importance to the reform of the criminal code and the rights of women so they needed precise data on prosecutions of racist acts to determine if these reforms were effective. The Committee Expert made three proposals including adopting a provision for the prohibition of racist, xenophobic or extremist ideas; the criminalization of indirect discrimination or forms of multiple discriminations and reversing the burden of proof in proving racial or ethnic discrimination; and providing fuller access to interpretation services.
Replies by Delegation
Responding to those questions and others, the delegation said that it valued diversity, but at the same time did not focus on it. There were no differences drawn between black and white, Jews and Muslims, Berbers and Arabs and in fact they had mixed over the years. So what was important was to celebrate this unity without any differentiation and to guarantee access to employment, health, education, and freedom of movement irrespective of one’s origins. The delegation said that some people were of mixed marriages so how would they fit into the statistics? The Government did not focus on the origins of the population, but rather the welfare and dignity of its people which was more important than trying to see what the differences were.
The delegation said there were no official statistics on the Berber population because they had never conducted a census, but the claim that between 40 and 60 per cent of the population was Berber was wrong. There were people who spoke Amazigh because they lived in certain regions, but that did not mean they were Berber. There were also three Berber languages, so even that community was not monolithic. The delegation also felt that having statistics would not make racial discrimination disappear; rather it was the political will of the State in the defence of rights and the awareness of and acceptance by the people of these rights that would combat discrimination. Racism was not part of the daily lives of Moroccans; it was not in their genes.
With regard to names in the Civil Registry, there were some first names that were quite frequent that were Berber, African and Moroccan that became accepted over time. Introducing a Russian name would be difficult because they did not know about these names in Morocco and people were identified based on their first names. In terms of obtaining citizenship and a passport, wives of Moroccans were subject to special procedures based on a special decree whereas the naturalization of the husband was carried out by the prime minister. A person requesting citizenship had to speak Arabic and the Government was very keen on this because that was what was spoken by 100 per cent of Moroccans and they wanted people to be able to participate in the life of the country.
The delegation was informed that in the interest of time, it could answer the last few questions in writing within 48 hours of the conclusion of the meeting.
Preliminary Concluding Remarks
In preliminary concluding remarks, FATIMATA-BINTA VICTOIRE DAH, the Committee Expert who served as country Rapporteur for the report of Morocco, said that legal and institutional reforms undertaken in Morocco since 2003 were particularly notable, but there were improvements to be made. For example, Moroccan legislation needed to be brought more into line with the Convention and the need for statistical data was imperative to evaluate the implementation of the Convention in the country. At a minimum the Committee needed information on social and economic indicators as well as the mother tongue spoken by citizens. The background document also needed to be updated as much of the information in it was outdated due to the reforms that had been undertaken. Ms. Dah thanked the delegation for taking the Committee’s recommendations into consideration when reforming the criminal code.
OMAR HILALE, Permanent Representative of Morocco to the United Nations Office at Geneva, in concluding remarks said that the delegation had spoken in all frankness because they felt sincerity and a willingness to move forward within the State. Morocco was not perfect and it was willing to do what needed to be done to make improvements. Mr. Hilale expressed the wish that in its recommendations, the Committee would take into account Morocco’s background and the fundamental elements that had shaped its identity. With the help of the Committee, Mr. Hilale said he was sure Morocco would continue to move forward in combating racial discrimination.
For use of the information media; not an official record
CERD10/026E