Human Rights

Through the actions of its Truth and Reconciliation Commission (IER) and programs to improve human rights throughout the country, Morocco is making great strides in supporting human rights. The King has accepted all of the IER recommendations and has encouraged the government to pass the necessary reforms to implement them.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission (IER)

In January 2004, King Mohammed VI formed a committee of 17 men and women to review Morocco's past human rights violations. The committee, led by 17-year political prisoner Driss Benzekri, was tasked with reviewing Morocco's current human rights status, opening previously locked government files, interviewing victims and their families and offering reparations. On the formation of the Commission, King Mohammed VI stated, "Our objective is that Moroccans reconcile with themselves and with their history."

Background Information Expand
ESISC Report: Polisario's Human Rights violations  Report by the ESISC (European Strategic Intelligence & Security Center) of an independent committee of inquiry into allegations of violations of human rights, crimes, abuses and various other irregularities brought against the Polisario Front. (PDF, October 2006)

Truth & Reconciliation Report Summary  

Report summary (in French) of Morocco’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. (PDF, March 2006)



IER “Frequently Asked Questions”  "Frequently Asked Questions" about Morocco’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. (PDF, March 2005)

50 Year Human Development Report  

Report summary of the "50 Years of Human Development in Morocco, Perspectives to 2025." (PDF, March 2006)



Interview - Prof. Abdelhay Moudden (IER)  
Interview with Abdelhay Moudden- Member of IER Commission & Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Mohamed V University in Rabat. (May 13, 2007)


Factsheet: Morocco’s Truth & Reconciliation (IER) Commission  
IER: a Model for the Arab World
Launched in 2004, the Moroccan Equity and Reconciliation Commission (IER) was the first truth and reconciliation commission to be established in the Arab world. 

Group Rights and International Law: A Case Study on the Sahrawi Refugees in Algeria  
This report is a case study of the violation of refugee rights resulting from the three decades old warehousing of Sahrawi refugees in Algeria. It includes a brief introduction to the background of the factors that generated the refugee situation, an analysis of the current deplorable state of refugees in camps near the city of Tindouf in southwestern Algeria, and an assessment of how their rights are being violated under international refugee law. Drawing on international refugee and human rights law, particularly the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the work of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), it outlines both the legal rights of Sahrawi refugees and the legal responsibilities of UNHCR and the host country, Algeria. By assessing the responsibilities and shortcomings of UNHCR and Algeria in derogating from their obligations under international law, this report seeks to call international attention to the problem of refugee warehousing and to offer realistic suggestions for further international action that is urgently needed to improve the lives of the Sahrawi refugees and guarantee their rights under international refugee law.


Official Website of Morocco’s Equity and Reconciliation Commission
http://www.ier.ma/

Official Website of Morocco’s Human Rights Advisory Council
http://www.ccdh.org.ma/migration/index.php?lang=en

After an investigation by the Inspectors General of the World Food Programme and the UN Refugee Agency compiled reports which document the Polisario/Algeria’s corruption & mismanagement of humanitarian aid in the Western Sahara.
http://www.cfif.org/htdocs/freedomline/un_monitor/in_our_opinion/UN-Mismanagement-Plagues-Aid-Program-Sahara.htm

Recent Headlines about MoroccoExpand

  • CCDH urges rights NGOs to intervene to ensure safe return of Mostafa Salma Sidi Mouloud to Tindouf - 24 Aug 2010

    The Moroccan Advisory Council on Human Rights (CCDH) urged, on Tuesday, all the national and international human rights organizations to do their best so that the senior polisario official, Mostafa Salma Sidi Mouloud, can return to Tindouf (south-western Algeria) safe and sound and defend his opinions freely.

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  • Morocco reaffirms commitment to consolidating rule of law - 17 Aug 2010

    Morocco's permanent representative to the UN Office in Geneva ambassador Omar Hilale reaffirmed, on Monday, that the Kingdom is irreversibly committed to consolidating the rule of law, promoting democracy and boosting public liberties.

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  • Former Polisario leader highlights humanitarian aid embezzlement in Tindouf camps - 16 Aug 2010

    Large parts of the humanitarian aid destined for the population held against their will in Tindouf camps (south-western Algeria) is embezzled by the polisario to fund the so-called "military zones", former polisario leader Fateh Ahmed Ould Mohamed Fadel Ould Ali Salem said on Sunday.

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  • New Social Approach - Morocco Fights Poverty Through Human Development - 12 Aug 2010

    The $1.1 billion National Human Development Initiative, with $100 million in financing from the World Bank, provides funding to programs that shelter orphans, street kids, and other poor people. The goal is to offer health care, moral support, education and job-training, and to reunite families and reintegrate individuals into society.

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  • Polisario police chief favors Sahara autonomy proposal - 12 Aug 2010

    The top police official in Polisario-controlled Tindouf is lending his support to Morocco's proposal to grant autonomy to Western Sahara within the context of extended regionalization.

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  • Youths returning to motherland laud Morocco's democratic achievements - 29 Jul 2010

    A delegation of youngsters, who have returned to Morocco after escaping the Tindouf camps (southwestern Algeria), hailed Morocco's democratic achievements and expressed their full support for the Moroccan initiative to grant its southern provinces a substantial autonomy under the Kingdom's sovereignty.

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